Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Jan. 27, 1907, edition 1 / Page 17
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7 -J j filaMlp Ye?. . - -11' r ' W r ' 5" ta.yc-. "' I i.ni., n.i - .i... mm -I.- ,..,.,.l,.,wwwifA . .' - II 1 ,','','.,. 'J; i-y I g.,. . i. .5';'. .'"'v.' WVk'-' !.v7 11 d .Sarw,. I?i iadg88 PARSIFAL THE SHORT OP PARSIT. In th famous spectacle, or more correctly speaking, the Christian drama of "Parsifal," which Is now creatine; such a furore throughout the country, and which 'Is to be pre ranted In the Academy Wednesday, February Ith, we hare Richard War ner's masterpiece. From a- religious point' of Tiew, a . play 'wherein - each and every character, incident and ac- cessory, is more or less symbolic of epme Christian teaching, ' phlloso phloa! thought or problem of htr pianity.v In the Holy Temple, with -Its noble The Quest of the Golden Treasure of the Albemarle By Dr.;Richard fiillard;) . It Is the custom of writers before . commencing a story to beguile the reader: with dainty bits of rhetoric, and literary- bon bons to sharpen his appetite and lure htm on. it Is like being ushered into a beautiful grllle . room before, gaining admission to the jiwuie niveif mm w a, ya aa vovuuiuill iv where one . may, sit and. con over the bill before' the curtain rises; It is what ' the Norwegians would call a, smorgas bord a foretaste before the regular (east But let us away with that and prooeed with -our story.. In- February, 1 1 9 8, . Just . bef ore the outbreak of the Spanish, war, I Was called In my official capacity as sur geon of the port to attend a very sick nan. Th message was urgent and peremptory, and the messenger, a awaruy loreign-iooxing person, who ejpoke In broken English, said that his captain was seriously ill on a vessel which lay at anchor some two miles out in Edenton bay. Taking a yawt we . soon reached the mooring, anu boarded th vessel without ceremony. On entering the cabin I found my pa- Vinged all along the danger line. His lack eyes fairly gleamed like a de mon's as he tossed upon nls pilHw, and beat himself about In his . berth. I had been warned by the public 'Health officials to be on the -lookjut for -yellow fever, and I prompciy quarantined the vessel 'for a few days to. watch the solution of th case. He gave his name as John Rodgsrs,' and I' thought at the time bow little tha EriKlish name accord ed with tha evidently Spanish fea ttfrmst i .'Every morning the same nesenger cam promptly for me. As our 'acquaintance lengthened I be came ' deeply Interested in my mys terious patient and I gave, him every possible attention. - My curiosity wa Aroused; I noticed that th , vessel ' was Of different ahin and Hrrlnr from the ordinary craft of our wa- 4rA TTrntn Vim nnaa. t.. "r K5f ear.led a complement .of at WH llv men, Including the cook. ' but there was actually on board only two persons, the sick man and th messenger. Th vessel had no cargo, out I noticed In the hold a box cover- d with canvas, which I took to be supplies. In thre days my patient's fever was rducedNand h was coin vaiescing rapiaiy. un the night be for I was to discharge him, aha mag out nis ciean bill of health, th vessel disappeared as mysteriously at If she had been swallowed, up In a maelstrom. Could she be the phan tom ship of Black beard, th blrate.so .dreaded at night by mariners upon the Albemarle f My mind began to ronlur'up all the wonderful stories ' told bU SUDerstltlon aeatnan hni.t th phantom ship seen so often by moonlight and the mvatni-iAiiB iio-m. , upon th water. I learned afterwards from th harbor master that other than the calls of the messenger for me, there had been absolutely ' no communication with the snore; they had purposely com In contact with no human being but me. v , r ; ; , ? , Horn days after that I accidentally picked, up a copy of Th New Tor Herald and i read an extract from La Luca, . the leading newspaper of Havana, suing tha; two prominent nights, we are intended to see In Its grandeur' and beauty that state of the human mind and thought that Is most acceptable . to - God. Only the knights, we are Intended to 'see in Its and are: admitted within the walls of the Holy Temple. .The Holy Qrall l& here Intended to represent the actual, grace of God. When uncovered, the grail sheds' Its lustrous gifts, on all present Without this