The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1915-04-16

who had somewhat the manners and
dress OF gentleman. brought The pro
lessor two ancient manuscrtpts N 4
present. and to show his further good
win be announced q valuable discovery
which had just been made ON the -
land OF Aegina. about forty miles d.
tant He was the owner Of the island,
and while his workmen were getting
out some stone they had come across
some rare treasures In art. but had d.
veloped only . small portion OF them
They had partly uncovered q stone box
which be believed held large number
Of manuscripts and valuable coins. but
he had delayed the opening Of It that
some Of his friends might be present
Three or four OF them were going b
his island home tomorrow. and b
would be glad to have on his yacht ~
many of us foreigners 60 along n
could make 1t convenient
Aside from the English party, there
were Americans. Germans and French
men to the number OF twenty In Ath-
ems, and when the list was made up
we numbered over forty, Of whom ten
were ladies. When we went on board
there was considerable surprise at lnd-
ing her the craft she was. She was
nothing more than q trader, and her
accommodations were Of a primitive
character.
My friend the professor could speak
Greek, but when he entered into con-
versation with Mr. Talanti's friends he
found them sulky enough. This excit-
ed our surprise. as they were supposed
to be gentlemen. When we came to
look them over we began to get little
suspicious.
AS we approached the island we saw
1t was fairly covered with trees. vet Il
did not have hospitable look. As we
made a close approach we could see q
couple Of rude huts and a primitive
jetty. but Mr.. Talanti explained that
his castle was hidden by the forest and
that he was landing at that point to
save US long walk.
As soon as the craft was made fast
lanti suddenly produced pistols and
knives and took their station by the
gangway. The sailors divided into two
parties. and. handling their naked
knives In a menacing fashion, they
drove the people into line.
When Professor Himstead had rub
bed his eyes. scratched his head and
| got 1t into his brain that something
not down on the program was going on
Talanti mounted a box and smilingly
observed:
| Ladies and gentlemen. you are now
about to pass ashore to behold my
wonderful discoveries, but each one of
you Is required to leave all money
and jewelry behind you. Twill see
that everything Is safely cared for!"
The men cried out in anger, but what
could they do? l do not think there
was a firearm among them, while the
Greeks seemed overanxious to use
their knives. There were protesta
lions and threats of the law, but
dered the work to go on. Each mar
in the crowd was regularly held up
that is. his pockets were thoroughly
searched and everything of value tax
en- The women were requested Il
hand over, and each one had be-
watch and rings in hand as she NOV
ed up. In the course Of half an hou
every one was ashore, and then ITALIAN
ii took off his hat, made q sweeping
bow and sailed away with his piratica
crew. He had no sooner gone thai
half a dozen villainous looking mel
came down from the hut
They told US they were fishermen
but their actions belied their state
ment Their first move was to de
mand cash, and great was their indig
nation and disappointment at bein
told that Talanti's crowd had take
the last coin. When sure Of this the
left us, and an hour later two genuin
fishermen came ashore in their boat
There were dozen vessels within fiv
or six miles of us, and a dollar woul
have been big pay for them to go on
and notify the nearest one OF our si
uation; but, realizing our helplessneS,
they demanded the sum of 500.
IL was dlluOSL ddkh WhCh q OaAACh e
old schooner came sailing up to tax
US of, and the terms were 81 a piec,
to be paid in Athens. We spent
dreary night on deck and landed 1
the city at noon next day. Immed
ately notice was given to the variou
consuls and to the Greek government
but no one had any faith that anythin
, would be accomplished. The govern
ment made loud promises and SCENE
: to be making all possible efforts; bu
Z as a matter of fact, Mr.. Talanti We
not even pursued. he never coul
I have put up such job without nun
Der of officials standing IN with hin
: and each and every one Of them doub
less shared in the plumber when 1t We
y divided. 1t was said that the none
and jewelry amounted to about $500
and the only consolation any Of Il
victims had was the privilege of abu
ing a country where such things coul
! be carried out.