The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-12-25
BURIED TREASURES|N
REPUBLIC Of HAYT|
WEALTHY FRENCH CONCEALED
THEIR GOLD OVER A
CENTURY AGO.

governmental functions or the little
West Indian republic of Hayti, it is
interesting to observe that here Is a
land of buried treasure of the kind we
read about in the stories of the old
Spanish conquerors. Nor is this treas
ure of the disappointing story book
kind. 1T is actual silver and gold
Spanish money.
About a century ago, when a faDu-
lousy rich French colony in Hayti
was threatened with annihilation by
its million negro slaves, the landhold-
ers deposited their tangible wealth in
gold and silver in hiding places about
their estates. Later, French army of
$4,000 veterans, which was sent over to
restore order in the island was prac-
tically defeated by the negroes. In
all 10000 soldiers and colonists died
of disease and the sword, leaving
scarcely a remnant Of the white race.
The magnificent palaces and gar
dens and parks We're soon either de-
stroyed outright in vengeance, or were
occupied by the negro warriors and
reduced to a sad semblance of their
former grandeur Today there remain
only the ruined foundations of what
were formerly vast palaces. The
fountains are choked with rubbish.
and a few scattered sculptures alone
record the story of past grandeur
The gold which was buried, was left
behind. AS the white men were killed
and the few who escaped never re-
turned the secret of its hiding places
was never revealed
Only in isolated instances has the
buried treasure of the French been
discovered. However, it is quite COM
mon to find old Spanish gold doub-
looms, dating from 1855 to 1875, being
passed from hand to hand in Hayti,
These are in state Of perfect pres
elvation, practically uncirculated,
showing that they have been buried
almost since the time they were mint
ed. They are indeed beautiful coins,
with the design of the coat of arms of
the Carolus kings on the reverse side
and the likeness of the kings on the
diverse.
The modern Haytian peasant is
densely ignorant. The manager of
the French bank in Port au Prince,
the capital city, tells of an occurrence
in which a Haytian peasant started in
from the country with an earthen jar
full of gold which he had discovered
by accident. On the way he told peo-
pie of the shiny contents of his jar. As
luck would have it, he fell into the
hands of Syrian merchant who offer
ed him 500 gourdes, the equivalent of
500 in our money, for the contents of
the jar. To the peasant such an
amount of money was fortune He
sold. The merchant made more than
100000 in this little transaction.
In another authentic instance a ma
tive laborer who was working on an
old country estate clearing up under
brush for the owner came upon an old
piece of chain on the ground so rust
ed that 1t fell to pieces under his
shovel. Out of curiosity he dug along
following the bits of broken links I'M
ii the chain led him abruptly down.
ward. He kept on digging until he
anne to a large flat slab of rock too
zig for a lazy Haytian to lift.
At this juncture he shouldered his
pade and went into the house of the |
'Wner, casually telling him what he
lad seen. The owner sensed the pos
ibility of a find. He roundly cursed
he iaborer, paid him his days wage
nd discharged him, saying that he
ad placed the chain there imself. In
e night the owner went to the place
Indicated, lifted tie slab and under
cath it found a hollow space in which
vas rusted strong box of ancient
attern. Eagerly he burst the flimsy
d and beheld a mass of gold coins.
lightly furnished to be sure, but gold
lst the same. His daughters were
liter sent to France for their educa- (
ION.
Inc routine of the old French aris- ,
'cracs in burying their gold reserves
GEMS to have been similar to that of
aptain Kidd. They forced VITO slaves
dig a deep hole, deposited the .
irthen pot or iron casket in the bot
'm at night, and personally slaugh-
'reo the natives on top of the gold
ke the crust on a pie. The depression
as then filled in and covered with sod
stones Present day Haytans are
val enough to their color to believe
at all the gold buried under murder 9
slaves Is polluted and will bring
isfortune for all posterity to the
lder t
PROBABLY the most successful get [
way ever made in the magic name of Z,
I'D in Hayti was perpetrated recent v
by a white foreigner who Travelled =,
er the interior under the title of
octor'" which to the native means e.
AEGEAN bis seer superman, as we'll p
Dig chief medicine man. This wor. t.
y alter a careful research into the n
qurements for making hard cash on
buried treasure superstition, came .
thA
the conclusion that he would do 10