divine susten ance life within the Holy Temple te unbearable. Faith without; works of charity - does not find favor In His presence. , In Tlturel, the faithful guardian of the Holy Grail the author Intended to .1 Spanish treasury officials, had seized a; large amount of Spanish' gold, hau conveyed It secretly to a vessel, and were thought to be headed -for the States, and also that a Spanish cruis er was In hot pursuit. I knew at once 'by Intuition that my strange ac quaintances were the rugitlves, that the vessel was the golden argosy, and that the box I saw ln'the hold con tained the two million missing' pesos. After considerable -speculation, how ever, the matter soon passed entirely out of my mind. About two years, after that time l took from my post-office box a letter with a Spanish .stamp, and post marked Toledo, Spain. " I laid aside all my other mall In . my. curiosity to open this missive from across the water. To my utter surprise it was from the mysterious man I had' at tended two yeare before. It ran thus: Citadel of th Alcasar, , Toledo, Spain, April 20, 1900. . Dear Sir: You will remember ma as the fever , patient on the ship in KEdenton bay about two years ago. My real. name is Juan .Kodengo, anu not John Rodgers as I gave it to you. I wasVconnected with, the Insular Treasury at Havana,' and-realizing the early and Inevitable downfall of , Spanish power in Cuba, I seised th Spanish funds In my hands, amount ing' to over two million pesos, and with my secretary' hired a vessel, and made safe' our escape. Taken sud denly 111 at sea we put In at Hatteras and made xur way up to Edenton, where , I was the recipient of your kindness. .1 was determined that the gold, should never . fall into th hands of, th Spaniards again. . Real izing that we were hunted," we Jet tisoned th large chest containing th gold at a certain place near th shore of Albemarle sound, below Edenton. With -my' compass carefuly taking the bearings, and then making a plot or map' of the exact spot We then sailed for th Bermudas to place our selves under' the protection of the English,' Intending, when peace was declared, to return to Edenton and se cure our treasure again. But w were unfdrtunatoly captured at ." sea and taken to Spain In Irons, my com panion' (the messenger Y dying on th voyage, and I am now th sole living repository of this secret f was sent at once to the1 prison of the A leaner, where I am still kept under the strlcv eat espionage. From the very nature of the crime there wilt be but little chance for royal clemency toward me for many years to com, for publlo sentiment Is very Intense toward me Just now, because Spain Is over whelmed with a heavy war debt, and needs . every possible) ' peseta. So Sehor, If you can convey toi m ', JOQ pesos m om secret manner, that 1 may-4iav some comforts other than this horrlbl prison .far X, will give yon this map. locating. the treasure, which I now have sewed In the lining of my hat, I have gotten 4 priest whd visits me every Wednesday, "to smuggle this letter out to you. His name Is Friar Tallvera, and you might operate through Jilm. t ;, . a:,h! ' , .v ;",; ' AdolS Senor, : . Juan Rodcrlgo, alias John Rogers; ' There the transition front 1 Roder IfO to Rogers itemed easy and log represent a perfect type of the spirit ual Utopia, the condition that Was and that Is to be. As long as the grace of God was, received by the un covering of the Holy Grail, Titurel and all within the sacred portals of the Holy Temple lived .the. life of faith, love and charity. When Tit urel gave the Holy Grail to the. safe-, keeping of his son, Amortas, who fell a victim to temptation and was In consequence unworthyto uneever the Grail, the old King, Tlturel died, the knights lost their-spiritual pow er and Amfortas was a constant suf ferer In body, mind and conscience. Such was the result of sin and weak leal. Could anything be more na tural, or plausible? The time In the tide of human events had arrived for me; there was but one thing to be done I must go to Spain, and it wa necessary for me to go at once, for Roderigo might die In prison before I could obtain this golden key to riches, or he might become Impatient, If I delayed, and make overtures to other parties, so it was necessary for me to act secretly, and with great alacrity. As I have already said, I was not long In