The evening times., 1895-12-14
GENUINE FLYING DUfCHhAH
Phantom Ship Of the Jersey Coast Which
Appears Regularly Every Christmas.
Ghost Of an Old Treasure Graft
Which Burns Yearly to the Waters
Edge Near Tons of Lost Gold.
New York Press.

New York Press.
Sea Isle City, y. j., Dec. 9.-Pcople of
that part OF Southern New jersey border
ing the sea know many stories of Eiddea
treasure. 1t is said that Capt. KIDD pad
more than one visit L. the islands between
the mainland and the sea An exhaustive
search has failed to bring To- light any of
the pirate chiei's gold. There Vas a c"n-
pany that FORMED Itself tu search for the
bullion that Is supposed to lie on the seas
bottom in tae huiGs OF the ships li'' S:adS
and MontezIma, which Went DOWN over u
century ago.
TIE De Brsiak was n Dutch merchant yes
sci that was carrying 10 Englaiud nearly
S2.Ouu,ouu. She sailed from Mexican
port in the winter uI 1893, and had an IN
c-cntiui voyage until the cape5 ui Delaware
were reached. She met terrific storm
wnen almost n sight al land anu i"und.Fc-
ed. Local history says she went tn the bot
tom not more than dozen mites iTum
shore, but. be that as ii may, all efforts
to locate her soon u tier were Unsuccessful.
Ten years ago Il company was organized
in Philadelphia TO renew tue search Tor the
sunsen treasure. A lGHd OF SlUu,uUo was
raised and eNpeE,ied on a small steamer
Dr. Pancoast ui Philadelphia WAS heavily
interested financially IN this movement Ia
gain the bullion tina went down wiki The
De Braak. The steamer cruised up and
down the Cape May c"unty coast. Drags
were cast into the sea, and whenver they
came ia contact with sunken distractions
divers went to the bottom 10 search. A
number OF wrecks were encountered, but
not a vestige OF the wealth sought for.
1t is thought that the De Braak became
buried in the sand. Ole seafaring men be-
licve that the ocean currents, Which are
continually changing, will some day uncover
the waterloggeu hun OF the treasure snip,
and perchance some lucky Searchers VIII
find her then. There was talk recently OF
instituting another search for tie ship. In
the ocean abutting the Cape May county
coast another ship, the Montezuma, lies
buried. She went down century ago, not
far from the De Braak. T heiui- rigged
ship foundcred some where near Townsend
Inlet i'll a terrible Eor caster. Slowed away
in her hold there was fortune i'll big silver
bars-one million dollars worth. Several
years ago excitement was caused by the
report that the MonteZumas wealth had
been uncovered by Capt. Japhet Town
send, of Somers Point, one of the manag gers
of the Atlantic and Gulf Wrecking Company.
1t was true that the steamer Tamcsi found
a wreck. which at first was thought to he
the NJ onteZuma, but it proved to be the hull
of watcrlosged schooner. The Town
send brothers made thorough searchaiong
this coast. but found no trace of Span
ish wreck.
Skeletons of many wrecks are strewn
along this graveyard of the Jersey coast,
no less than fifty one ships having four-
dered on the beach of Ludlam's Island, on
ID ,i.,, is TSl.. City Ion Seven
Mile Beach, is the reposing place of two
score or more of vessels, while Ocean city,
or Pecks Beach, furnishes a half hundred.
In old Cape May yarns are spun of phan-
tom ships that sail the sea on stormy nights,
with no hand TO guide the til!er and none
to furi the sails. Those who relate them
have come to believe them true, for seq
farcrs aud those who have spent their
liyev within sound of the roaring. Storm
tossel sea, are imaginative. Often when
the north winds moan and howl the cd
folk gathered around the hearth will say TO
their children: "Oid lAyy is out tonight; do
yoa hear him moan and cry"
The eleraeuts were in u terrible uproar on
the night that the story of "Old Davy"
was related to me. Just such night when
old sailors memories of hardships at sea
are brought yividly before them. An old
IlIu tOiu tliS otois.
1T was terrible spell OF weather on that
Christmas Day in 1898, when the big ship
Dauutless sailed into the capes Of Deia-
ware and dropped anchor. The snow came
in q blizzard from the north, and the wind
drove the whito-capped breakers roughly
to the shores. The Dauntless. Capt. David
Smith, had sailed from one of the West IN
dies a short time before with cargo OF
sugar and was bound for Liverpool. She
never reached her destination. While lying
at anchor in Southern waters many of the
crew had gone ashore, where they spent
their time carousing.
Before sailing several of them fell vic
tins to the black scourge,' or yellow fever,
and died. Then when the cargo was stored
away the ships Prov was turned north
ward on her long voyage. A few days
after leaving port other members of the
crew were taken i'll with the fever, and
were set ashore on one OF the Florida keys
to perish or live, as God ort;a incd. Others
Of the crew contrac cted the disease and died,
and. as the story goes y continued the
old sailor, $50 many died that it was
with great difficulty that the ship was
naylgatcsi. To make matters worse, four