The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-05

Mr.. Young was at first aVerse to recelV-
ing such charge, but after consider
able correspondence. he agreed to pledge
the faith of his successors to prevent
The box from being opened until the be
ginning Of the twenty-first century. Its
contents may be of great interest or
4lone, but presumably Mr. Young would
not have undertaken to have it guarded
for. leo years and more unless there was
something of great interest III IL. II IS
supposed the papers contained are re-
garded as of value to the people of the
United States in the twenty-hrst cen
fury. Under the conditions of the trust
the box IS to be opened by the librarian
Of congress any time after midnight CT
Dec. 81. A. D. 200.
While the contents of the box can only
be guessed al, sufficient Information has
been obtained regarding them to give an
outline of their character and to furnish
insurance that there viii be some inter
csting reading presented when the box
is opened a visitor in the congressional
library was once informed OF the exist
ence Of the box He was by profession
d literary man and by instinct detec-
tive. The thought that he must solve
this mystery to obtain mental relief took
possession of his brain. For three days
he allowed himself to be absorbed IN this
1dca-that he must possess himself of
Ehis knowledge. At the end of that time
he had reached certain conclusions and
went to see a friend. The second man
was an amateur scientist and philOso-
pher. Possessed Of an ample fortune, he
devoted himself to the requirement of
knowledge derived from books and eX-
ptrirnerts. So the imaginative literary
man and the COld-bloOded man of sci
pnce undertook to solve the problem.
They started a search that lasted over
year.
The literary partner in the combine re-
sently told this story to a Sun reporter:
TRACING THE BOX.
eve agreed on many points before we
let about the actual work of tracing the
box and 2scertaining its contents. First,
1t must contain something Of great i'm
portanee, or MI. Young would never have
accepted the trust. Second. it must have
been cCnfded to Mr.. Young by some
one in whom Mr.. Young had the greatest
confidence, and for whose reasons for
wishing TO keep its contents unknown
for a hundred years, Mr.. Young must
nave had the greatest respect. Third, it
must contain manuscript; for it must be
something of interest to the library or
the donor would have been invited to go
elsewhere; as, for instance If it had been
money or jewels, it would have been plac-
ed in the treasury under similar condi-
tons If it had been relic or relics,
there would have been no necessity for
keeping it secret. 1t weighed only a few
pounds. Everything went to show that 1t
was manuscript.
1T vas suggested that It might have
been Mark Twains impressions of Euro
pean mOnlrchs which he has threatened
to leave for the people Of the twenty
first century. But this was easily reject
IN the ground that the box had been
received before the time he made the
suggestion. The United States secret
solv vice was appealed to for information
rs to the box, and as to the possibility
that 1t might contain the history of some
bnrevcaled crime. The archives of the
ttate department were consulted; the
library .earched for any account of a
manuscript answering our ideas which
might have been known, but never pub
lished; bribes were offered to employees
pf the library for scraps of information
teiatinS to the box; legislators, statesmen
and warriors We're interviewed; but all
1 vain. We came back always 10 the
fact that we must search for a manu-
script whose Importance justified It's be-
inS taken in trust by Librarian Young.
containing matter of interest to our
q REORGANIZATION, too important, prob
bly, too dangerous, to be revealed at
present; and donated to the library Of
congress by some one whose standing
must have been uaimpeachable
: .Gn this foundation we built 1t took
year of work. during which 1 acted as