making up my mind to accept this opportunity. I already felt that I had In my pocket a deposit certificate for a princely fortune In some great banking house. That night I hardly slept at all, I tossed this way and that, (literally rolling In my prospect ive wealth) heard every noise In the house, and every stroke of the clock. I built several beautiful coun try homes, -bought fast yachts and race horses, then became magnani mous, aa the Immensely wealthy sometimes do, and established public, libraries and homes for hopeless old Just as I had1 cornered the peanut market, and . then had several for tunes left for future Investment The, next day, .having said adieu lo none, I locked my house, took the first train to Washington, where I procured my passport papers, - proceeded to New Tork, and shipped direct to Spain. . One of the most delightful things about travel In Spain Is the exemption from the conventionalities of rail-, roads, and the hurry and bustle and unrest Incident to our great .com mercial centres. The Hidalgo takes life easily and always will. Alt hough' railroads have made their appear ance between the larger cities, yet most of the travel Is still carried on by means of the old diligences drawn by mule,' and upon donkeys' backs. It was upon the box of one of these antiquated vehicles, drawn by ' alx mules, that I .began roy Journey to Toledo. . One has ample opportunity thus to enjoy the 'quiet peace of the landscape, , and th warm , mellow lights upon the hills, so common in Spanish atmospheres; you pass now through endless vineyards, linking the hills and valleys together, and laden with th plump thyrses of th malaga or delicious muscatelle, or wind through .olive groves . redolent . with freshly opened blossoms, 'or under the dense boskage of th evergreen cork trees. ' At dignified intervals w would com upon roadside shrines,' - with their ' nearby springs." Here th pas sengers would stop, for refreshment or pans a moment , In silent prayer to th Virgin. Sometimes, -when the 'stag was climbing a ; hilt, ws would catch Just a glimpse, upon' yon der summit. against the sunset clouds, of a genuine castle In Spain, softened by th .distant has or the rough' scars of tlm ind of battle, and half-hidden In th green liver' of. the Castlllan summer. We wore constantly passing tfamstrs with their montelro caps, who ,, were almost Invariably Don Juans. br Don Alphunsos. ' I wag told that many of. them were really .sons of th grandees of Bvi.,Z;-r:'-'':) ' Th con tern plat I v old1 Isaac ; Wal ton,' who - has written the very : best guide boolt to a quiet mind, and an easys conscience, admonishes us , that In making a Journey never be so 'eag er to reach our destination, as to pre vent us from enjoying the pleasures Of th entourage. Though I waa mora (ban eager, and very .Impatient- to reach my goal, yet th fascination of the country', so ancient; so distinct ive, made me almost forget at times th object of my visit - On th aXUr t in . r. i Jir . , WLft lr...- w ness when, In the very presence of the grace ofc God' merely waiting for the asking. In the suffering figure of Amfortas we are led to see a picture of poor sinful humanity brought to this con dition through its own weakness and neglect. 4 In the wound in th3 side of Amfortas, which ? will' not "heal, we see' a symbol of the conscience of man who, having commuted a deadly wrong, hovers witfeMnf always as a reminder of 'his stn.- But even Am fortes, great as hls- orlm has been, is Anally redeemed and brought back to the favor and grace of God In the . Holy Temple through penitence noon of the third day, Just as we had climbed to the crest-line of some beau tiful wooded hills, we .beheld Toledo, apparently standing a-tlptoe to catch its flattering reflection in the river Tagus, which encircles the city with Its girdle of sliver. We were soon upon the famous Alcantara Bridge, where we halted a moment, and then enter ed the city through the Gateway of the Sun. Following the Instructions of my Baedecker. I looked at a hos pitable' little inn called the Fonda del Maria, and was soon shown to my room on the second floor, with its grilled and grated windows opening upon a little balcony, which overlook ed one of the most picturesque cities of the world, and towards the east I beheld, In full view, th orange-hued citadel of the Alcazar, In