Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 155, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1910 — LURE OF HIDDEN TREASURE. [ARTICLE]

LURE OF HIDDEN TREASURE.

Two Frnltle** Trip* Have Not Dl*ronraged California Men. Major W. A. Desborough, who has made two trips to find a reputed buried on Cocos island, In the Pacific, off the coast of Central America, will make another attempt within a few weeks, and he hopes the third time will prove the charm. His first trip was made twelve years ago, but mutiny In his crew compelled him to give up the search, although he proved the correctness of his drawings and maps at that time. Last summer he made another trip, sailing from Los Angeles In the yacht Ramona, the Express of that city says, but heavy anr: continuous rains and the lack of power to operate machinery prevented him from making suffl cient excavations. This time the locality was considerably changed from what It was twelve years ago. Cocos Island is famous as a pirates' retreat, and others besides Major Desborough have-searched it for hidder plunder. The particular treasure for which Major Desborough Is searching is sup posed to have been taken from Peru in the middle of the last century, and buried on the island by Capt. Jo-hn Keating, who died soon afterward Since his last trip, Major Desborough has met a man in New Orleans who visited the island ten years ago in company with a son-in-law of Captain Keating. They had maps and drawings which appeared correct, but Indicated that considerable excavation would he necessary. Keating's son-in law was an old man then, and lie turned over the maps to the New Orleans man, but the latter has nevei tried to find the treasure. He gave copies of the maps and details to Majoi Desborough. Tradition says there Is 160,000,000 worth of pirates’ loot burled on the island, but the particular treasure sought by Desborough Is $17,000,00C in gold bullion. He says that since h!s visit twelve years ago there appears to have been a great deal of blasting in the vicinity of one deposit, as the hillsides are changed and the creek bed altered. Where the bullion Is supposed to be burled, however, there appears to have been only the change of formation due to the rainfall, which sometime* amounts to an Inch an hour, making work difficult. Major Desboroughi has had several offers both from New York and on this coast to finance another expedition which he estimates will cost about $20,000, and he Is now looking for a steamer of about 800 tons to make the trip. i