The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1898-11-03

A New York Sun correspondent APP
pears to be responsible for the following
yarn and locates 1t at The Forks, Maine:
More than 40 years ago old Jim Dol
liver, a rich owner of timber land and
mills, buried $40 900 In gold somewhere
between here and Murphy's. He had
come from Montreal along the old
French voyageur's trail, and, reaching
The Forks, had told the landlord of the
hotel that he had been followed by n
party of French and Indian outlaws all
the way from the ST. Lawrence river.
~ have nearly fivescore hundred vel.
low sovereigns in my batteau,n said he,
land II don't bury my money now the
crazy devils will rob me before | get to
Watervile."
He left the hotel at 10 O'Clock that
night, and was away three days. On
his return he remarked to the landlord !:
well, I've put that money where the
arch-ange Gabriel can't find it,"
Then he took hearty supper, went to
bed, slept tw o days and two nights, and
awoke raving maniac. For week he
fought Indians and buried untold treas
ures in his delrum, and died In the act
of shooting Mohawk chief, who had In
vaded his sick fancy for the purpose of
robbing him. Papers found among his
effects showed that he had drawn $500
In English gold from Montreal bank
mouth before he arrived at The Forks,
and as this sum did not appear In the In
ventory of his estate. 1t was believed
generally that the money was buried
within days journey OF this postoffice.
For dozen years after Delivers
death his heirs advertised for the miss
ing wealth and increased the reward I'M
Til the finder was entitled to 70 per cent
of all he should discover. Having spent
nearly $4,000 in advertising, the heirs
gave it up as a bad job, after which the
people who knew the story continued
the work at their own expense. For 20
wears the digging wen: on at all seasons.
| Whenever man or boy ran short OF
money and had nothing else to do he
shouldered pick and shovel and, taking
a weeks supply of food on his back,
went into the woods between Murphy's
and The Forks and went to digging.
Some located the treasure In dreams,
othe RS made deep excavations in mellow
hillsides where the labors were light,
and very many hired expert OWNERS
with apple limbs and witch hazel rods to
help them along on the road to wealth.
In October, 1880, Saunders Atwood
came here from WiDterport and brought
an electric battery with him, which he
said could detect an English farthing un-
der four "fathoms" of solid earth. When
he went away two weeks later he show
ed handful of English sovereigns all
stamped with dates 30 or more years
ago, and said that he had unearthed the
whole OF the missing wealth. But while
the people accepted his theory that the
proper time to dig was on the dark of an
October moon, they repudiated the story
that he had found any of the missing
coin.
This fall, when the muscles of the
farmers had grown hard from digging
potatoes, about 40 men packed up a few
tools and made ready to start on
another search for Delivers money as
soon as the old moon should change.
They were lOafing about the hotel and
store one night when word came from
Montreal that Eugene Beaupre, and aged
and rich Frencbman of that city, had
lately died, cOnfessing on his deathbed
that he had seen Dolllver conceal the
gold In hollow pine stub and had gone
and taken 1t away after the rightful
owner had returned to The Forks. This
information was verified later by an an
nouncenent that one Eugene Beaupre,
late of Montreal, had died and left an
estate amounting to $4,000 to different
charities, in Canada and Maine, saying
in his will that the gift was made as a
''partial atOnement for grievous sin
committed In the State of Maine in
October, 1856"
Conservative estimates indicate that
more than $4,000 days OF hard labor have
been expended in digging for D ,lliver's
wealth, and that fully 10000 tons of
earth and stone have been dug up and
turned over by men who were looking in
Maine for money that was safely invest
ed in Montreal real estate.