Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-02-28
TREASURES
Some Strange Tales of Hidden
Gold and Jewels.
Pirates Loot Is Elusive, But Not
Few Have Dreamed of Digging
Spanish Douboons From the
Earth-Only Dreams.

What child is there VINO cannot re-
call hearing at mothers knee stories
OF buried treasures. And what child
has not dreamed of digging from the
damp, dank earth Spanish doubloons
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 well, the drill /
strikes metal, and a pot of gold is I'M /
earthed In the walls of a dismanted /
house a black box is revealed and its /
shiny treasure makes the finder rich /.
man. From New Haven comes the f.
story Of an Italian laborer, who, dig /
ging the foundation bitches for his
modest home, disinterred enough gold
ell 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 Spanish
vessel there $50 years ago. In l155' 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 drlit-
ing. the boat was sighted by RELIEF
ship and towed to port at New Lon
don.
When repairs had been made and
the ship was ready to sail it 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
fury 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 murky night
she led them to a cache where stood
chest marked plainly Jose Ell
eric n
it the rusted handles broke away I'M
der their grip.
Abandoning the quest for the night,
they returned the following day. but
never again were 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 exile's cabin, but not one ever mas
discovered any treasure. save that
once in 1888, at unusually low water.
some coins dated 1887 were found at
the very edge of the island
II is known that Gardeners island
was once the rendezvous OF buc-
cancers, and many rumcrs 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
n with nuggets of huge size.
Ont in the Three Hills regions there
are some who still seek the cache
where Peg Leg boarded up his wealth
{ some indeed have persisted in the
,. search-but no one ever found the
rumored gold.
i Nearer home there is the wartime
>, tale of buried silver teapots stacked
u TO their brim with family jewels an(
: American gold coin and left in bitches
= hastily dug. where owners, frightened
fed before the soldiery OF the ClVi
: war which came foraging.