The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-11-30
LEADS HUNT FOR
ISLAND TREASURE
PIRATE AND SEA CAP
TAIN DECLARES HE is ONLY
HOLDER OF SECRET.
SEARCHING EXPEDITION STARTS
With Mysterious Maps and Accompa-
MED by Guard He Leaves For Aus
tralia. Says He Saw the Wealth
of Booty and Handled Ii.

MED by Guard He Leaves For Aus
tralia. Says He Saw the Wealth
of Booty and Handled Ii.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Another
treasure-hunting expedition is on the
way to the South Pacific. This time
it is backed by thirty business men
of the Missouri Ozarks, and is led by
the white-haired old sea captain, Jas.
Brown, who, in spite of his 81 years,
tells with vivid memory the thrilling
story of how he saw buried on this
secret island 3S6 tons of gold, silver
and diamonds, worth, according to
his calculations, $60,O00,000.
The treasure party left Kansas City
recently under such secrecy that
nothing of it's departure was learned
until it was we'll on its way to San
Francisco. Then it leaked out that
the leader, who says he is a former
pirate, wanted to maintain absolute
secrecy, because the island where
the treasure lies buried belongs to
England and if John Bull knew we
were going after it he would send a
battleship to stop us"
1t is possible, however, that he Sc
lected the present time for the expe-
dition because Great Britain's battle
ships are so busy in European waters
that it is not likely they have time
to try to save the treasure.
At San Francisco the party was
scheduled to embark for Sydney Aus
tralia, where a schooner will be out
fitted for the real work of discover
ing the island locating the hidden
loot And that ought to be easy, for
the old sea dog has maps of that part
of the sea, and on one of these
appears the island with arrows point
ing to the exact spot where the treas
ure is. In fact, Brown told his
friends he would be back by Christ
mas loaded down with gold.
Says He Sew Treasure.
Il know that treasure" said Cap
tain Brown. I've seen it. I've stood
over it. I've seen dead men by the
score lying around there. I've seen
a score of them murdered for that
treasure. | know how much there is
of it. | figured it to be $60,0OO,-
000, or Whereabouts. The treasure is
in gold sovereigns, gold bars, bullion,
silver dollars. There are gold cross
es, gold plate and gold angels that
they took out Of churches, and plenty
of diamonds as big as hazel nuts. l
was first mate, and when it came on
board l took count and entered it on
books
This is the way the old captain
told it to his prospective hackers in
Kansas City, Springfield and Mount
ain Grove.
He's Said That Before.
OF course it is not the first time he
has told his story. He told it in Lon
don and organized an expedition that
was wrecked He told it in New York
in 1918 and formed a company with
some wealthy New York, Chicago and
ST. Louis men back of it. That ex-
petition failed because it never start
ed. The newspapers heard Of it and
printed the history of dozens of sim
liar treasure-hunting expeditions
based upon mysteriously obtained
maps of Cocos Island, which had sail
ed and returned without a dollar S
worth of treasure. This seemed to
discourage the financial hackers of
the New York expedition and they
refused to furnish the funds.
Now, after all, Browns story is a
modified version Of the Cocos Island
tale. 1t is based upon the same fab
ulous wealth that history insists the
bandit sea rovers. plying off the coast
of South America about the year
1920 took from the churches and
treasure houses of the natives and
buried on Cocos Island. History has
it that to this day no one knows what
became of the millions. Brown claims
he helped transfer them to another
island some thirty years later, and
adds a touch of realism with his sto-
~ of the captains plot to murder all
the crew, from which he alone escap-
ed after shooting the captain through
the head at the last