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Dusy, and men still have the same desires.But perhaps the strangest, most tantalizing tradition of them all is that which surrounds Oak Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. There in 1795, at the head of a little cove, three men came across a marked tree. .On one of the lopped branches hung a block and tackle, immediately under it was a depression in the ground. On the beach (they found a coin dated 1713, and a sailor’s whistle. Further along they came upon a ship’s mooring ring let into rock.It was easy to bjiild the story of a pirate ship coming to this quiet cove, and lying 'tied to the rock, while her crew ashore buried their plunder. The men immediately got some tools and began digging. They came upon traces of an old shaft with pick and spade marks on its sides. At 30 feet they came upon a baulk of timber. \But with their ^rously. All possibleConnersvllle, Ind., doesn’t malts a vary big dent on the map but It has its heroes. They are Otto Loesche and A1 Cline, two young men who went from werk bench obscurity to werld fame by winning the famous Pike’s Peak Hill Climb. Loesche got to the top in 22 minutes and 25 2-6 seconds after the start, winning first place. Cline was a close second, trailing his pal by 5 and 2-6 seconds.like a tunnel leading from the water to the treasure pit. Under some heaped up rocks below high water mark, was a drain built of stone. Could the pirates have built it so as io flood the shaft and stop others from retrieving the treasure, should any chance upon its hiding place.A dam was v built around the rocks, but the tide broke it in. A pump was installed, but it could not keep pace with the inrush of water. Soon all the money the company had collected was spent, and the quest had to be abandoned.In 1896 another treasui e-hunting company was formed, people in Truro and Halifax subscribing gen-modern ma-primative appliances they could sink down no more and they had to give up the quest.Six years later they me* Dr. Lynds of Truro and told him their story.N1 He went to see for himself, and was so impressed that he immediately had a company formed to exploit the discovery. The people of Truro became treasure mad and put all the money they could lay their hands on into the project. And so the following-down of1 the shaft began again. At every 10 feet the men came upon a baulk of timber. At 95 feet they came across a stone, with an inscription chiseled into its surface.The stone taken to Trurowhere people said they could read on it:— ^“Ten feet below $10,000,000 lies buried.”Second Shaft Is Sank.Feverishly the men set to again, but, water coming in, it was impossible to get down that 10 feet. In desperation another shaft was sunk close by. At 10 feet a tunnel was started towards the old shaft, but water burst ^in on ithem again. The yhole of the money was now spent and the company had to abandon the quest.Nearly 50 years l^ter, Dr. Lynds floated another company. Water soon stopped the digging operations and a boring plant was procured. The drill struck wood, then metal, and afterwards brought up a few links of an old watch chain. This drove the whole neighborhood on to further efforts. A third shaft was sunk, but it was also flooded.Then someone found what lookedbut they all filled with water. Drilling wa5 resorted to again. At 26 feet iron was struck, and at 53 feet cement. This company, too, soon ran out of funds, and the pirate’s pit was left again in'solitude.But who was it saijk that shaft, going to such trouble in the first place to dig it, in the next, to keep others from the secret at its bottom? Pirates really? or some old cynic hermit of past days who wanted to make men sweat and pay for that passion of theirs the lust, of wealth? If it be the last, he succeeded.The pirate’s pit of • Oak Island has already taken $130,000 of the world’s money, besides much of thechinery was brought to this attempt..] labor (that was given voluntarily to No less than 20 shafts were sunk, the different quests.PUN TO HARNESS TIDES IN BRITAINThirty Minion Pounds To Be Spent On Great Power Project In Old 4 CountrySCENE OF THE UNDERTAKING , IS ON THE RIVER SEVERNLONDON, Dec. 24 (by mail)— The British Ministry of Transport has just made public a scheme to harness the tidal waters of the River Severn at a cost of £30,000,000 and to erect a power plant greater than that of Niagara Falls. The Severn divides England from Wales.The project is an outcome of the efforts of Sir Alexander Gibb, chief engineer of ports construction in the British army during the war and builder of the great naval dockyards at Rosyth. It is calculated that the power plant could produce 1000,000 horse-power at its peak load capacity, and that it would save 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 tons of coal a year. It is claimed that it would revolutionize the whole industry of the west of England and even supply London with cheap electric currentA concrete dam would be placed across the riv^r creating a locked basin 27 square miles in extent into vv’hich vessels could pass through a channel. It is estimated that the undertaking would provide work for 250,000 men for seven years.In the spring tides the Severn rises 38 feet the second highest tide after the Bay of Fundy. The fact that tidal waters have never yet ben used for the generation of electricity on such a vast scale, coupled v/ith the big estimated cost of the scheme, make en-gineerin egx paitsctreounnsihreeeeee gineering experts cautions in expressing views as to its feasibility.The Times editorially refers to the project as “somewhat flamboyant.” l he consent of parlament must be obtained before the scheme can be put into operation.Real Red Liquor.Chicago.—Forty-two gutter mice ran all over Harvey yesterday looking for a cat and a fight. A short time before that Chief of Police Tomlinson and a squad of weeping policemen had poured into the sewer twelve barrels of wine. It bad beenIReidJuInpiwine.confiscated in' a saloon where sixty gallon still was found.THE PEST-KILLERi Outbursts if Everett True—By Condo1 ■___m___1OH, HCSCCO/ Cvc^txlt; MAM 1 MMTTO IT'S COMlNGt CHreiSTMA’S, AMD 3'VC GotA Qlt;SNUlrvjlt;5 pOPt^RANlAKJ lt;-AT X0CJ UrtTH A PeoiGR.eS. AMO IT U/OUCO aO
Newspaper Details
St Johns Daily Star
St Johns, Newfoundland, CA
Wed, Jan 12, 1921
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 17 Oct 2024
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