Gilpin observer., 1912-08-08

defenders were driven away they took the secret
of the hlding.place with them ard later were eth
sser4 made slaves killed. Umcan collected much
treasure and removed 1t to Ciahdu but he did
mot get the great hidden store of wealth, though
he laid the city In ruins and filled whole tower
Z with prisoners, whom he roasted alive in ven
Il geance.a Today no man seems competent to say
where those ruins lie and one has gone over
= the old records to trace out the geographical
points that are known and fixed in relation to the
unknown site of the lost city whose treasure
would run into the hundreds of millions. It. is
thought to be in Turkestan be-5s1ras bnn bz-a
- Equally, uncertain lis the spot where lie the
ruins Of the splendid summer capital of Ciandu
Marco Polo even furnished more or less accu.
rate map Of the city proper. 1t was IN Cathay
and built in the bend of great river with miles
Of defenses on the, banks and extending toward
the mountains, behind it. Ina many ways its de-
: scriptions corresponds to the modern town OF
Khotan in esatern Turkestan on the Khotan river.
yet other Indications. point to Leh in Kashmr on
the Indus river. and It may mean Kunduz on the
great Amu;Daria- river, stream as long as the
Ohio but In. SO remote part Of the world that 1t
is rarely even heard Of. 2. ...,..-,.... 715st
a4 Gepghis Khan, which means chief of all chiefs,
was Temudjin a Mopgol and chieftain Of the Col
den Hordes His domain in 1903 comprised all of
China. Turkestan Persia and. Kaptchak south
err Russia, and, II was about this time that he
established HIS summer capital at Ciandu. Here
1t was that he instituted the peculiar system of
fat money which, made gold-peces playthings for
the children fof THE poor Round pieces OF the
inner bark of the mulberry tree were stamped
q with the 1royal SmRtk and so passed current as
money! yHoGWfhin 8the- bounds OF the country all
trading was done with these pieces of bark. back
ed sby the force Of imperial arms instead OF BY
treasury reserveju1lC1 UT 81 t--uH = I'D Il IL
Merchants came in caravans from all western
Asia hringing gold. Jewels and merchandise of all
sorts. and they exchanged for mulberry
bark fiat money and with II bought freight for
their caravans. The result was that finally all
the gold and jswels of all Tartary drifted in thin
hbut steady streams to Candu and stagnated there
decreasing IN valueatil they were useless They
were stored In vaults and buried In great caches
n-tens of million dollars worth 1aWhen! the en-
sptre fell the fat money became useless. The pos
SCISSORS OF nthso gold were being slaughtered and
driven, on as slaves, leaving the treasure behind
them too great FOR the mind to com.
prehend where1is i now? In what dust-drifted
valley! What student OF oriental literature and
Eurepean accounts will trace ont the location of
Sianduo and recover the vast hidden fortunes? f,
es4 Some one will doubtless uncover a very large
treasure in the natural, course OF events in or
about the strange gigantic castle OF Mard at FL
Jowf. Arabia. Every new advance made by the
,antiquarians and the Biblical scholars makes II
a little more clear and certain that here lies
hoard that Is one Of the richest ingthe world. y
ms Ina large oasis supporting the largest popula
:. tion Of Northern Arahas III Jowf is peculiarly.
isolated spot best reached by riding from the
MECCA pilgrimage railway or by caravan from
Ithera The castle stands to the north a monster
pile Of ruined sandstone now utterly deserted
: and feared and Stunned by the Jofees OF the re-
r gons They say strange sights and sounds are to
be seen and heard there at night and that once
year before the Feast Of, Ramazan., all, the
blood that has been split about It oozes up from
! the ground making great red pool around the
fortress and dripping from the walls TN daylight
The early Arabian 'chieftains were great looters
hunters and hiders of treasure and tho traditions
are that FL Hadp one Of the builders of the cas-
tie. during life that extended, over, more than
one hundred years. spent bis, entire, time not
only IN robbing all the rich caravans within strik
ing distance Of FL Jowf and In warning on his
neghbors but IN tracing out the traditions OF all
; the tribes And M this work. guided by dreams
and Hvsions he recovered vast Quantities of treas
ure5 bringing II all TO El rJowf and hiding * in
u the castieIsri7 liHslI -ooo,s,to .roscott
iafTwenty.fxe lyears ago this tale was psf in the
game category with the entertaining yarns OF
the Arabian nNights9 But earh year OF study OF
thelrelils of ths ancient peoples Of Egypt Arabia
.fI7 n