The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-07
MILLIONS IN AN ISLAND.
Loads Of Gold and Jewels Sunk by
Pirates.


Precious Things Were Placed in
Wooden Boxes-It Is Now Thor
ouEhIy Feasible to Explore This
Shaft and Secure the Riches.
From the Chicago Times.
Ottowa, Ontario, Dec. 3l.-Much fiction
mas been written concerning the great
sums OF money and vast quantity of jewels
buried by pirates some 200 years ago
somewhere along the Atlantic coast. But
the following account of buried treasure
has TO do only with facts, as stated by
men now living and who had a hand in
them or as was told BY men now dead:
That shaft about thirteen feet in diane
ter and 100 feet deep was sunk on Oak
Island, In Malone bay, Nova Scotia. before
the memory OF Sny now living: that this
smart was connected by an underground
tunnel with the open ocean, about 800
feet distant; that at the bottom of this
shaft were placed large wooden boxes. in
which were precious metals and Jewels;
that many attempts have been made.
without success, to obtain this treasure;
that II Is reasonably certain the treasure
IS large, because so great a trouble would
never have been taken to conceal any
small sum; that it is now entirely feast
BILE to thoroughly explore this shaft and
recover the treasure still located therein
Oak Island is situated near the head of
Malone bay, Nova Scotia A narrow
channel separates il from the mainland,
at that point known as the western shore,
and four miles from the town of Chester
The island is about a mile in length and
half mile broad. The formation is a
very hard, rough clay. The eastern end
was originally covered with oak timber,
several groves of which still remain
There are
OVER 300 ISLANDS IN THE BAY.
AT the close of the last century this
part of the country was very sparsely
populated, and the island in question was
without an inhabitaut. In, 1895 three
men-Smith, McGinnis and Vaughn
visited the island, and while rambling
over the eastern part of it came to a spot
of which the unusual and strange CON
ditiOns at once engaged their attention
Mr.. Vaughn himself, who was only a lad
of 16 at this time, subsequently
related these facts to Robert Creel-
man, who still lives at Upper
Stewiacke, n. s., and who was afterward
the manager of a company formed
to recover the treasure. 1t had every ap-
pearance of having been cleared many
years before. Red clover and other plants
foreign to the soil were growing. Near
the center stood a large oak tree with
marks and figures on the trunk. One of
the lower and larger branches of this had
been sawed off, and projected directly
over the center of a deep circular de-
preston in the land about thirteen feet in
diameter. These and other .signs'
shortly after led the three men named to
| commence work After digging a few
feet they found that they were working
in a well-defned shaft, the walls of which
were so hard and solid that in some
places old pick marks could be seen, and
within these walls the earth was so loose
that picks were not required. On reach
ing depth Of ten feet they came to
covering of oak plank. They kept on
digging until a depth of thirty feet. was
reached, finding marks at each ten feet.
Here the work.
PROVED TOO HEAYK,FoR THEM.
and owing to the fact that supersdtious
beliefs were in full force in that part of
the country they were unable toget help
and were forced to abandon it. After
seven years DIR. Gynds, of Truro, visited
the island, interviewed the three men,
and on his return to Truro organized
company.
Among those interested at that time
We're Col. Robert Archibald, Sheriff Har-
ris and Capt David Archibald. They
made an excavation to the depth of
ninety-five feet, marks being found every
ten feet. The ninety foot mark was fiat
stone about three feet long and sixteen
inches wide. On it marks or characters
had been cut Afterward it was placed
in the Jamb of a fireplace in Mr.. Smiths
house, and while there was viewed by
| thousands of people, Many years after
ward it was taken out of the chimney and
taken to Halifax TO have, if possible, the
characters disciphered. One expert gave
| his reading of the inscription
as follows: Ten feet below are e, OOO,-
! GOO buried" We give this statement for
hot - fsr h -.
| when they reached the depth of ninety
five feet. and when they returned Mon
| day morning the shaft was found to be
full of water within twenty-five or thirty
| feet from the top. They tried bailing it
| out, but the task proved utterly hope
| less. They then sank new shaft few
feet from the old or money pit and went
TO depth of Ito feet, and then they be-
gan to tunnel under, when suddenly the
water burst IN upon them and they es-
capped with their lives and fine drench-
| ing. This disaster practically ended the
| operations of this COM any uIn 1919 a sec
ond attempt was made. DR. Gynds and
Mr.. Vaughn were still alive and gave
much valuable information.
| They sunk shaft on the site of the old
money pit, which had been filled up and
| struck water at eighty six feet. They,
also, tried bailing it out and were forced
| to abandon it, Shortly after men with
! boring apparatus of a very primitive de-
| Scription were sent to the island j. b.
/ McCully, of Truro, who is still living and
tells these facts, was manager. A plat
form was rugged in the money pit" thirty
! feet below the surface and Just above the
water. The boring started, and we sub
nit verbatim statement Of the manager:
| The platform was struck at ninety nine
| feet. After going through five inches of
spruce the auger dropped twelve inches,
then through four inches of oak, then it
went through twenty-five inches of metal
| in pieces, but the auger failed to take any
of it in except three links resembling an
ancient watch chain.
1t then went through eight inches of
| oak, supposed to be the bottom of one
| chest and the top of the next; then TWEEN
tytwo inches of metal as before: then
four inches of oak and six inches of
spruce; then into clay seven feet with
out striking anything else. In the next
boring they struck the platform at nineyt-
eight feet; then a fall of eighteen inches,
when the auger came into contact with,
as supposed, the side of the cask, as the
auger revolving close to the side of the
cask gave a jerky and irregular motion.
The auEer brought up several splinters
of oak and brown, fibrous substance
LIKE THE HUsK OF CocoANUT.
Nothing more was done until 1850,
when new shaft was sunk ten feet