one of whose cheerless donjons Roderigo was con fined. ' I knew that a vast amount of form and ceremony would be ne.'CMury to secure admission to this fo;trcei, so l called at once upon 'tha American consul,- who was spending the sum mer there, and obtained 'a letter to the commandant. Under th prctenv) .t carrying funds to a relative Inside, I was allowed only a flffeen mlnuto au Girnce, .The turnkey;,' admitted nn through a low, groined archway or sally-port and I stood for the moment imprisoned in the ancient fortress castle of the Moors;; I was at once shown to No. 459 ( (he prisoners were only, known by numbers), Roderlgo's cell .was , of massive blocks of .stone. A small grated openlng'd cannot call it a window) gave him at noon quite a flood of sunshine. I found Roderigo stretched .upon a couch of wheat straw loosely thrown together; . one foot was propped agslnst the wall, the othei carelessly upon the floor, he was rest ing upon his left arm; thera he lay In the most pleasing reverie, quietly cou tem plating his two pet rats, who were nibbling crust of bread upon the floor. The i wreaths from' his pipe had floated up In the sunshine, and spread all over the cell like the smoke from the Genl's vase. When I spoka Rode rigo recognised me at once, , I maseo at his cheerfulness In such a place he seemed to me a living and literal il lustration of that famous couplet, that "8ton walls do not a prison make, Nor Iron bars a cage." . . . Our Interview was of course, brief, and I' counted out to him. before th guard, two hundred dollars Jn Ameri can gold,. As I aros to ! leave, he pointed to his hat (the map was con-, cealed in the lining). 1 knew the sig nal, so taking his hat, and leaving mine with him, I quietly retired from the prison,, took ship In a few days, and arrived In due tlm at New Tortc. . When I reached my horn I breath, ed a sigh of rellf, foM realised that on of the most -Important steps had been taken towards th acquisition of my treasure. Jason and his fellow Argonauts ,wer not , mor .elated, when, by th maglo potion of Medea they had slain the dragon, and wer about to snatch the Golden Fleece from the beech tree In th grov of ColChtS), ' ' ' 1 " 'i i "Guletly at home I examined v' my map, and her a great difficulty beset me; th writing was In Spanish, and I did, not know a word of th language. Of course th utmost vigilance , and caution' was necessary to ; guard my secret I could not of course show my map 40 any one, of have It translated, lest f should be betrayed, or be given a bogus translation that the transla tor might subsequently avail himself of my opportunity,, I dared not hint th matter even to my . nearest friend, and ytt I sawtbat. this vary, secrecy '' ' ; ... ; ( . l ' ' and his craving for salvation. Gurnemans, the loyal servitor of the Holy Temple and its knlghu, is seen as one who suffers for the faults of others, yet not losing faith in God, is Anally rewarded for his constancy and loyalty. In the character of KlingHor we see the ever present type of the tempter and evil doer, who being un worthy of. God's favor himself, seeks tf ruin and degkade .U who are more fortunate. Kllngsor is denied admission to the Holy Temple. In revenge he tries by every artifice and means to bring ruin upon the heads of the Knights of the Holy Grail. was giving me the appearance of' rest lessness, and abstraction would at tract attention and cause me to be watched. It seemed necessary and best that I should go to We nearest large city, employ a 8panlsh tutor, and live as quietly and retired as pos sible until I acquired the language. Fortune was very Jocund, and did me a flne office In this, for the very first afternoon I arrived, while walk ing down an obscure street, I entered a fruit store and fell by accident up on Emlllo Nunes, an educated Cuban. He lived with his daughter, Buelna, quietly and happily in their snug apartments above the store. I made my arrangements at once, and was taken in as a member of the family. The back yard of their home fronted to the south, and was surrounded by a high brick wall, which gave it the appearance of a court. In the centre was a grapevine, which had complete ly covered an arbor. All along the walks and borders Buelna had ar ranged palms, and coleus, and be gonias, and scarlet sags, and gaudy cannas, so that the plsce resembled the patla