Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-07-13

ish Main with Honest John Silver anu
his pirate band? Would you like to go to
/ Treasure Island? Would you like to feel
the spell of the near presence of buried
gold-real pieces of eight? Would you
! like to breathe the atmosphere of ro-
nance that attaches to sunny, tropical
| island which was for centuries a penal
colony for patriot politicians, trading
post for the dealers in "black ivory?"
| Would you like to rub elbows with the
seventeenth century?
/ II you would like these things, then
up anchor and set sail for the Isle OF
Pines. All that romance is still there, but
when you have arrived you will find that
the Isle of Pines is Just as American and
| just as home-like, so far as its people
are concerned, as any prosperous settle
ment in Usage county, Kansas. The title
/ OF sovereignty over the Isle Of Pines is in
dispute. While the flag of Cuba flies over
! the public buildings, the stars and stripes
decorates the roof-tree of the owners OF
more than 80 per cent of all the property
, OF the island. 1t is the southernmost all
American agricultural community. but its
hustle and prosperity in no way detract
from its historic interest.
! Pirates and buried treasure appeal
strongly to the average mind. What boy
has not flown the Jolly Roger from an
, imaginary masthead, while securing the
! back yard for possible Spanish galleons
laden with the gold wealth Of the Peru
/ Wan Incas? What boy has not planned
expeditions in search Of Captain Kidd
bank balance? The good ship Cristobal
Colon which carries passengers from the
Cuban port Of Batabano to the Isle of
Pines is by no means a low. rakish
craft" but it makes UP for its spick-and-
span wilderness by having a captain who
is as nearly like an ideal pirate in ap-
pearance as even Robert Louis Stevenson
could have wished.
|
! The pirates who made the Isle Of Pines
their port of call, and bank of deposits did
not belong to the ancient tribe of the days
Of Sir Henry Morgan. They were of a
later vintage, of the. day Of Jean La
htte. The ships they robbed were the
! Panama and Mexico transports bound for
Europe through the Straits of Yucatan.
The treasure they buried was in good gold
coin, although there is a whole outfit OF
gold and silver altar ornaments still
buried on this island. awaiting return to
some old Mexican cathedral.
Smile at these stories today as you will
YOU will not smile at them when you
get to Neuva Corona. For you can smell
/ the gold then, and when Sam Pearcy
tells you about the south coast treasure
cache, and when everybody tells you
about the mysterious iron chest and the
one golden coin found on the beach only
two years ago, and when everybody
points out the Alcade who went over
the Marble mountain a poor man and
came back next morning laden with gold
I-when you hear all these things and you
are right there on the spot in the heart
Of Treasure Island in the Spanish Main
you will not smile. You'll get pick and
try to slip off from town at night to
dig.
Mr.. Johnson, of Pennsylvania, was the
| last real treasure finder. He came here
to Nueva Corona about thirty years ago,
when this island was a penal colony and
this town the prison headquarters. He
. stayed here for a long time, and by
, and by he gained the confidence of an old
prisoner.
The prisoner was then more than four
I score, and he had been kept here since
he was twenty. He was the last surviv-
ing pirate of the Spanish Main. Just
like Billy Bones, no had a map. He
! wouldn't let the Spanish jailers have it
they had been too cruel. But he gave II
to Mr.. Johnson, of Pennsylvania. Mr..
Johnson bided his time and made his
plans with care,-a little schooner, a few
4 negroes. silent sailing on dark night
from Nueva Corona. The expedition
found its. way around to the wild and
uninhabited south coast, which still is
wild and uninhabited. The map was as
good and true as II the name of Flint
: had been signed there.
! There were two whole barrels of gold.
One was so heavy that it almost swamped
the boat and no attempt was made to
find the other or the cache of altar YES
sells. Mr.. Johnson, of Pennsylvania, went
away There are stories of queer and ex-
citing adventures with the Spanish au-
: thorities, bat he made his escape to
Jamaica and went back to Pennsylvania
with his gold.
! Very mysterious was Mr.. Johnson, Of
! Pennsylvania He never told anybody
how he came by his riches and he guard
ed that little map even as Billy Bones
except that Mr.. Johnson, of Pennsylvania,
! would never, never sing a song about hf-
teen men on a dead mans chest" nor
would he yo-ho for a bottle Of rum. Mr..
johnson, of Pennsylvania, was not that
kind Of a man.
Nv and by the war with Spain came
along. The Isle of Pines became Ameri-
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