The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-07
THE STAR, THE CRESCENT
 AND THE LETTER S'-WHAT?

and out. fought, plundered and feast ed
 A generation ago. in Pensacola, in Mobile, in New Orleans. in the Missis- sippi coast towns men of swarthy skin 1 and spanish descent were living the | life of quiet American citizens. doing their work and caring for their fami- lies. Hut in hushed and whispered tones the people spoke to one another of the early life of these swarthy men. and it came to be told around, whether 1t were true or untrue. that these men had been pirates. that the flag they
 had followed was the black flag with
 the skull and crossbones.
 And If one of the swarthy ones should have had means and property
 then rumof was quite positive that
 he had sailed aboard Jolly Roger
 and had gotten off with his share of | the treasure.
 There Is the story of Lafitte himself
 which may or may not be history.
 This story has It that when Andrew
 Jackson gathered his army of from
 tiersnlen at New Orleans to meet the
 British. Laftte and his pirate band
 pulled down the black flag, hid it
 away and hurried to join Jackson. So
 well did they bear Themselves, so gal
 lantly did they fight for the American
 flag that Andrew Jackson who ever admired brave man. saw to 1t thatthey were pardoned of their misdeeds of the past and absolved of their sins And
 tradition further has 1t that Lafitte
 and his men lived happy and virtuous ever after
 Now, in the natural expansion of progress. as an adavnce agent of de- veiopment. Henry Breitling, Secretary
 and General Manager. made and still l makes business trips to this land of
 olden mystery and romance. He was
 then representing the Baldwin County Colonization Company. The company
 was buying up land. In large tracts
 and In small tracts, wherever land
 was to be bought cheaply in lower
 Baldwin. the company was in the field
 in rivalry and in competition with its opponent companies engaged in the
 same business. Tho Secretary and the General Manager of necessity had to
 go about looking up prospective sel- lers and hunting for opportunities for
 his company
 Even more important than this, was his duty of verifying titles. of seeing that the land was right in the spot where the titles said 1t was. of seeing that the same natural objects when they were mentioned in the title &C., tually were on the land. The creeks the rivers. the bayous. the highlands and the lowlands. all had to be checked of. Even as a merchant would check off the items on bill of lading. The work had to be done with care and with thoroughness for the land was in Baldwin County and the people who were buying 1t lived in Chicago.
 From place to place, In Baldwin County in a buggy when the distance was long. on foot when the distance was short, the General Manager went, fin exploring and in investigation.
 He came to know well the people and the country about Magnolia Springs. He came to be interested in the quaint, happy and indoIent circles and to ap- preciate their spontaneous and natural hospitality. The happiest they could be would be in the sharing of their slender store with some stranger.
 About Magnolia Springs one day Mir. Breitting was making q thorough search for some elusive land marks that had evaded his energy. One foot he was passing in his search beneath the pine, the yanpon and the live oak, all with their festooned moose.
 In a wild part of the pine woods he came to a steep ravine. all but hid den at its opening, by vines and un- dergrowth. A ravine of such a size was unusual in the pine woods and yet so cIeyerly had nature covered it's en- trance that the average man would HdfS pdSoSA AS NoAOAOSoAS NAo AAAA1OA- ently.
 Mr. Erecting decided to explore it. Midway he came upon & huge magnolia tree.
 And on the south side of the tree, carved deep Into the bark and wood were three mysterious symbols. But so deep and so we'll had they been cut 1 that their character and their signifi- canoe could not be mistaken.
 Many a storm had blown and many a summer had come and gone since the knife that cut those symbols had been sunk Into the bark of the magnolia. And so old were they that the hand that carved them must have long ago faded to dust.
 The bark. new and tender bark, had covered the deep cuts in the wood But the old bark had not yet growed over the younger and the old path of the knife was easy to trace Mir. Breetling saw the symbols stand out clearly.
 They were a star, crescent and the letter S.
 The magnolia tree and its strange decorations made deep impression | upon the mind of the Chicago business man. He marked the location of the ravine so that he would not miss 1t, if | he should come on n search for 1t.
 few weeks later the memory of 1t | was brought to him with a shock. It | was in the wide and nospitable home | of an aged citizen of Baldwin County. |