The record-union., 1897-09-24
MORE BURIED TREASURE. :
CAPTAIN ALFRED MAY TELLS
A RATHER FISHY STORY.

Money Was Buried by American
! Soldiers During the Mexican
War After an Accident.
| A hundred and fifty thousand dollars
/ in gold ready to be lifted out with the
1 pick-that is what Uncle Sam has at
this moment, though he does not know
himself of his hidden treasure. But it
is there-cold, yellow, glittering coin,
| buried for years beneath the dirt and
mold of Mexico. and traced by the
tireless patience of the man who is
soon to get out on his voyage to return
with this fortune. There will be no
dangers to overcome, such as a strug-
gle with cold and famine, but very quiz
city and pleasantly he will dig up the
boxes in which lie the riches that will
make him a wealthy man for life.
The authority for this statement is
Captain Alfred May, who is at present
in this city. Captain May asserted
that he has located the place where
the treasure was buried, and that as
soon as he can leave his business he
will set out and procure the wealth
which will be the result of many
months of patient search. The Captain
is a German, a sea Captain, and was
one of the old forty miners.
According to Captain May the way
he came TO get on the track of the
money was this: He met here in 1893
an old man from Illinois, Hiram Pen
noyer, who told him that his son was
married to the daughter of an old vet
eran of the Mexican war, living in Chi
cago. This veteran told Pennoyer that
while he was on a campaign in Mex
leo in 1S47 he was present when money
boxes belonging to the Government
were thrown out of the wagon by the
breaking, of a wheel, and that the coin
had been buried by a companion OF his.
This companion, a Sergeant, was killed
| in a fight a few days after burying the
money, and the old veteran said moth
ing about it to his superior officers,
| the breaking down of the wagon While
| crossing the river in a storm being suf-
! ficient excuse for the loss.
! After the war closed the veteran
went to California, where he was paid
! off, and then returned to his wife IN
! Chicago. On account of his broken
health the woman would not let him
return, so the man waited for son
to grow large enough to go after the
gold. On the sons attaining manhood
the old father fitted him out and sent
him on the journey, but the lad went
astray, and, spending all the money,
! turned into a loafer. On the marriage
of the daughter of the veteran with the
son of Pennoyer, the veteran told Pen
noyer the whole history of the affair
and gave him a plan of the spot where
the gold was buried. as well as full
| directions how to locate the place.
When Pennoyer told May the story
May offered to go and get the money
for a share in the result. So, equipped
with the map and full history of the
event, he reached Vera Cruz, and set
out on his journey toward the direction
of Jalapa He found that the descrip-
ton given by Pennoyer was correct in
| the main but there was a slight error
in the bearings that at first puzzled
him greatly. Pennoyer had made a
mistake in the placing of a landmark,
| but the general idea was right, and,
knowing the Spanish tongue perfectly,
| May began to CLEAN information from
! the Mexicans who lived at the place.
He found one old man who had lived
| in the, same adobe hut for years. and
who remembered distinctly the time
that the American troops had crossed
the stream. He gave an accurate de-
scription of the event, spoke of the
breaking down of the wagons, and said
that the Americans had lost some
| stores, though none of the MeXicans
understanding English, none was aware
that two boxes in gold were among
the things spilled, nor would they ever
| have known of their being buried there
by the Sergeant, even had they known
the money tumbled out. From this old
man May got such an accurate ac-
count that, by putting it with the one
given him by Pennoyer, he was able
to locate spot whose description
tailed in every respect with the story
given by the veteran as the place
where the coin lay
| He learned that the troops had left
Vera Cruz for a march north, and on
reaching the banks of the Guadeloupe
| River, the infantry had crossed the
stream over an ancient stone bridge,
while the cavalry and wagons went
down one side to cross by a ford. On
the left hand Of the bridge on the south
bank was a fort, and on the right hand
on the other bank was another fort,
while at a short distance stood hill.
Pennoyer had said the wagons holding
the money had crossed the bridge. and
in this lay his error. The truth was
that the horses had been taken down
about a quarter of mile from the
bridge, and crossed where the water
was shallow. The Mexican pointed out
the ford where the wagon train crossed
and even the spot where one wagon
had broken down and lost a wheel.
On looking about May saw at once
that it was the very spot described by
Pennoyer.
There was no doubt in Mays mind
that he had found the treasure at last.
But one thing stopped him-he was
watched. For days there had been men
dogging his footsteps, persons who had
evidently heard of the object of his
search, and it would not be safe to
dig. With men cognizant of every