The times., 1899-08-20
LONG BURIED TREASURE
A Dead Pirates Gold and Gems
Hidden inl the Catskills.
Boots Van 'sSteenburgh, the Mad
Lover of Jenny Lind. the singer.
lis Snid to Have known the Locn-
tion of thetCaSe and Then Forgot
ten 1.-THE shawangunk Mountains

that he should have died and grievously
disappointed him. Boots Van Steenburgh
was OF Sauguerties and an old man when
he died. but nifty years ago be was young
and dashing and had money. He came to
New York to hear Jenny Lind sing at her
| first concert at Castle Garden. and fell
madly in love with her. He followed her
everywhere about the country where her
| singing tour led her, and sent her Jewels
| and other gifts, which she as persistently
returned. His passion at last destroyed his
mental balance, and all the remainder of
his life he was wanderer about the Cats
kill region.
! While he was following the Swedish
singer about the country his fellow
dwellers among his native hills wondered
long how he came to have the money that
enabled him to travel so and to purchase
the diamonds and other valuable presents
he sent Jenny Lind They came to the
conclusion that both the money and the
jewels. were from the long hunted for
stores in Ninety mines cave, cave that
tradition located somewhere in the wild
Shawangunk Mountains near Port Hick-
son or Port Ben, or perhaps Port Even.
AT any rate, wherever the treasure might
be, nothing was more certain in the noun
taineer mind than that Boots Van Steen-
burgh had in some way discovered it and
was drawing upon its rich deposits for the
means by which he hoped to dazzle the
great Swedish songstress and to win her
This belief was made the more certain to
the mountaineers by the fact that Boots
Van Steenburgh had ancestors named De-
pew, among them one Benny Depsw; and
Benny Depew was the only dweller In the
CatskillS who ever saw the inside of Ninety
mines cave, except Ninety-nine himself
When Van Steenburgh returned to the Cats
kills after Jenny Lind had sailed way from
America the charge was made against him
that he had found the treasure cave. He
did not deny it, but would not reveal the
location to any soul; and after years OF de-
ferred hope that he would reveal it people
at last made up their minds that he had
forgotten where Il was himself and that he
could not reveal il if he would. While
Boots Van Sreenburgh declared positively
that he hadn q Forgotten 1t. nobody believ
ed him except ICnele Peter De Witt
''It was terrible negligent o. Boots" as
Uncle Peter viii tell you any day you may
meet him. either Sat Kerbankson, Fly
Mountain, Port Ben or wherever else he
may happen to be in that legendary re-
gion, If you will listen to his plant. 1t
was terrible negligent and dilatory o.
Boots, puttini off stakin' me to Ninety
mines cave the way he did. Procraster-
nation wasn't only the thief OF time in
this case 1t was the thief of whole lot
o goods thatd be comm in about now
and helpin' me along with things I'd laid
out to do.e Boots oughtn't to a. done it.
but then what Kin you expect of man
that amt only ID love, but that's been in
the same old love for fifty year and bet
teri Come to think 1t all over, IL don't
seem that ought TO blame Boots much;
only why in the name of all that's glori-
Gus didn't he die first and fail in love aft
erward? That'd "a saved me lot 9 dis
appointment an I could a. gone to Boots
funer'l with pleasure.
Now, you see, the Depews-but before
we come to that l want to tell you how
said to Boots, maybe two or three
months after he got home from chasin'
Jenny Lin roun the country:
Boots. said, how could you a got
the funds?'
Now, mind youl Boots had quite lot
o. money of his own in them days, speak
in o. money for home use, but nothin'
like enough. accordin' TO my idee, to gal
livant like ne did, buyin' wine and dia-
I said to him:
Boots said 1, how could you "a got
the funds?
''The minute I said that, know'd that
Boots suspicioned that | had an idee,
cause he looked at me and give a wink.
Boots, l said. it's Ninety -nine's
eavel
And Boots jest kind o. started up fer
a second. as if he might be wonderin' how
7 fcB fI,o ttxA 4 ,-,,,o
another wink. Then l know'd 1 was right.
Boots. l said. 1t was handed down
from Benny, o. eourse?'
But Boots merely give another wink.
Because, bein' as the De Wits and the
Depews, and the De this and the De that,
and the Van Steenburghs and the Van Et-
tens, and the Van this and the Van that,
was all mixed in by relation, and as | was
a De Witt that had a pedigree runnin'
back to the time when the first one o.
the family came strayin over here from
Holland. and didn't know no better than
to spell his name D-e-w-y-t-t-e. no more
than the Depews did in spellin' their name
D-u-p-u-y. | didn't see why / wasn't in
the line o. bein' heir to the secret o.
Ninety -nine's cave as much as Boots Van
Steenburgh was, and so / sot out to git
my rights.
'Bootsl' l said. 1t was handed down
from Benny, o'course?'
But Boots he only gave another wink
Then 1 knowd, though And I said to N.Y.
self right then and there, that Boots Van
Steenburgh would lead me to Ninety y-nines
cave some day or I'd know the reason why.
"Of course you've heard all about Ninety
nine and his cave? No? That's amazin,
There won't be no pnt In tellin' you how
Boots Van Steenburgh give me reason for
bein' disappointed when he died unless you
.tA Nj, htrr
I s'posed everybody know'd that, the way
folks from all p'nts O. the compass has been
lookin' for that cave ever sence / kin re-
member Then I guess / better tell you
about 'em. Never heard Of EN-, eh? That's
amazin'!
Some says that Ninety-nine was an In
jim, and some says he was Spanish It's
too late In this day and generation TO say
which one o. them critters he actually was.
or whether he was human bein', or to say
why he was called Ninety mine inste'd of
an even One Hundred. 1t don't make no
sort o. difference, neither. so fur as l kin
see. The important p'nt Is that Ninety
nine was here and hereabouts wunst on a
time, and that he had this here cave o
hisn There's people now alive. and I'm
one OF EN-, that had fathers that remem
bered hearin their fathers say that they re-
membered hearin about Ninety-nine comm
down from somewheres in the mountains.
now here and now there, and not sayin'
word till he had called for rum.
Gimme rum!' he used to holIer. Gin
me rumi'
'I s'pose that in them days that was
about the easiest call to answer In the
affirmative that anybody could make, and
consequently whenever Ninety-nine come
down out o. the mountains and made 1t,
he got what he called for, and got 1t quick.
Them must a. been good old days, SO they