The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-07-26

Tho most ardent seeker Of
ih"@e troYes WIS King Juhu. Mr.l Of his limo
'H* spent In bunting buried treasures of other
r~"o'ofie7. assembling the gold and Jewels Of
hLh.1nd md buryInR them again Ooly those
E!"ah# ~ known value and Of certain or nearly
certain lo~ation ran be mentioned IN his article.
SO numerous alo they.
II was known that tho Kim had LuoR lclgn.
E.raI'd from old documents. that the Ilumaba.
during he time Of their occupation. had great
quantities Of gold, silver. jowoIg and plalc In q
Ihaht"rahj" resort in tho north Of EurIuuI, and,
h"uG eat off IN the rear by m invasion Of plrts
and Scots. buried IT In a VAST tro9c near the old
h"Ill4 wall In 0rlhumboriuud
hluE John made extensive explorations and
round q large cache made at n later roriuI. hut
dI rot tnd III" more important store Of wealth.
lie removed his find 10 Hermitage castle. End.
h~r'1tdjnE to all accounts. the maaonry Of tho
wall '"7 opened from tho outside and he treas
VI" hidden once again.
once since ht8 day the true clue 10 tho Roman
fac'" wax found and lost ngaln through the bru.
'oIiy md stupidity Of some English county Of.
hrlaI7 in Northumberland
TWO poor and ignorant farm lahororg wcro
"ortlhg IN n field on the line Of the old Roman
ruin oUe day and sat down. IN the shade of n
h'ap OF stones, for their lunch Idly, they turned
over n IaFEo stone, ana In the bottom Of the cavity
jcI' they saw an enormously heavy chain.
Pushing awhy the dirt uutil they could get boId
OF 1t, they drew It out. 1t was several feet In
length md weighed enough to make a burden for
oo}h OF them, Seemingly 1t was brass, ana they
iet II I'LL the next day, when they were working
win a cart AT evening they loaded # in the cart
and carried 1t home, leaving It against the wall OF
II" stable as a curious but useless find.
One Sunday WHOM ldllng with some ncighbora
they fell to discussing the chain. and one Of the
%netgfbors sCrapod 1t with a knife. IIo said It
lnl.BI and FlfF v.,r.. tn =
"Rs very soft. Taking "A broken link to the mar.
Rot when he next went. tho elder Of the two
tnHcrs submitted It to a Jewelor. who pronounced
II solid gold Of II very fine quality.
IN" %ncIghhor who had made the discovery of
inc nature of the find thought he should have
malt and be let In on the secret Of the remainder.
This was refused, so he informed the authorities.
ana the two peasants were arrested, spent Il long
period IN Jail, ana, as n result Of the I'll treatment,
on" Of them went insane.
The older had steadfastly refused to disclose
the spot where the chain was found, having taken
an oath when he was logged In prison that he
would never tell any one. This was his method
OF getting even aud It proved very effective
It Is curIouR indeed that the termination OF
the great treasure hunter and hlder's career
should be marked by the intermcnt OF wealth In
an amount as great, or greater, thnu that IN.
VOWED in any Of his previous exploits.
in his historic flight, King Johns party carried
with It not only an enormous treasure In the
store OF gold that represented the royal funds.
but n cumbersome weight Of treasures he had nc.
and more valuable today than all tho
others the fun regaIa, crown jewels. and IN.
sIgnia Of the great orders Of which the King was
head
Tho British Museum and the various orders
would pay at least SIS, 600, 600 for the recovery
Of these, and yet It does not seem a difficult maj.
Ter Some individual or syndicate with the proper
backing could easily look up the circumstances
rs contained In the old records and make A con.
sistent, determined effort.
The royal fugitive and rotinue were riding In
taste around the dip Of tho Wash, and the ant
mails on which the precious load was carried
nlrod so frequently In tho l0wlands that II was
ioridod to cache tho treasure
me King and a few faithful noblemen supertn.
ended the work, impressing some poasapts for
he Iabcr The records state distinctly that the
nt"rr"ent took place precisely where the road
.rosScs the river to Lynn.
The old road ran where there Is now n mnrqss
n spring and tnlI, baked dry in summer. A few
ears ago. during the drought season, some farm
sinking "A well SO as to water the cattle TINT
feeding on the marsh grass, struck an odd
.rown of solid gold. but made no further cxcaya.
ion,
BY the time London heard Of the find, the sen.
on had changed and tho spot was a swamp once
more There Is no question In my mind. after
eaalng all accounts, that the treasure is there
nd can be excayated with Il steam shovel foatad
N a barge into the mouth Of the great Ouse
In 1909, when England was at war with tho
II. N. s, Lnttne sailed from Var.
louth for CuXhAyen, She sank Of the island oF
.eieIand, at the mouth Of the Zuydcr Zee. and
My two OF those aboard were rescued. She car.