Deseret Evening News | 1910-01-29 | Page 15 | A Century Old Hunt for the World's Most Famous Buried Treasure

1 y 7 s A om G fl 1 the 1 for i 1 m 1 a t 7 1 Il ENOUGH HOUGH Digging Done for th the Loot of it Captain Kidd to Cut Through the Panama CanalA Folly That Never Seems to Wane Although the Modest Captain Was Not Much of a Pirate and Hid Only a Little of His Plunder g q 0 sto story o huc treasure the J No N world over has had has appealed U more strongly to the ImagInation tion of man or held first place moro more securely than that of tho plunder of o Capt KIhl Kidd For more than two centuries the rho search fur for the gold ana ane the jewels the pirate sent ent when ho he felt that his career on sro sea wag nearly ended has been going on Hard Hardy hardly ly y a bt bit o of land lan from the Virginia capes to the St Lawrences mouth that name has been connected with I but lies has been gone Iono over How many expeditiOns Gardners Island has ha had l 11 s hard to say but for years never a year ear went by without at one party o of treasure hunters visiting there ther I Block Island Islan Narragansett ba bay points I the thc Delaw ro bay country an and l I districts have been ripped l and amI torn b by pick and spade at various times b by men who have believed they were ere about to solve the great secret and In solving It become Immen cly rich Staid ald Boston an and I Cc Central Park N y nac noun torn up In various valious places at times limes b by treasure seekers A FIND Strange how this burled trea treasure ure be lief lie holds sway On an Island In Long Island IRland sound a Ce foty years ears ago some boys bos from Crom th the New haven Hayen y M I C A had hada a summer camp One day 1 the la lads ls found an badly faded chart whIch with much difficulty t ty the they deciphered It bore the name of William Kl Kidd d and a date wa way back In n the seventeenth century B By thIs hart chart It was pas plain that the pirates tre treasure sure was burled on the ve very Island upon which the boys were camped The l lines n s on the chart were faint and the writing was queer Indeed but the boys bos somehow made out that b by measuring so man many fathoms from Crom such n a point and amI so hO ninny fathoms from Crom another an and so soman man many f fathoms thoms from Crom still another point they would find the lie spot whereon to start to II Never did boys bos search for or treasure more earnestly than did those New NewHaven NewHaven Haven tads Perhaps their Ideas were centered on pirates and pirates gold goldt t just then for Cor there had lu been much talk r of pl pirates ates ever eer since the summer camp l had been established Never cel wu was there f t a boy who was worth a continental but who not only hail had It a sneaking admira admiration lion tion for pirates bold but longed to 1 74 f Have a L chance at the game himself Just what bey found that Capt Il d dj j chart on that y M C A island Islan or what other youngster uncovered l the great chest In which a lot of treasure wa was discovered Is not Important to this stor story Nearly aU all o of the or more moreIn moreIn In the summer camp tool took part In the digging ng and the excitement was Intense There were pounds and pounds of metal Barra Bal o of gold some one who ha had done a lot of rending pronounced them hero Thero were ere bushel o of glittering gems In es represented a Rings ransom Some of the jewels wc were what some ome red some seine green some blue The boys bors lied had millions In their grasp ClI CLAIMS S That night the treasure chest was guarded as treasure chest never neel was guarded before or 01 since Next da day wor word reached th the mainland of the great discovery dis coer covery The rho newspapers got the story stor and time tho details got abroad There was wasa a lot rondo mado over Oer the great find Jut but the fact was that Hen henry L Smith the thel i l Y M 1 C A man In charge of the camp campt t bought the lie junk an and burled the treas treasure arc ure eh chest t drew up the chart ehart an and l put It where some lad was sure to find It and then to prepare his youthful charges for their work Intro Introduced the subject of pirates and their hoards In Inthe Inthe the evening talk He bi In keep Ing the boys buS busy while In 1st the summer ramp amp and nothing will keep them busi busier busier er than a treasure hunt but he was rather rathor Cd when the fathers of some of the boys bos put In formal claIms for lor tho treasure this one contending his son had found the chart this ono one that his first born had handled tho spade that disclosed l the tho chest ono one that his son Ron directed the search and nag the leader o of the party Never Nover again will Mr Smith bury th tJ ot of Capt His explanation of tho affair never neer caught cau ht up with the first sto story Some persons still suspect he seized all the tho gold an and precious stones for or himself It Is certain that lie he left the thc New Haven territory soon on after But lie he Is not living on his riches Imo He now Is with the Y M C A In Brook lyn In Bedford Beford branch treasure Island Islan l sto story Is only one of hun hundreds red of oC the kind Each year ear the crop of stories Increases People Insist In believing In Capt Kl ds treasure and that some day a some Bome one will find It u MY R THE KING