The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1921-07-14
LEGENDS OF LONG
AGO REVIVED WITH
STORY OF TREASURE
ISLAND, SOUTH SEAS

Papeete Tahiti, July 7s.-Romance
is not yet dead. Tales of buccaneer-
ing, murder on the high seas, buried
| gold on lonely. uninhabited islands
and charts and cryptograms of hid
den ueasurcs-trove are not all in
ventions of imaginative minds or le-
gends Of day which is long past.
Such a tale is the story of the
treasure Of the island of Pinaki, whose
hiding place. after a patient search
or over seven years, has at last been
discovered. And now schooner
from Tahiti has been dispatched to
bring away the gold
A half century ago, four sailors,
deserters from coastwise vessel.
Joined revolutionists in Peru and
learned of vast treasure of jewels,
Plate and ignots, the property Of the
church. which had been hidden in
Peru to prevent it from falling into
the hands of one Of the warning fac
tons Secretly the sailors searched
for the treasure, found it concealed in
church building and moved it to
another hiding place on the coast
Going to Panama, the seafarers,
at night boarded a small schooner,
murdered the crew, and. after put
ting the treasure aboard. set sail
across the Pacific. intending to make
some European port later to dispose
of their wealth. Recalling that they
had no clearance papers and prob
ably could not enter a European port
safely, they decided TO hide the gold
on some uninhabited island and then
get it later in a vessel they would
charter 1t Sydney, y. S. W, for
trading purposes.
Across their path lay the island Of
Pinaki, in the Paumotu Archipelago OF
the South Seas, and AT this uninhab-
tied spot they stopped and hid their
loot. One native, who observed them
from a neighboring island and roved
across to see what the men from
the strange schooner were doing, was
killed and his tribal brothers, who
crossed later. found only his empty
canoe and strange markings on the
trees.
Sailing on to Australia. the four
scuttled their vessel when few miles
from shore and, rowing TO land told
OF storm at sea which opened the
seams Of their ship. Not all believed
them. for some residents had seen
the ship approaching and had wit
messed its mysterious sinking. There
We're no police, however, in that gee
tion and as the four men looked des-
perate, they were permitted to strike
out overland for sydney, unmolested.
Years later. in about 1914 a Mr..
Howe was accosted on u Sydney street
by an aged beggar. When Howe
gave the man u few shillings he
was surprised 20 hear the beggar ask
his name and address Some time
later Howe received an urgent sum-
mons TO go to q Sydney hospital.
There he found the beggar. who told
of how he and three others had bur.
led their treasure, had sailed on to
Australia and had set out overland for
sydney. On their way, blacks attack
ed them and killed two of the sail
companion, Brown. tried for years
10 get ship TO go for the treasure.
but never obtained money enough.
Brown finally disappeared and he
<illrain, had fallen into misfortune
and knew his end was near. There
fore he gave Howe the map OF the
island and begged him TO believe the
story true and to search for the treas
ure. The following day the beggar
died
Since then Howe has been searching
fcr the treasure and lately announced
that he had found II in a shallow
lagoon on Pinaki. Lately he char
tered a schooner at Papeete to go
TO lift the gold, after making a con-
tract with the Colonial government
as 10 his rights in the matter II IL
said that the treasure is worth sew.
eral million dollars.