Show Arkansas Farmers Let et Crops Rot of While They Dig for or Treasure That of Only Ghosts Have Seen sz 1 34 f y N r 0 4 n Ix a ir l R rt s Jr z k t r. r ft w E J t y r C F r w rt i 9 1 r 1 r F S f r r V ro B u su r Mas V Where the Arkansas farmers farmere are digging for the ghosts ghost's gold The Tho mouth of the shaft with the gasoline engine that keeps keen it drained can be seen in in the thi the foreground CORNING Ark Oct 2 NEA NE Service Service Bearded Bearded spattered mud-spattered sand nd armed to the teeth eight Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas Ar Ar- I kansas farmers have left their crops to rot In the fields and are sinking sinking sink sink- ing a foot 27 shaft In a river bottom bottom bottom bot bot- tom quagmire to get a chest of buried burled gold that only the ghosts have seen How do they know the gold Is there The spirit world says so so There i Is In this town a young joung girl it s 's s said communes communes' with the tle spirits She was born her parents parents parents par par- say with a veil ell over her hei face and when she talks with the unseen unseen un un- un- un seen Reen phantoms of the other othel world she draws a veil over her e eyes es and goes Into a sort of trance This girl told the eight farmers that through h the t phantoms she saw sawa a chest cl of gold and sliver silver burled buried beneath the earth She could see u u through the chest she said and could make out the dates on some of the coins And while white she did not actually lead them to the scene she described its location by landmarks landmarks land land- marks marls so that tr-at the men fixed on It as asa asa a small marshy island In the Black river nea here CONSULT OTHER MEDIUMS That Tha t was a year ago Last fall fan they made mado several excavations unsuccessfully un un- un- un successfully Then winter stopped them In the spring they went to other mediums These agreed that the gold was there and gave more chore explicit directions so this year jear ear the themen themen themen men dug a new shaft a little distance distance distance dis dis- dis- dis tance away from the old ones The eight men and their families are living In tents beside the tho shaft TheIr ThUr f firms go untended their thell crops are aie u rotting ung There is a a. collection of rifles and andi i revolvers evoh ers in their camp that makes it look 1001 like a small arsenal They have sentries posted constantly and they have announced that if any suspicious appearing appearing persons prowl around at night they will shoot first and investigate later The people of at this town do not bother them The shaft Is now twenty-seven twenty feet deep Digging It Is slow la laborious laborious la- la work because the soil Is little better than quicksand Thus far there has been absolutely no trace of any burled buried treasure But the men are not discouraged When the chest is found its contents contents contents con con- tents will be divided equally among the eight diggers The rhe men do not know how much money is In it but the they are confident that it will be plenty to compensate them amply un for their nun trouble f un nun TOIL IN tN RELAYS A gasoline engine keeps chugging chug chuS- ging to pump the water out of the oozy sh shaft ft The men go down in relays plying spade and mattock in n Its damp depths hoisting the slime and muck in dig buckets buckets dig digging ging Bing digging for tor the ghostly ghastly treasure Just who burled buried the treasure inthe in inthe the first place and why is a point that nobody not even the spirits seems clear on In n a general sort of way It is assumed that somebody somebody some some somebody body burled bulled it ft during the stormy Civil war days when guerrilla guerrI la fighting made this part of ot Arkansas Arkansas Arkan Arkan- sas a turbulent region And so it goes Day after day the gas engine puts put-puts away the unkempt farmers burrow In the quicksand a bearded sentry lolls on ona ona a 0 hillock with a gun In fri the crook of his arm and eight farms lie fallow fallow fal fal- fal- fal low and neglected I The gold of the ghosts hosts is calling Copyright 1926 NEA XEA Service Inc |