ICING William probably has received more fame from a little piracy then than an any other sea robber In history There Thero are some somo persons who persist In as asserting asserting that the valiant vallant captain Is a much maligned man that he never was n a pirate at all and that he was sent to the gallows simply to satisfy public clamor because some scapegoat was necessary It Is sure SHO that no pirate over ever had more aristocratic connections than did Captain KI for Cor the tho king of England was his partner So was the leading cItizen o of Now New York So was the tho chancellor of En England land So was the governor o of New York and Massachusetts etts So were various British noble noblemen noblemen men Probably politics played as much mucha a a part In branding Kidd as a pirate as did hl such plundering as he was guilty lilt of on the tho sea In the tho latter part of the seventeenth century there was not a more highly respected man In New York colony than this same Captain His brig the Antigun Antigua plied between London the West est In Indies les and New NewYork NewYork York IKo He was well to do he hated pirates and lie he had the confidence and esteem o of all the prominent men In New York No one thought more high highly ly ot of him him than dl did Robert Livingston founder of the great Livingston family that lies given to America some bril brilliant Ilant men and women NEW YORKS PIRATES There were man many good people In ht New NewYork NewYork York at al that time line who did not look upon piracy with disfavor In tact fact New NewYork NewYork York did a glorious trade with the free freebooters freebooters of the sea It bought their plunder and It furnished them with men and stores Many Ian 5 ships Ps fitte fitted out In Now New York pre preyed ed upon the com commerce commerce merce of not only Spain and France but England too Long Island was called Crooked Island because Its man many bays bas offered refuge to the crooks of oC the ocean But It was not alto allo altogether gether necessary for or the pirates even evento evento I to hide In tine the bays bas of Long LonS Island to refit or to get rid of their plunder The governor of New York In one of his reports to the home government de declared that at the time of oC hL his writing there thero were nine pirate ships In Now York harbor harbol that they had worth of stolen goods aboard and that the lie pirate trade was so cherished b by bythe the people of New Nev York that not one of the pirates was moles molested lcd It was a time of lax morals on land landa a anti on sea but a change was under underway wa way So great had been the tho depredations of the tho pirates that It was thought necessary by III to call a halt The ling probably would not have v 1 lAX I I In n I II I t q 7 5 IP i t 6 I I been concerned particularly but for Cor the tho losses the commerce of England had bad sustained One of the cheapest and easiest wa ways s of oC abating the nuisance was believed to be to fit out vessels to pre prey upon the pirates seize their I plunder and bring them to justice This was considered not only a good but a profitable method of oC combating the evil elI and so In January 1695 a syndi syndicate cate was formed In the city of London to fit out a vessel essel to rob the robbers The members of this s syndicate were the lie king the lord chancellor the Duke Duko of oC Shrewsbury the lie Earl Eurl of oC Robert Livingston William and various other othel gentlemen It was Liv Ingston who suggested Captain ie v vouched for him not only as a aman man n of Integrity but rl a as a I bravo man an too He offered to furnish bond for portion of the lie contribution to the tho syndicate and am lie he told of the glorious work worle had done for Eng land In two sea fights with the French I In one of these his arrival saved a British ship tram from capture b by six I French vessels that were wele closing In on I the lone Englishman His conduct In this engagement had won for Cor him the highest praise Xo No one could have be h haved ved more bravely AGAINST HIS WILL When the proposition was made to Kidd In him London to take command or of the privateer to go out In pursuit of the pirates he viewed It with disfavor Only a few years ears before beCore he had married mar ried His wife had owned an excellent piece of propel property In Hanover square near where the tho Cotton Exchange now stands and he had sold this an and l moved Into u it new house on Liberty street near Nassau He was well to do homo home loving and l had thought of givIng up the sea To go pr would mean long a absences from home and In Increased creased dan dangers ers So he declined But Dut the king kinS and the kings friends s In III the s syndicate did not Intend that ho he should have his own wa way It was In Intimated Intimated to him that he must accept Otherwise he would not be permitted to leave leavo the tho Thames Hesitatingly an and reluctantly he accepted Living Livingston ston signed his bond and all the syn sn except the king put up UI their monc money to fit out the privateer In the language of the turf the king So 80 far as is s known he retained re retaIned his interest but kept his money lie had served a purpose however lie He had been a good deco decoy duck to get others to subscrIbe to the pool A stanch Argun vessel of 1ST tons the