of a genuine Cuban haci enda. It was a delightful little Eden, and there, upon a seat under the canopy of the grapevine, as happy as bucolic Tltyrus unde'hls favorite beech tree, I received my lessons In Spanish, sometimes In the morning, sometimes at night, when all the stars were out and watching, as pleased the fancy of Buelna, for the good Emlllo had given her the task to instruct me. Iet me in sist Just here that thuso who would learn a foreign language easiest, can best learn It from the lips of a wo man; she Is more fluent than a man, has a better vocabulary, and her charming companionship, if she is really agreeable and Intelligent, stim ulates the desire to converse with her In her own language, I soon found, however, that there were oth er factors in the equaslon, tha leaven had begun to work. I was learning Spanish rapidly, and learning to love Buelna as well. During my .leisure hours I assisted her In th car of her plants, snd in tending her . cage of white rabbits down at the lower end of the court In other words I waa her willing slave, and. as I am telling you this my heart grows sick while memory ponders over these happy scenes. She repeatedly Asked me. why-1 was so anxious' to learn Spanish, and as many times . I ' waa tempted to make my confession, take her Into my confidence, tell her and Emlllo the whole story of my treas ure, and let them share It with me. But you are growing Impatient to hear the end of this story, so. Ilk th Wandering Jew, I must push on. I may take the time some day, when I have gotten my treasure, to-, tell you, th whole story of this delight ful era In my life, with perhaps a pleasant; little- sequel' added, 'and Buelna aa the centerpiece. Those happy thre months wur abruptly brought to a close when the good Emlllo broke out with a virulent at tack of smallpox, and Buelna went to the city hospital to become his nurse. ' I then returned home. It was now winter and nothing .could be done. Having ample tlm - for contemplatlon. ,1 took out my map and translated It readily, into Eng lish. No amateur photographer ever saw his first picture com out In the developing fluid with mor ; Intens delight than I did whenth contents of my map . became . intelligible : to me. . Th map Is upon a square piece of paper,, the courses and dis tances are given at the top, below are certain memoranda, th most im pbrtant pf whkh I feci obliged to tgV. ! ! y & . 'ft..' ... w . His magic flower garden and its beauteous maidens, by which he tries to accomplish his design, Is likened to the vanities and frivoli ties of th world that are inclined to blind one's eyes to the true path and bo render one less llabl to suc cessfully resist falling Into the pit before him. In the character of tawdry, witch and enchantress, we recognize at once a female type of the "Jekyll and Hyde" order. The author Intended to portray with this character the ordinary human love In contrast to that higher and spir itual love that we instinctively crave for. But we see more than thU, withhold until certain conditions, hereafter to be mentioned, arc fully complied with. Hero are some ex tracts from It: "8 46 degrees E, 600 yards from a cluster of three cypresses on th sound shore, then along the short due east 500 yards, then S 68 de grees W, 750 yards. The chest lies at the Intersection of these two lines, upon a sandy bottom In 16 feet of water; the three cypresses, the start ing point, can be easily found by measuring 1,025 yards due east from here, of course, is the secret." The location Is simple and at the same time perfect. It Is evident that tho Intersection of the lines is out in the sound some distance from the shore. My next step was to purchase the 25 acres and the water front Includ ed by the plot, which I did for 11,150. I was now actually ready to begin work, so hiring a surveyor, under the pretense of locating a Ashing site, I had him run off all the lines on the chart; but here another diffi culty confronted, me; the map had been so crumplad. by frequent hand ling that the readings of the third course were so blurred as to make It uncertain whether It was 8 68 de grees W, or 8 46 degrees W., which was a great variation, but I had the doubtful lines both run, and mark ed "by stakes driven out In the wa ter. It was now necessary for m to proceed with thn greatest caution and secrecy, so" I