Evening star., 1948-04-25
| lust Between
Yourselves .
BY Philip n. Love

Buried treasure is something that
every boy-and probably every girl
Itoo-hopes to find somewhere, some
how, some day.
After reading Robert Louis Steven
sons Treasure Island" as boy
I dug up the woods in back of my
home in the hope of finding chest
full of pieces of eight. There wasn't
any chest, but I did uncover an old
tomato can containing five pop
bottle caps. AS a collector of bot
tie tops, I was grateful for these
pieces of treasure. one OF which
was a rather rare item, lemon soda
cap, worth two gingerales or three
sarsaparillas. If you have never
collected bottle tops, you may not
appreciate what that meant to me
I can only tell you that, in those
days, any good bottle cap was worth
its weight in chewing gum.
My friends and I were always
burying treasure of one kind or
another. Every boy knew, except
ing a few sissies, had a treasure
chest hidden under rock or at
the foot of a tree or. stump in his
back yard or on the nearest vacant
lot.
The WideaWake Club, of which I
was treasurer, kept its money in a
tin box buried beneath a hollow
tree Behind my house. Every week,
as the clubs dues were collected,
the box was dug out with appro-
pirate ceremony and the money de-
posted. Although every member
of the club knew where the treasure
was hidden, only the officers were
permitted to have maps showing its
exact location in relation to GER
tain pine tree, which was certain
number of PAGES east of certain
big rock.
The most the Wideawakes' treas
ure chest ever contained, as nearly
as can recall, was little over Sc,
which seemed a stupendous sum
at the time. AS we grew older, we
gradually lost our awe OF buried
treasure. and brought our funds
out into the open, even allowing the
treasurer to keep them in an ordi-
nary bureau drawer. So far as
money was concerned, that was the
Eend Of romance for us.
x x X X
But there really is such thing
as buried treasure, and lucky indi-
viduals do sometimes come upon it.
A recent news dispatch from Mil
waukee, for example, told of IL,
year -old man, one Edward Dougher-
ty, who bought a secondhand chair
from the Goodwill Industries, Inc,
for SIS and found more than 1000
times that amount secreted in its
upholstery.
When Mr.. Dougherty got the
chair home, he said, he remembered
how he used to find coins dropped
from peoples pockets among furni-
ture cushions when he was a kid.
He started poking around in the up
holstery, and pretty soon he had
$31, 900. 1t was in such small bills,
however, that he spent more than
four hours counting it.
y X X X
If I hadn't been broke when I
read about Mr.. Dougherty and his
chanful of gold, I'd have rushed to
the local showrooms of the Good
will Industries and bought the first
piece of upholstered furniture in
sight. But, alas, had no choice
but to explore my own living room
chairs and sofa,
In one of the chairs, I found
two nickels. in another penny,
and in another quarter and dime.
From the sofa, I dug two quarters,
dime, nickel and three pennies.
This, unless my arithmetic is even
worse than usual, adds up to $1.14-
by far the most valuable treasure
trove I've ever struck.
= The fact that some of this money
may have come from my own pockets
is beside the point. The point is
that digging up buried treasure,
even your own, is mighty pleasant
experience, as any kid who has
done it can tell you.