Adventure was purchased and In April 1696 sailed In this for New eV York to complete completo his crew and make read ready for 01 business On his wa way over oer to New York he captured capture l a French ship off ocr the New banks and when lie he reached Now New York he was greeted as a con conqueror conqueror The provincial a assembly vot voted voted ed to him b by wa way of te testimonial It If ever eer a man got ot u It daredevil crew for or a boat Kidd got one for or the Ad Adventure venture In New ew York He signed his men on the contract of no prize no pa pay and he got as fine u a collection o of war warship ship des deserters pirates and rogues as the Western ocean could supply His plan was wall to go to the Ow East Indies where pirates wore were numerous and In September 1906 he sailed Nailed out o of New York bay with time the good wishes of the people and the blessings 14 of the Earl of oC who olio lied had been apPOinted governor of New York an and Massachusetts seLLs I HIS CO COMMISSIONS The good captain had two commissions commis commissions from Crom his gracious majesty the tho king One Was to selzo pirates pirate The second econ was to apprehend seize and take vessels es els an and goods belong In Ing to the French kin king and his sub subjects subjects and such other ships vessels and goods as are arc or shall be liable to con confiscation This gave JUe great latitude to Capt but there was wall a clauso that ma may be considered somewhat like liken n a joker In which It waa wn specified that he should do nothing contrary to the true meaning of his instructions As AI Ashe Ule he was olI pg ape ot of profit pure V ly y an and the s were looking to to fatten their purses this commission com commission I mission might be taken b by him In a rather broad light especially in n view o of the wa way things were done on the sea In those days Apparently Capt tiled to be a areal areal real good pirate chaser for fOl a year ear or orso orso so but the fates fate against him He got Into the Indian ocean and he searched honestly and faith faithfully Cully for COI pirates but no pirates could he find There were plenty plent o of pirates In those waters but luck was against him Meanwhile he was having troubles of oC his own That gallant band of rogues he had shipped in little old New York had various vaIlous things thing to sa say to him The days dus and the months were slip slipping pinS ping b by and there was no pay for or them No prize no pa pay was the con contract contract tract If anything will stir up the devil In a crew o of rogues idleness sure surely I will and Capt Kidds or more rogues hind had been more mOIe or less Idle for Cor a year ear Not only that but the captain had ha l another nightmare Not Nota n a penny penn was he earning for his royal partner or for 01 the tho duke or the chan chancellor chancellor or my lord or good 1 Mr 11 Livingston To remain 1 idle lle In the Indian Ocean meant mutiny To go home empty han handed led meant disgrace and ruin What hat was Mr r Kidd to do Just what he did will remain a L dis r point In history so long as time lasts The captains own report was that his mutinous crew locked him In his cabin attacked and plundered mer merchant merchant chant without regard to the flag under which they salted and even cven fought a 11 drawn battle with a Portuguese Portuguese guese This may be true or It ma may be false Calse But Dut It Is a fact that from Crom out o of the Indian ocean came reports soon after that Mr r Kidd and inti hi his New York pirate chas chasers were the busiest pirates those wa waters ever eel had known And certain It Its I is s too that If the captain was locked In fn his cabin while the crew captured sonic ome vessels he was not locked In time the cabin when the richest prize of the tho cruise the Merchant was I taken This great ship had a great tore store o of merchandise a lot of gold goldan an and sliver silver precious stones o of consider considerable considerable able value a ue and a miscellaneous cargo such as would delight the heart o of any pirate How many vessels eels Capt I Idd and his men plundered Is hard to tell For Fora a time they gave gUC their attention to ves vessels sels els only and were scrupulously hon horo honest est in III their dealings with the mar mer merchants chants on shore from whom the they had to purchase supplies an and l with whom the they did ld an any trading The Adventure leaked so badly that ha had w to abandon her and transfer l his plunder pi tl to the Merchant He the spoils honestly and tahI fairly with his hh men but of oC theme them deserted and he decided to return home As a final stroke o of business he a lot of traders aboard thu tho Merchant erchant Ostensibly he wanted to sell a lot of the merchandise or of the lIw rich ship to them therm and also he was desirous of oC i pur purchasing Jr chasing precious stones from flOm them The They brought money and the they brought gems Jems After he had bargained with them long enough to discover what the they had in the way war of money and jewels he stripped them of their wealth ordered them off hi his ship and then ho sailed awa away HOMEWARD HO BOUND BOU D Possibly his departure was by some rumors that had readied the thc Indian ocean that a squadron had been sent out by his friend the kin king to check his