made frequent visits to Norfolk, hired an office, and perfected most of my plans there. I .never had any experience In treasure-hunting. One moonlight night, when a boy, I remember to have watched some men . digging for money near an old walnut tree on my father's plantation, and that was about the limited knowledge 'I had on those much-talked-of subjects, so I was forced to rely on my native wits. I now called upon a wrecking company and chartered a barge with a windlass for' lifting wreckage from the bottom, for 'I knew that my treasure must weigh very heavily, but when we wer about to sign the contracts she was found to be too wide to pass through the canal, and would have to be towed around by sea. The underwriters now refused Insurance on the craft as unsea worthy, -and flnaly after much ar gument and delay I gave my person al bond to the owners for 11,100, In lieu of the marine Insurance.. Loung ing around .Norfolk a few days to ar rang some details, I was shocked at th news that the barge had been completely wrecked In rounding Hat teras, In a severe northeaster. Th loss, of course, waa mine, and I had to arrange the whole amount before I left the city. 1 waa now greatly discouraged, snd as the season for such work was rapidly passing, I gave over my search until the next sprint.' . -t ,;' tf. .- As soon as th weather opened again I hired an expert diver to ex amine, th bottom. Things were progressing finely, until one - day he pulled on the cord.' as a signal that h had found something, and in my eagerness to lift him-to thtf surfnc I accidentally , detached r the tub which fed air lo him from the. pump and th poor fellow snfTocated before he could be hauled on deck.1 Pro ceedings wer at one commenced In court by th family of, the 'diver, which lasted nearly two years, th court Anally holding - that my ap paratus was : old and unsafe, and I was again mulcted with damages to th extent of 14,000. Another huge Item In my bill ot costs, which I hsve Just paid off, '. not, however, without great embarrassment ' My hiwevfr. In the ' a;- ' -r of I ' We perlv the dr-nu;l ! ;. t polluted pawMlon and c! i'rt, bo t, mietaken for the ennoMinar iiUu..l love, can lead one to. V . 1 1 this being's dual nature, evm at It worst stage, the lnKtlnctlve cravlnr for release from ! her bondage of sin and the dalre to da good even whn an outcast In ,her struggles to free herself from the control of '"Kllng sor" we see poor fallen ' womanhood striving to resist with all her power, yet weak and power k-ss in the grasp of sin (Kllngsor she,, unable to continue the struggle! longer and falls farther still into the vortex of shame and degradation. Tt we ultimately see this being, fallen aqd vile as she has become, restored to the grace of God through thjs an .powerful in fluence of the redeeming leva. , It Is, ' however, In the beautiful character of Parsifal, the hero, of the story, wherein lies the chief charm of the drama and its teachings. Par sifal aomes upon the scene when everything is ohaoa and , ' disaster. The knights are in despair, and mis ery. ; Amfortas la bewailing; his fate and ' suffering Indescribable torments of ; mind and ' body. -He seeks and prays for death to relieve him of his wretched condition , and plight Kllngsor, with bis , magic , garden Is In the height of his power,- ever seek lng th complete destruction of rail pertaining to the Holy Temple and Its afflicted knights. Nothing seems possible to avert the threatened doom, and when everything teems the blackest, Parsifal, appears as a specially ordained , and divinely ap pointed redeemer. Heaven has an swered his ; prayers. , Providence has sent them a deliverer. Reared with in the confines of a lonely forest ' guarded and guided by a watchful mother, Parsifal has entered the lone world without a knowledge of sin. The development of his own Inherited gifts lr left to the natural instincts of a nature that Is guileless and without knowledge pf wrong.' Seeing all the sorrow- and misery within the domain of the Holy Gralf, in the simplicity arid goodness of his nature, he prays for the power to alleviate It all. Kllngsor and his In strument, Kundry, seek In every pos lible way to encompass his downfaiV Parsifal resists them to the utmost' but in doing so learns for tht first time the horrible significance ot sin. With the sign of the