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About The advocate. (Portland, Or.) 19??-19?? | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1931)
The Advocate W. B. X I « C a . a a a D * m M h »» . A A v a t iU I » « B*| m * m i i U I I t * « ( kU a«a B I X D A V IS , l a . r K A I I a a THE ILLUSTRATED M A T U R E SECTION March 7, l i n i li C le a n F i c t i o n ^ " H u m a n I n t e n t If F ea tu re* ;! I H It F * t » r » « t a H m lllu « tr « i* d F e a tu r e S e c tio n w ere p o te * . a n d d o n o t d e p ic t p r in c ip a l« u a le a a t o c a p tio n e d . H o w SKEPTICAL MR. GREEN F o u n d His L o st G o ld D idn't B e lie v e in Fortune T ellers, But This O ne Was “D iffe r e n t” and Her Pre* diction Cam e T rue By EYE G. BILLINGS The finding of hidden and lost trea su re m akes a story th a t alw ays ap p e als to the cupidity and ro m a n tic instincts of the hum an race, and th e fact th a t an unknown person or persons had found a pot of jfold on his farm in Bob Ituly bottom, which lies in a bend of the Mississippi River in Perry County, Missouri, was a *** m a tter of special and personal in terest to Mr. William Green. Awl» Kunor'a, the n An who r r lilr i la VV llllsiu (irrfn, til a anrlrnl ilor; •f how |tir filli ran » to »■■ burini an tirarn'i lin n . On* night, not so long ago. Mr Oreen heard hla dug barking furiously. Suspecting that thieves were raiding hi* chicken K use. he got up and looked around rinding noth ing am tax, he returned to bed. ascribing the exrltement of the canine to the challenge, or other message, of some other dog acrcss the field. The nest morning, however. Oreen learned that the dog had been more astute than himself — that It had been belabor ing the night air with raucous noises becauso some one had been taking a for tune from un der the very» n o s e of Its master T v Mr. and Mrs. William Green, from whose farm the pot o f p rlerlsu gold was stolen. G reen ronlinued his vl. fee an hour and then he saw the two men approach an old hollow stump hark o f the house. S C e krned Mr Oreen Is an early riser as befits an Industrious farmer, and when he arose the next morning thd actions of the dog, an unusually Intelligent and useful animal, a t tracted his attention. The dog continually ran toward a plot of woods land, thick with underbrush. In a field near the house. The dog was evidently! trying to tell him rome- thing. so Mr. Urrdn lighted his lantern and followed the faithful animal. tire tract of wodds was about ten acres In ext.’nt and the <Ugr led Its master to the center of the tract. Here were abundant signs of recent human activity. A hole ab ut six feet square and about three feet deep had been excavated. On the bank of the excavation was the stump of a hollow tree that had been felled. The fresh siwduat an* the color of the exposed wo d of the stiuitp indicated that the tree had been sawed do4*n at the time the exca vation had been hiade. In the hole was an Iron pot. rusty from being burled for decades beneath the soil, in one corner of the excavation pas a round hole the stzo of the pot. The wall of the hole h id been stained with rust (tom the pot. Printed In the kvsh dirt were tracks of human feet. They had evidently been made by two perrons, Oreen concluded. The shape of tlive tracks showed that they had been made by dilapidated, run-down-ut-the-heel slioes. Scattered around were the rotted pieces of an aged gunny-sack which, Oreen ' decided, came from the old pot. Holding (fils lantern so Its light would Illu minate all portions of tho bottom of the hole. Oreen saw a little, round disk, different In color from the fresh clay dirt. It proved to bo a five dollar gold coin. Moving the dirt around with his foot Oreen found three other gold pieces, n double-eagle and two five dollar pieces. Naturally Oreen felt chagrined that some one had carried away a pot of gold from his farm. He felt that he had been robbed. The gold was his. All that was on the farm went with the farm. No burtod-treasure right or mineral right or oil right had been retained by the man who had sold him the farm. T h ; coins had evidently been spilled, un seen. while the excavators were pouring the gold Into a better cor talncr. Oreen thought, and after he had satisfied himself that n more were to be found he went dejectedly to the house to eat break fast. While eating his breakfast. Oreen kept his mind busy In retro spec non. Things which he h id heard years before, and which h had disregarded, almost forgotten, returned to his memory. He had bought the farm twelve years before. The sail v i fertile and the farm contained a large log house, one of th* f.i pioneer log houses left In the Mississippi Valley. Oreen had be i too busy extracting substantial returns fr*m the farm t i spem any time building air castles from vague and Incredible tales tha he had heard, that money had been burled on the place. Now h recalled the old stories. While riding around looking for a farm ti buy. and after h had inspected the farm he now owned but before he had closed thi t ■ The pot that rontaliird the gold. To the right Is the hole from which >1 came. deal for it. Green had stopped to see Old Emily, famous over se\ era) counties for the things she could tell peopie. He did not be lleve In "fortune telling" but he had heard so much about Ol Emily that he thought he would stop and see her Just "for the fu of the thing." Very few people, especially well-educated people, nowadays, bt lleve In fortune telling as fortune telling, but It seems to be a we established fact that there are a few* eases on record of rare indl vidua Is who could tell or foretell unaccountable things, old Emil was one of these. Continued on Page Four