The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-02
A CAPT. KIDD PARIS STORY.
The Legend About the $4,000, 900
Treasure Said to Have Been Buried
by King James III.


by King James III.
From the New York World.
Every year or so the Paris papers tell
of some one who has been caught making
excavations in search of buried treasure.
The latest of these seekers for hidden gold
has been locked up pending an inquiry as
to his sanity. He claims that the spirit
of James II had appeared to him and
revealed the hiding-place of the great for
tune he had secreted long ago, and that
he was just on the point of finding it
when the police interrupted him.
This Treasure of Triel," as 1t is call
ed, is one of the most tenacious of such
legends that cluster about Paris The
story goes that James II, the dethroned
King of England, who fed across the
Channel to France and became the guest
of Louis XIV, had for his residence the
chateau of st. German James II, so some
historians say, was less the guest than
the prisoner of the French king. He was
carefully guarded, but he succeeded, new
ertheless, in causing to be constructed
a subterranean passageway between his
palace-or rather his prison-and a little
house that he had bought in the village
of Triel. 1t was in this retreat that the
eXiled monarch tasted each day a few
hours of peace and liberty without the
fear of being followed by the spies of
Louis.
Before returning to London this last
of the house of Stuart is said to have
hidden away the crown of Scotland. in
which Shone a diamond greater than that
known as the Regent Diamond" which
once sparkled in the crown of a French
king. With this magnificent stone there
were other splendid jewels which were
most precious to the house of Stuart The
total value of these gems the legend es-
Inmates at no less than 100000 francs
or 100000. There were many sacks Of
shining gold and there were many cost
ly gems which the loyal Scottish mobiles
had sent as pledges of fealty to their ex-
lied king.
Upon his death bed, the legend con-
tinues, James II gave to a great French
noble, in whom he had the utmost conf
dence, a paper in which was indicated
the means of recovering the treasure of
the Stuarts, but this French nobleman
himself died soon after without having
dared to make use of the precious docu-
ment. But before death he divided among
two people the responsibility which he
AS he lay dying he tore in two pieces
the precious bit of paper on which was
written the directions for finding the
treasure Then he called separtely the
two persons he had decided to honor with
his confidence, and gave to each one of
the pieces of the document
The. history Of these two halves Of this
bit of paper, how they were lost and
found, how they served to guide searches
in which fifty years and more. many hun
dreds of thousands Of francs were ex-
But one fact remains, the treasure has
not yet been found.
Even though this hidden wealth has
not been found, it has proved a source of
steady income to the fortune tellers, who
are numerous in Paris. Hardly a day
passes but one of these 'pythonesses'' is
called upon to raise the ghost of James
II and extort from him the secret which
he has guarded so well. Curiously
enough, these seers state that the kingly
shade will converse quite freely regarding
the size OF the gems, their great beauty
the kind of strong boxes he put them in,
and other interesting details, but will
never consent to let slip the word which
shall point the way to fortune for the
anxious seeker.
That such a treasure does exist is, how
ever the belief of many who have made
a careful study of the matter from every
point of view. Among them is Mr.. Her
bert Vivian, an English magazine edi-
tor, who spent some time in the locality
where the treasure is said to be buried,
and who says that he has not the Slight
est doubt but what KING James II caused
to be hidden in the neighborhood a vast
store of gold and jewels.