cress, made with the sacred spear that Re has recover ed from Kllngsor, th magic gardens and Its inhabitants that have caused so much of misery and sorrow, are made to disappear from the face of the earth, and Parsifal, determined to make himself worthy of the glorious task of rescuing the knights from their Impending fate, goes out Into the world with that sole object in view. We see him returning later, after being chastened and sorely tried, still with the Holy Lance un dented, and then, bringing Joy and relief to the suffering, but devoted band ot knights, restoring ihem to the grace of God by uncovering the "Holy Grail" and letting them all bathe In Its glorious effulgence and divine power. In all this action w are led to see the mysterious work ings of a divine providence that chooses Its own way to restore poor humanity to its benlAclent graces and good will, not by corruption and the false reasonings and logics of the evil minded and wicked Inclination with in us, but by the simple faith in God and His goodness, and seeking for that He Is ever ready to grant lor the asking His divine grace. pluck and energy again triumphed over adversity and defeat, so during the past summer, by means of small boats. I made a thorough sounding of the area covered by my chart, pretending to be looking for a lost anchor, but this was not satisfactory either. At one of the Intersections of the lines we struck something solid, but my men declared it was nothfhg but a large sunken, cypress stump, very common on our bottoms. -It is now winter again, and I am un able to proceed further with my work, so let mo take an inventory of how matters now stand: Amount of expenses to To ledo, Spain $500.00 . Amount paid for Roderlgo's map 200.00 Lessons In Spanish 100.00 Three months' board at '' Emllo's 75.00 Office rent at Norfolk 50.00' Amount bald wrecking com pany for loss of barge . . 2,600.00 Damages for drowning the diver 4.0001)0 Miscellaneous expenses and labor .... 1.000.00 Total $8,415.00. My available assets are: 25 acres of land and wa ter front $1,250.00 And a plot locating a treas ure worth more than ... 2.000.000. Totsl $2,001,250.00. From this, statement it wilt be , readily seen by anyone, who Is not a dummy In bookkeeping, or a block head In business, that the expenses are Insignificant compared with th Immense treasure to be gained. Six years have elapsed since I first set out on my quest for the golden treasure, which, cosldering my many misfortunes and obstacles, might b compsred In many ways to th i search for th Golden Fleece, but my enthusiasm,, and confidence are yet undaunted. , . We all have our momenta " of doubts and misgivings, and . soma " times, when conning over my trou bles at night, I wonder If It all was not a wily and Ingenious scheme on, th part of Roderigo and the priest ' to secure money from mr or has not Roderigo, by some Spanish necrm ' ancy, bewitched the, spot where the elusive chest la located and attached, to,U,an vll genius, - which over whelms me with disaster and dis appointment? And must, .1 now wander to some . remot quarter of the glob to search for. a magic, which will loos th spell. I un, sometimes harassed, too,, by the be lief that th object I found in sound- lng was only th end of a submerged . cypress stump, t'Vi--,.,'. But when I take out my map and ' see how beautifully It Is executed. . ' and how accurately the hiding place . of th treasure Is described, and re call, too. an my past experience with Roderigo. X .am sure he has not de ceived m. To bend like a reed un der adversity, and to straighten s up again when the blast has passed 4 over Is an evidence of great strength- or mind ana suppleness of character. , The spring will soon be here again. when I wish to resume myjusKh for tn. treasure chest, but I am greatly embarrassed for want of funds, and I cannot proceed without help. My experience I worth a great deal, an I I am sure now that the only way to locate, and raise the chest is to char ter a steam-shovel and dredge ov. r ths entire ground, One can b char tered .for $100 tmr day, Inclutllnir :i necessary xpiimes, and it would tat. about twenty days t complete t.o work. If the weather Is t'.n.. an.t f (Continued on Fii; I t )
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 27, 1907, edition 1
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