The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1912-06-06

them at any time. One night when the hres OF
the advancing band Of marauders could be seen
from the tops of the towers, the pope directed
two Of his secretaries and the captain Of his guard
to detail a body of men and inter the hoard In
some safe spot outside the walls. This was done.
and with the dawn the castle was surrounded BY
the bands Of the free company.
1t was over three years, according to the papal
records, before it was deemed wise to dig up the
hidden wealth and bring it within the walls, and
then to the CONSERVATION of the pope and his
court 1t could not be found! When the return OF
the holy see to Rome was effected the treasure
was left behind and there it remains today.
There has lived one man in France who has
surpassed all others in his interest and effort In
the search for buried and sunken treasures. and
that was NJ Du Casse Night and day, over
period of some thirty years, he followed the mad
pursuit and though he found much gold he spent
It all in the search of others, dying poor, but con-
tent with the wonderfully interesting life that he
had lived. His cousin, known as M. Ormond.
though he had a number Of other names at Var1-
GUS times, due to the peculiar life he led was q
man Of inferior intellectual equipment, compared
to the great master-searcher. But M. Ormond
inherited the records and notes Of Du Case and
the bulk Of them are now in the hands OF Or
mond's heirs, family living in the French Dor-
tion Of Quebec, Canada
Among the most interesting Of these records
Is the story of the little known trove in the ruined
Abbey of st. Bavon, in Ghent. In 1858, French
Jew, by the name Of Broisel, fed from Guada-
loupe, in the West Indies. to Amsterdam, taking
with him large quantity Of gold, jewels and
plate which he had obtained in the West Indies
by some Illicit means, just what the records do
not show. His peculiar conduct caused him to
be questioned spy and, being cowardly sort
of man. he fed to Client, taking with him big,
black West Indian negro, who accompanied him
mt Tho mic Of a
left the inn in which he had quartered himself.
he and the negro, bearing each a large sack Of
gold and Jewels. 1t Is known that they hid these
somewhere in the ruined portion Of the abbey.
The next day Broisel was rearrested as a spy
and was deported. A wealthy man of Ghent pro-
tected the negro and made plans to return the
unfortunate black to his home in the islands OF
the Caribbean. The ship on which Broisel was
placed was one crossing to Hull and on board
were number of rufians who, finding that Broi-
sci was Jew, maltreated him so severely that
he died. On being informed Of his death, the
negro told his benefactor of the existence Of the
trove and of it's burial in the ruins.
With party of peasants the two went there In
daylight and the negro tried to point out where
his late master had hidden the sacks He was
unable to do so, owing to his first visits having
been made in the dark, and to his superst1tious
fears having obscured the accuracy OF his per"
ceptions. Further search was terminated by the
able, who scoffed at the whole proposition ana
forbade any more digging. This injunction was
made permanent and while it is reasonably Ger"
tain that any man who succeeds in getting per
mission to go through the ruins Of st. Bavon will
unearth enough wealth to buy score OF such es-
tates no one has yet made the attempt
It Is impossible in this consideration to enter
into details concerning some two or three hum
dred other treasures the Continent and only
few of the more interesting be mentioned
and that very briefly.
Somewhere in the morasses in the hinterland
of Vierande, the queer little lowland tract above
Hamburg, there is concealed in a tanked barge
great store of gold ornaments, jewels and gold
pieces hidden by the Lowlanders fleeing before
the Spaniards in the sixteenth century.
The most enticing of the ancient quests Is the
one concerning which there has been so much
speculation and on which no work whatsoever has
been done. In the years before his death Attila
the Hun became acquisitive and assembled a
treasure vast as to stagger the Imagination.
This he hid in cave in Hungary not far from
the spot where he died. All the traditions say
that he was buried at the mouth Of the narrow
tunnel leading to the cave, for he believed he
would come to life again and would need the
treasure to regain his power. Who will do the
necessary delving among the old records and To-
cate the grave Of Attila and the enormous wealth
concealed near It?
In conclusion let me cite a great mass Of sunk
en- wealth concerning the location and existence
of which there is no speculation whatsoever. In
the harbor of Vigo, Spain, lay forty galleons one
fair day some centuries ago, many Of them fresh
ly arrived from Mexico and South America. sew.
eral known to have several million dollars each
in gold and silver bars, dust and coin aboard and
others, defined for other ports that had put into
Vigo to escape the common enemy, the English
searovers. Admiral Sir Francis Drake appeared
and gave battle Now Frenchman or Spaniard
would have had a keen eye to the treasure. but
Drake did not, for he sank everything in sight
On the bottom Of the harbor, the greatest depth
of which is sixty fathoms, these rich old hulks lie
awaiting delivery Of their wealth. Cavalier de
Pima of Genoa has invented circular steel tower
which could be sunk over them and then foated
with an observation chamber from which grap-
pIinghooks and shovels could be directed, but his
project is at standstill discussed this situation
in Vigo Bay with superintendent Of a large
American wreckng company. He looked over
the chart of the harbor and his hard blue eyes
shone as he said:
Il wish somebody would sic me that job!
1t is a cinch for us Amerieans-a holy cinch!"