Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-02-24
asaiseellaneuus geaains.
LURE OF BURIED TREASURE
Pirate Plumber Never Loses it's At
traction for the Adventurous.

traction for the Adventurous.
Wealth that combines with it's in
trinsic value the fascinations Of mys-
terry and romance keeps it's secret in
hidden places among the coast Of the
western continent, in mountain fast
nesses, under the surface OF titled
farms and even beneath the tread OF
feet in busy marts. Its lure is con-
stantly drawing men from the towns.
On the other hand, men who would
never, listen to the tales Of pirates
who cunningly secreted their ill-got-
ten treasures to battle generations of
men, or Of richly laden vessels sunk
on treacherous reefs to lie unrecover-
ed through passing years, in the course
OF their daily work come upon coins OF
curious designs and old-time date, or
vessels Of precious metal, deeply in
crusted. A man digs we'll and his
drill strikes something hard in soil
where there is no rock, as was the
case in Kansas.
The work on the we'll is stopped and
the hard substance is dug up. 1t Is an
iron pot in which $4,000 in paper mon
ey, none Of it bearing portraits OF
statesmen Of the last fifty years.
In New Haven, Italian laborers were
digging a cellar for a new house. A
pick rang sharply against metal. The
digger stopped and picked up a coin
unlike any he had ever seen. When he
had cleaned 1t off he made out the date
1880. Then he found another and
found 1850 on it. Before he had fin
ished he had enough to pay for the
little house that he was building.
Wherever there were colonists In
the early settlement Of this country,
wherever pioneers struck out their
trails in search of riches, wherever
ships from mysterious cruises put In
at port, there is hope Of finding hid
den treasure, and the day is far dis
tant when the belief will prevail that
it has all been found.
But after all, though we know that
we may be walking over buried treas
ure at any moment and that in any
part of the country money that has
been buried in times Of stress may be
accidentally turned up, the greatest
fascination will always attach to the
treasures that the pirates seized and
concealed in caves and other romantic
places. Captain Kidd and others OF
notorious memory have so seized upon
the imagination that most boys can
think Of no more glorious career than
to be a pirate, and next to that, since
pirate days are over, Of searching for
the pots of gold and other attractive
forms of wealth that he left behind.
Next to the word pirate, Spanish is
one that opens up the richest vistas OF
recovering ancient wealth. In the days
of her glory the Spanish vessels sailed
the main laden with all manner OF
riches and frequently came to disas-
trous ends, leaving their ships and
men to haunt the regions where they
went down and their sunken bullion
and Jewels to tantaliZe the desires OF
men. Within few years success has
attended upon the persistent efforts OF
seekers after the treasures Of parts OF
tn Spanish Armada. There are plenty
of tales Of Spanish treasure on this
continent also, and the search for fab
ulous sums is still going forward.
In 1853 the Spanish galleon San Jose
Elena, on the way from Mexico to
Spain by way Of Cuba, was totally
disabled in southern waters, carried
northward week after week, and was
finally towed into port at New Lon
don. Conn. She carried a rich cargo
and a lot Of bullion, and in order to
tighten her for repairs part of these
were removed and put in charge Of an
English official Of the port. When she
was ready to sail 1t was found that
the bullion and one fourth Of the car
go had been removed. The colony was
scandalized, but all efforts to find what
had become Of the missing treasure
were in vain. 1t was reasonably GER
tain that it was buried somewhere
got a very bad name among shipping
men all over the world. The assembly
implored the governor to refund the
losses of the owners Of the Spanish
vessel, but nothing was done, and so
close was the watch kept by the towns
people that no opportunity arose for
removing the stolen treasure.
Three quarters Of century later a
woman in the town who told fortunes
with a crystal claimed to have a
vision concerning the treasure. Two
young men who heard her tale inves-
tigated matters and found most OF her
statements substantiated. They there
fore set about carrying out her direc-
tions and looking for the long, BRASS
bound chest, full Of Spanish doubloons
and gold bullion, which she said would
be found on the old grass grown
wharves. They chose dark and fog
gy night, and when the tide was out
they found, without any digging,
chest, on the lid of which they read by
the light from their lanterns, "Stas
Jose Elena" Joyfully they seized the
handle Of the chest, but it was too
heavy for them to lift. Later the su-
perstitious had it that they found the
handles too hot.
The next day they returned, but were
unable to agree under which wharf
they had seen the chest the night be-
fore, but they were unable to find it
anywhere and no one has been able to
find the chest to this day, although
many a boy who hangs about the
wharves, and many a man, too, still
hopes to see, some day, the words that
the young men saw on that night
years ago.
On an island in the Niagara river
near Buffalo, there is said to be hidden
group of chests, presumably filled
with French provincial loot In Colo
NAL days this island was the property
Of a Frenchman named Claireux,
whose name figures in the old titles
and land grants. He was a refugee or
exile, and the story ran that he had
been the governor of province and
had run away with the contents Of the