Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1912-06-07

some barbaric lord in the wild
days that are loet to history. No knew OF
any stony cave but one Of the peasants opined
that a certain old quarry that had been abandoned
for hundreds of years might possibly be the spot
Since the pair of them were idling, why not go
look at It?
On arrival at the quarry they soon found
recess blocked with earth and stone, ard pulling
this away with their hands, upon ancient
iron-bound casks by the dozen piled within. Some
Of these had rotted open and showed the treasure
running out
Great Britain and the continent are thickly
dotted with localities in which treasures are re-
ported to lie. treasures offering an equal or bet
ter chance Of recovery.
Foremost and by all odds the greatest treasure
story of the world Is the famous Rouvier quest
which has often stirred all France and remains to-
day the prime mystery Of all history. l hope
however, to add strong hint that may be of aid
in the next Juror OF search
Louis the Pious was an abstemious and un.
pronlgate man and had absolute control of the
Golfers of France in one of her richest periods
He had much money that he did not know
what to do with 1t other than lavish it on church
es and sacred works. His greatest gift was the
set of gigantic statues of the Twelve Apostles
placed in Sainte Chapele. To avoid public con
demnation 1t was given out that they were mere
ly gilded, but the private archives of the church
show abundantly that they were OF solid gold
Even conservative estimate of their value
makes staggering figure.
Generation after generation passed away and
still the great golden saints stood in Sainte
Chapelle, cassed among the art wonders of the
world. Then came dark days for royalty in
France. Rebelous mobs We're sacking other
churches and the high dignitaries called some
noted royalist gentlemen into council 1t was de
cided to remove and hide the statues This was
done with complete secrecy. The rising wave
rolled higher and nobility and clergy were wiped
out or dispersed. The guillotine or exile claimed
them. When quiet again twelve gilded
wooden figures We're placed in Sainte Chapelle
and there they stand today. There was no an
nouncement of the loss of the huge bulk of gold;
there could be no announcement considering the
previous deception
At last, some forty years ago, an imperial re-
corder, nosing around in the Tower of London
cataloging rummage there, came across a small
casket hidden away in a corner among lot of
stun captured by the Duke of Wellington after
Waterloo and brought by his commissaries to
England.
The casket was secured by twelve seals and
one of these the imperial recorder recognized as
that of the Marquis de Rouvier then at the
French embassy to the court of ST James The
young marquis said that the other seals were
those of great families in France prior to the
Revolution but that many had been wiped out in
the Reign OF Terror. Securing permission he
took the casket and its custodians to France as
sembled the heads of any of the families with q
HVlhs representative and the seals were broken.
Within was found the true history of the golden
saints figures written out In detail signed by the
archbishops and by the twelve royalist nobIemen
The document stated that twelve statues had
been inferred by workmen who were ignorant of
their character in spot in France where the
lines of latitude and longitude cross"
The British government transferred the casket
to the Louvre and the whole affair was put on an
official basis. The young marquis and his friends
of the other families joined in an association
sworn to return the golden figures and fulfill the
obligations of their gran fathers and great grand
fathers. The young marquis and two OF his
friends journeyed to the district near Neuilly and
by the aid of scientific instruments located the
crossing of the lines of latitude and longitude in
great open field. To their surprise they discov-
cred that the field belonged to an estate that was
one of the former properties of the Maruuises de
Ro0vier. peasant blowing in the field and
the searching party noticed that he and his prede
cessors had left in the center an oval spot now
grown up with trees and brush. As there was no
pile of stones there. no marsh, the young marquis
said to him
why do you leave that spot of fine pronnd nm
cultivated"
Because, sir, my father and grandfather both
bade me never to pillow over or disturb that spot
as long as held this land and to so instruct nv
sons or those who should come after me. because
IN that soil there is great holiness"
The JOY of the searching party can be imagined
There was no question in their minds but that
they had found the chosen hidingplace with very
little effort. Arrangements were at once made
with the proper authorities to begin excavatiop
and force of picked men and guards was assem-.
bled. To the terror of the peasants the trees
and underground were cut away and the first Law
er of soil removed. When the excavation had
reached the depth of three feet the experts with
the party announced that they were working in
soil which had never been disturbed since Z, v-as
deposited By nature, but the Marquis de Rouviay
insisted that th>, excavation continue
1t was sent down to depth of twenty feet and
broadened in all directions for large area. But
wherever spade struck even the untrsfnee