Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1914-03-19
TREASURES
Some Strange Tales Of Hidden
Gold and Jewels.
Pirates Loot Is Elusive, But Not q
Few Have Dreamed Of Digging
Spanish Doubloons From the
Earth-only Dreams.

What child is there who cannot re
call hearing at mothers knee storie
Of buried treasures. And what ehil'
has not dreamed Of digging from thu
damp. dank earth Spanish doublooni
or golden nuggets? Nor were they IN
childish fancy tainted. though hid by
some swashbuckling pirate who roved
the main with plank ever SET for luck
less seafarers who came his way. the
Kansas City Star states.
Down the generations has come the
story OF one who took his talents and
buried them, and there is nothing to
disprove the theory that he then but
conformed to common custom.
A farmer digs a well, the drill
strikes metal, and a pot Of gold is un-
earthed. In the walls Of dismantled
house a black box is revealed and its
shiny treasure makes the finder rich
man. From New Haven comes the
story of an Italian laborer, who, dig
| ging the foundation bitches for his
modest home. disinterred enough gold
en- guineas to clear his place from
debt.
Few towns away from the prairie
country but have their treasure caves,
and veteran river men will point In
passing to where some vessel treasure
laden went to the locker of the fresh
water David Jones, Esq.
At New London. Conn. townspeople
still narrate a weird tale OF treasure
which disappeared from a Spanish
vessel there $50 years ago. In 1853, to
be exact, the galleon Stas, Jose
Elena, gold laden and bound from
Mexico to Spain. was disabled In
southern water and carried north
ward. After weeks OF idle drift
ing, the boat was sighted by q relief
ship and towed to port at New Lon
don.
When repairs had been made and
the ship was ready to sail 1t was
learned that from its hold the bullion
had disappeared.
There was but one conjecture. The
gold had been stolen and buried along
the water front close by. Townspeo-
pie kept close watch, but no one ever
came TO reveal the hiding place.
Something more than half a CEN
tury ago came there a seeress. who
gave directions as to the whereabouts
Of the buried riches. Two youths
gave credence to her powers and.
their story goes on. on a murky night
she led them to a cache where stood
chest marked plainly Jose FL
ena," but that when they tried to lift
it the rusted handles broke away un-
der their grip.
Abandoning the quest for the night,
they returned the following day, but
never again we're they able to locate
the mysterious box.
Not far from Buffalo an island In
the Niagara river is said to be the
trove of a French refugee and fairly
dotted with boxes of jewels and pots
of gold. Many prospectors have sunk
their picks about the reputed site OF
the exiles cabin, but not one ever has
discovered any treasure, save that
once in 1888, at unusally low water,
SOUlb COluS udlSu looa "OAO AONAN ~
the very edge of the island.
II is known that Gardner's island
was once the rendezvous Of buc-
cancers, and many rumors tell OF
buried treasure there, long hidden loot
of pirates.
Nor is the rumor Of treasure trove |
confined to the Atlantic seaboard or
the east, for from Oregon to Lower |
California beach dwelling folk cherish |
and retell the stories Of their fathers |
to the little folks, who dream of grow
ing up and finding the great stores of |
gold along the Pacific coast.
Even along the lower Mississippi |
there is a tale of 100000 gold buried |
near Natchez, and a classic OF Colo |
RADIO is the legend OF Peg Leg Smith,
whose vast wealth died with him for
all the world is concerned, no one
ever having located the cache of the
one-legged miner who did his trading
with nuggets Of huge size.
Out in the Three Hills regions there
are some who still seek the cache
where Peg Leg boarded up his wealth
some indeed have perished in the
search-but no one ever found the
rumored gold.
Nearer home there Is the wartime
tale Of buried silver teapots stacked
10 their brim with family jewels and
American gold coin and left in bitches
hastily dug, where owners, frightened,
fed before the soldieFy of the CiVp
war which came foraging.