The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-07-19

! ily and cultured citizenship who carry
| the old Teach" name. and in whose
veins runs the blood of the tiger sailor.
i a WILD CAREER.
From the coast of Cape Henry to the
/ banks of Wilmington, N. c.. there are
numerous stories of Teach and his wild
career. Many have thought to locate a
part of the treasure which is alleged to
have been secreted along the coast Of
| the tidewater section. Deep holes In the
| river banks and excavations in swamp
| lands or old caves are to be seen In many
| places, each one reminder of a dlsap-
pointed seeker after Blackbeard's for
| tunes. Undoubtedly the bulk of the pi-
| rates gold is somewhere In hiding to this
| day. His premature death prevented his
making a disclosure of its whereabouts.
and the wise old pirate was known to
have made few If any contidants, as even
his lieutenants were recognized thieves.
and he knew his men far too well to trust
them with such secret.
With its hidden passageways and
strange basement. there will always be
belief that somewhere, in or around
the old home Is hidden the Spanish gold
of Teach. Each new occupant of the
house. on entering. Immediately Institutes
q search for the treasure, but the dsap-
pointment is proverbial. Yet who knows
but that some wall or bank of earth con-
tain the jewels Of captured aristocracyt
or the yellow ore Of Spanish mintage?
With the nlets along the banks, which
protect and create the sounds, we'll can
noned, and with the inadequate method
of naval attack In vogue in2the days OF
Spanish supremacy It was easy for the
pirate chieftain to establish himself Sc
curely and defy the combined navles of
the world The stronghold of Black
beard extended from the entrance of Pam
leo Sound, UP through Albemarle Sound
and the Pasquotank and other rivers
within the inland water route.
In making comparison of Black
boards ability to command at sea, It Is
worthy of note that Burnside succeeded.
after a long campaign, In passing and
reducing the Confederate Notifications at
Hatteras thereby making his way to
Roanoke Island. despite the resistance of
the Confederate navy, whereas the entire
navies Of the old world We're unable to
Dust the pirate, who practically owned The
sounds. and who was DESTROYED by trick
Of thetFunston type, executed by young
British officer
England. terrorizing the world sweat
ed under the Illegal taxation, which this |
ruler of the seas placed upon her The
government of Spain, then in the zenith |
of her power corporate wealth and naval /
magnitude was the heaviest of all the |
sufferers at the merciless hands or the |
Anglo Saxon pirate. As cruel as Nero, and
as skillful in naval tactics as Nelson, |
Teach robbed and plundered and con-
quperea
At the foot of the steps of the house,
on the Pasauotank. are two large mill !
stones, three feet In diameter each, These
stones are planted side by side They |
bare many timeworn Inscriptions, which !
are almost uninteligible. The feet of nil-
merous generations have worn away the |
Inscriptions, which were once carved on |
the stones, and amidst q tumble OF let
tiers and signs only the date go" can |
be read. The last figure has been oblter,
ated,
WEIRD STORIES.
Hundreds of weird stories are current, |
which cause the superstitions to quake In /
wardly. when visiting the neighborhood of
the old pirate home, Many have report
ed strange noises in and around rhe
blood stained premises, .Darkeys say a
man with a long black beard. haunts the
scene and along the Dismal swamp Canal
route,
A story which has gained actual be-
lief among the educated classes Is that
the pirate having lost his head after
his capture. swan three times around
the vessels howsprit, on which the dis
memhered portion of his anatomy stuck,
The body OF Black Beard goes the le-
gend. made many efforts to get into the
vessel, but was driven back by boat hooks,
thus preventing the head from probable
with the body This story has
Of n headless man, which may be Seen ;
walking the banks of oracoke Inlet, vain, {
~ searching and cropping about after
head which WAS taken n Vir- l