The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-01-14

SOl IlI OF ulm DN giving tI1 HeSlo
some change with which to buy whls-
KEY for himself. He say as soon as
he %: the money ne went straight to
t;oe lispcnsary and bought his whis-
kcv and when he returned the man
was "o-.e.
Nc more was seen f him by the
ne!ghbors about the plac" and moth
:nG very strange WAS at::a"a~t to his
actions nail late IL !Ae afternoon Of
:-e following day. whe i: was dis
covered that hole had been dug un-
der the house. on tn. west side, near
the front and about eight feet from
the side of the building-in other
words about centre Of the west front
room. An examination Of the hole
developed the fact, according to those
who inspected it that evening, that a
pot or other vessel had been removed
from the bottom Of this mole, which
was about four feet in depth. A
pick, which had been used in digging
the hole, was found lying nearby,
but there was nothing to indicate
Just what the "diggers'' got by their
efforts.
; "Dat strang man, as the negroes
refer to the gentleman seen around
the premises Monday afternoon, has
1ot been Seen since, and they connecs
the aole in the ground under the
house with his presence there the af-
ternoon before its dis overy. And
they are positive that what came out
of that nole under the house was moth
ing less than a pot Of gold.
This house, which is just now sur
rounded with so much mystery, is
probably 80 years old. It has been
right there as long as the oldest IN
habitant can remember. And there
have been stories passed around
among certain families in the city OF
! Columbia for years that there was
pile of money buried somewhere
about this house. Martha Holmes,
who has owned the house for more
than 80 years, says that she has been
told by many people that money was
buried about this place, but she paid
no attention to the stories, and now
she is grieved by the visions OF
thousands of dollars of gold and Sill
yer coins nesting s-ugly in an old
rusty pot right beneath the house
which she has owned so many years.
She is worried because she feels
that .other parties have secured the
wealth that was really ners. She went
down yesterday and took a look at
the hole. She saw nothing but the
hole, and then she went back aome
and began to see the visions Of the
Dot of gold that might have been hers
if she mad only investigated" just
a little. She is worried no little.
Two Prominent Citizens.
There is no "story" better than
a pot-of3gold story. The reporte-
followed the trail persistently, an'
the further he went the more the
mystery deepened. Instead OF two
strangers with dip needles. he found
that the men whom the Holmes wo-
man told about were South Caroli1-
ians and one a Columbian-and both
prominent citizens. The "Mr. Full
ler'' is none other than Mr.. W. W..
F1lmer. member Of the Columbia po-
lice department, who lives at l2lo
Elmwood avenue. The "Mr. Black
we'll, is in reality Mr.. J. A. Black
welder, president Of the Bank OF
Chaplin and superintendent Of the
Newberry knitting mills.
Mr.. Blackwelder could not be
reached by telephone last night at
his home in Newberry, it being stat
ed that he had left there last night
for Charleston, but Mr.. Fulmer was
seen and readily gave a statement
about the matter. He said that ne
and Mr.. Blackwelder had called al
the Holmes woman s home about ren.-
inc the house at 100 Huger street
and admitted that he called number
Of times later and finally closed the
trade WITH her for the house and de-
7ivered her the check Of Mr.. Black
velder for the first months rent. lie
says he gave the keys to Mr.. Black
welder, but denies any knowledge OF
the hole in the ground or Of any pot
Of gold. He says that Mr.. Black
welder spent Monday night of this
week at his house, going home with
him from the police station as mid
night. He says he and Mr.. Black