The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-25
TWO RESULTS At GALVESTON.
Disappearance of the Buzzard and Of the
Pirate Lafitte's Greve.

From the New Orleans Times-Democrst
zone of the most curious results OF the
great Galveston Storm" said gentleman
who has lived for number or years In
the tempest-swept city, was the total de-
struction of the buzzards. From time out
of mind the lower end of the island has
been a favorite haunt of these birds, and
they could be seen there any day by the
hundreds. After the storm it was gener-
ally supposed that they would mock 70 tle
scene of ruin, and the appearance or the
as an inevitable finishing touch on the
horrors of the great catastrophe. But,
much TO our surprise, none was 10 De
seen, and since then / have been all over
the island and find that they have com
pletely disappeared. good many OF the
ald-timers said they had taken refuge On
the mainland and would be back again IN
q few davs: but weeks have elapsed and
none has appeared. The only explanation
is that they either perished on the spot
during that terrible night or were pio"h
out TO sea and drowned.
In sDeaking of the matter the Otner
day an old fisherman told me OF an al
most similar occurrence on the coast OF
Florida He said there was small Island
below Cedar Keys that was formerly a
great resort for buZZards; In fact IL was
known among the natives as 'BuZZaras
cav For some reason or otner ths D4s
birds made il their rendezvous ana the
spot was practically surrendered 10 tnem.
one right: about ten years ago. terrlnc
trorIcal storm came sweeping up the
coast and this little island seemed TO De
directly in the path or the cyclone center.
Al any rate, il was swept clean ana lhe
whole colony of buZZards We're drowned:
rThe fisherman told me that scores OF
them were washed up on the malnlahd,
md NOT another one was ever seen on the
cav The new generaaoh avoided II M n
stinctively. Perhaps they nave y. way oi
handing down such traditions;
..Speaking of the destruction wrought
bv the storm on the lower end or Calves
ton Island" said another Texan VINO nad
listened TO the buZZard story, the tright-
full wind that night upr0oted ana carried
away three gigantic OAK trees that nave
hean known as 'Iafitte'S grove. Accord
ing TO tradition, the spot was one OF the
bucca aneers numerous places OF rendeZ-
vous and i scarcely need add that ne Is
reputed 10 have buried lot or treasure
| somewhere In the neighborhood- Ine oaks
were supposed 10 mark the place. and /
am sure Il is no eXaggeratiOn 10 say that
hundreds OF people have hunted Tor IL
al one time and another. The trees them
selves we're largely responsible for keep
/ ing the legend alive, and now that tney
are gone, dare say that II VIII Gle out
IF the true history OF treasure-seekIag
along the Gulf Coast could be written. >
| continued the speaker. ''it would MAKE a
| volume as big as an unabridged dictiOn-
ary and as thrilling as dime novel. /
I used 20 know an old negro who lived al
1 Corpus Christi, who was a regular center
| Of infection for the treasure fever. IL is
nv private opinion that the old rascal
was half crazy, but he pretended 10 have
/ information that had been handed down
/ 10 him from his grandfather as 20 the
burying OF a chest full OF gold and jewels.
I by pirates, on the south coast He never
/ told the story the same way twice, but
when he got hold OF a fresh listener ne
I reeled IL of In a wonderfully eireumstan-
/ siaI fashion. heard him tell II once my
/ self, and, sitting there in his little cabin
/ In the light OF a single candle with the
sound OF the distant breakers in my ears
/ / must confess he thrilled me clear down
| 10 the soles Of my feet. IL / could have
started out then and there, nothing could
/ have prevented me from joining an expe-
ditioR 10 dig up the chest; but when
| thought IL over oy daylight ! concluded
| that the old man was a triple-plated liar
A number OF others believed bis yarn
| however and al least a dozen well equip
/ ped parties went out at various times on
/ the strength of IL. one OF them was hack
/ ed by a banker noted for his hard COM
| mon sense.
Il never heard OF any Of them finding
anything although they dug up the sur
| rounding beach until they made il look
| Ike section Of hoaeycomb."