The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1903-08-15
SEEK HIDDENWEALT
EXPEDITIONS FITTED OUT TO
RECOVER TREASURE. =
Valuable Finds Made In the West
Indies Have Stimulated Speculation
Authentic Instances Of Finds Of
Immense Amounts.

1hbhShSS <AtUOuNI0s
A party of three, we were chatting
on the deck of steamship during a
voyage from Jamaica to Trinidad.
The talk fell upon buried treasure in
the West Indies, and each Of us had
his tale to tell.
A couple Of months ago, said the
first man, an American mining engin.
eer, was in New Providence, and
everybody was talking about a mys.
ferrous American who had been down
in the Bahamas just before.
He came in a small schooner, and
anchored off one of the small Gays,
or islands, which are so numerous
there. He said he hadn't come for
sponges or coral or salt or pearls; but
he would not tell anybody what he
had come for.
One day he hired two men, and got
boat filled with timed provisions,
tools and tent. Then he made them
row him over to another cay about
six miles off-a mere lump Of coral
and few bushes, where nobody lives.
There he staid for a week, making
the men dig like fury in place he
pointed out, while he watched over
them with rifle to see that they did
not shirk.
After six days digging they came
across a heavy, brass-bound trunk.
They carried it to the boat and rowed
him to the schooner. AS soon as the
box WIS aboard he weighed anchor,
and nothing more was heard of him.
Nobody knew his name or what he
had found; but of course they all
think that he had the clew to some
pirate hoard, and found it.
When I was in Hayti, in 1898, said
the second member of our party, a
Canadian business man, I came
across a curious treasure story. A
poor man at Cape Haytien, who
everybody knew had not got 500 to
into a man of wealth, and went in for
land speculation.
Presently the secret leaked out.
The house he lived in was a ruined
French chateau, dating back to the
days when the French colonists occu-
pied the island; a magnificent old
ruin Of the type one often sees in
Hayti.
Saving through the wainscoting
one day to make some repairs, he
came across big oak chest filled
with French gold pieces, gold and
silver plate, necklaces, brooches,
watches and other valuables. The box
was worth about $4,000.
A wealthy Spectator in Cape Hay
tien, hearing of his find, concluded
there might be some more chests
there, so he offered to buy the
house, ana eventually did so for
$4,000.
The new man did more than
search; he pulled down the house,
and in the end found four other
chests found altogether to be worth
nearly 100000. The first man got
very angry, and wanted to share; but
ne came on badly.
The speculator had political influ-
ence, and soon had him flung into jail
and despoiled of most Of his wealth
for the heinous crime of concealing
treasure trove from the state. That
Spectator and his family to-day are
among the richest people in Hayti.
recounted a most marvellous, but
perfectly true story told to me in
Jamaica last year by the skipper of a
turtling schooner from the Cayman
islands.
He was aboard the schooner one
day last spring, anchored close to a
reef near the Caymans on which a
bark had been recently wrecked.
Looking over the side of his vessel,
he saw a curious yenow gleam on
the ledge Of the reef, about eight feet
under water. Thinking it was a large
sheet of copper or brass, he ordered
one of his crew to dive for it.
The man came up with his hands
full Of gold coins-Spanish doubloons,
with the arms of Seville on them. The
ledge was covered with loose gold.
The skipper showed me lot of the
gold in a store in Kingston, Jamaica,
and sold the entire find soon after
ward for over $4,000.
At this moment there are two
or three expeditions-English and
Notwithstanding for buried treas.
ure in various parts of the West In.
dies. The favorite hunting grounds
are the Bahamas, from New Provi
dence as far south as Tortuga and the
Virgin islands.-Chamber Journal. =
A Leading Question.
"Bre'r Williams said Brother