The sun., 1919-11-05
PASTOR BUYS FARM
ON CAPT. KIDD HOAX
The Rev. Mr.. Loehrs Declares
Six Weeks Digging Failed
to Reveal Any Treasure.
SELLER SUES FOR $4,000
Jersey Spiritualist Church Is
Interested in Unusual
Realty Transaction.

Mrs. Sophie Sautter and Mrs Marie
Blumer. both members Of the Market
Street Spiritual Church Of Paterson,
". j.. win assume the witness stand in
the Passaic Circuit Court to-day, and
testify for the defence In tho case Of
Baisinger against Loehrs, an action on
a promissory note.
In those temples of learning where
law Is inculcated by the case system in
structors will md this one invaluable
as embodying the principle that q note
Of hand Is not "a courier without lug
gage" where there has been no indorse-
ment to a third person, and as having
terest calculated to keep the nose OF the
student in his book.
Tho defendant Fred Loehrs, IL q
/, clergyman In orders: tho plaintiff, DAN
lei Balsinger. O farmer of Oakland. N. ].
In 1s13 the plaintiff sold his farm to
the Rev. Mr.. Loehrs. taking In payment
therefor a cash deposit OF $40 and q
note for 5000, and arranging that Mr..
Loehrs assume $500 mortgage which
was fastened to the land. To the action
on the note. which had its first day in
the Passaic court on Monday, Pastor
Loehrs presents the following defence:
That In 1913 he became the directing
head of three spiritualist congregations
and came to know Mr.. Balsinger as a
parishioner. That Mr.. Balsinger con-
fided to him presently that he had been
visited by q disembodied spirit who
confided to him that the late Capt. Kidd
had buried an enormous body of treas
ure on the Balsinger farm, which, how.
ever. would elude the spade Of any or
dinary digger and rise only to that of
an individual whom the spirit described.
the description fitting Mr.. Loehrs to the
tips Of his clerical tie.
Now Mr.. Loehrs counts himself no
colossus Of learning. He Is a little weak
on philology for instance and does not
or did not-know who first put the
kid in Kidd. But as a geographer and
geologfst he was able to tell Mr.. Bal
singer that he was not aware thai
william Kidd had ever worked as far
inland as Oakland. Mr. BalsinSer
sighed At this. raising his eyebrows and
inquiring II Mr.. Loehrs did not know
that the Delaware River at one time
coursed through Oakland. Or so at
least Mr.. Loehrs testified In court
He testified also that he outlined a
plan for the raising OF the treasure to
ms CHuTCn DUaru' tn&t tne poard agreed
to finance II, and the farm was bought
He and two women who will take the
stand to-day did all the delving and
digging, Mr.. Balsinger inspiring them
with his presence and counsel from day
to day. although personally he never
touched a spade. They toiled for six
weeks without turning up anything that
rang like money. but upon the strength
Of all the boulders they digged free
Pastor Loehrs was able to say In open
court that there Is now in all New Jer-
sey no finer stretch Of arabic land than
that comprised within the Balsinger
farm at Oakland
He protests that he has been the vic
tim OF an inhuman hoax rendered all
the more iahunan from the fact Z IT the
treasure, X retrieved. was to 20 % hu-
manity. not to Mr.. Loehrs. The plain
tin, however. contends that Mr.. Loehrs
purchased the farm on it's obvious mer-
It's. and that since II is now cleared of
It's last stump and stone Mr.. Loehrs
mas only to plough and seed it down to
discover that It Is constructively a gold
mine u not gold mine In fact