New-York tribune., 1911-01-01
Rights of Possession

Rights of Possession
IN the main, however, treasures are dis.
L covered by accident, in which case n.
finders have no claim whatever % the hoard
until it is in their possession. II one know,
OF a treasure and goes and gets II, having
received description Of its location, he S
much more secure in its possession than Il
he merely happened upon it.. ForeknowI.
edge indicates some kind Of descent from
the one who hid the treasure, ,-indicats
some measure of inheritance that could not
fail TO have its effect, for instance, in a suit
for the diversion Of the find among The
treasure seekers. The man who first knew
where TO dig must inevitably have the hons
share, his companions having partnership
share at best, and at worst mere wage pay.
ment as laborers.
Several things contribute % the hidden
treasures. War is, Of course, the most en-
phatic compeller Of hiding. Perhaps there
is no strip OF country in America where
there is so much hidden treasure as along the
route of Sherman's march % the ca. The
strip of country, nearly five hundred miles
long and sixty miles wide, Is ..'ted With
hidden gold silver, and Other 'reasurs.
When the army had passed, many Of thox
who hid the contents Of the gr. mansion,
were dead or driven away. Many Of the
marks by which the treasure could be located
were destroyed. Some Of the gold coins 50
hidden would now have q yau. many times
greater than at the time Of the wax. There
were Confederate gold coins. uaw. Derhap.
as rare as any gold coin known. A pot Of
Confederate gold would be d find indeed.
In the Mississippi
THERE are many tales Of Mississippi
River gold. There are lu.ks in that
streams bed that must contain tens Of thou.
sands of dollars in gold. There we're hun
dreds of steamers burned, snagged, and
otherwise sent to the bottom. Everyone
that went down had money on board. II
was not uncommon for a river steamer to
have hundred thousand dollars for safe
keeping in the pursers possession. When
the boat sunk, the gold went with it, Mis-.
sissippi River shanty-jOa,ers, when the cur.
rent throws up an old hulk, never fail to
search it, sometime digging away the
drifted sand TO get 10 the bottom. What
luck they have is problematical A shanty-
boater throwing oldtime gold coin over sa-
loon bars is not unknown.
Strictly speaking, Of course. this is not
"hidden" gold. 1t is gold los, TO the world
through shipwreck, and comes under the
head Of sunken treasure ships. Long searches
were made for some Of the treasure in river
steamer wrecks. A good deal Was recovered
by wreckers, among the most notable Of
whom was James B. Eads who built the
famous St. Louis Bridge. Captain Eads
rigged a diving bell, by means Of which be
was able to tramp along the bottom Of the
Mississippi in his search for lost steamboats,
and their contents.
The largest amount ever lost IN a wreck
on the Mississippi was two million dol.
lars, on its way to Grants army investing
Vicksburg. The steamer burned and the
money was lost; but none knows Just how.
Some think it was rescued from the flames.
some that the boat was set on fire 10 cover
its theft, some that it was lost by a gam.
bling officer, and some that it was burned
accidentally. 1t is not known whether the
money was all in paper or not.
OF hidden treasure, che Mississippi banks
have their share, and more. River pirates
buried and lost large sums. At Plum Point,
in Rowdy Bend, at Natchez-under-the-Hiu,
AT Rig Island. oDpOSite Fort Pillow az the