A BURIED FORTUNE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9307, 16 September 1893, Page 2 (Supplement)

A BURIED FORTUNE.

£350,000 IN BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES. There is a fortune buried near the town of La Plata, in the Argentine Republic, and the people down there are going crazy over it. The money is all in Bank of England notes, and there is £350,000 for the man who is fortunate enough to tind it.

When the civil war broke oub in Chili President Balmaceda, realising the importance of a navy in such a conflict, commissioned Colonel Pinto, one of his most trusted friends, to proceed to England and purchase or build a couple of fast cruisers, which were to be manned by picked crews and sent out to Valparaiso as fast as steam could carry them. Pinto was given bills of exchange on several London banks to pay for the cruisers, and he lost no time in starting on his mission. The only possible way he could geb to England was by taking passage on one of the steamers running between Valparaiso and Liverpool; and, as she had to go via Magellan's Straits and up the Atlantic, the voyage took considerable time, especially as the steamer had to call at Montevideo, Buenos Ayres, and Rio de Janeiro.

Before Colonel Pinto could roach England and secure the cruisers he needed, Balmaceda saw how things were going, and, realising that lots of ready cash would be a good thing to assist him out of the country in case he Mas forced to leave, he telegraphed Pinto to let the cruisers go and hurry back to Valparaiso with the money as fast as he could. Pinto took the precaution of changing the bills of exchange into Bank of England notes, and with the £350,000 safely stowed away in a steel box in bis big trunk, he started on his trip back. When the steamer reached Montevideo the news of Balmaceda's downfall reached him, and he concluded that the Argentine Republic would be a more pleasant place to reside in for a while ab least, as he was known to be a personal friend of the dethroned dictator. Pinto took up his residence in La Plata, and during his residence there formed the acquaintance of a gentleman named Parry. After the excitement caused by the war had died down Pinto concluded to revisit Chili, but he did not want/ the money to fall into the hands of his enemies. He was afraid to place it in any of the banks for fear the victorious insurgents would pub in a claim for it, so one night when everything was quiet he took the precious box out and buried ib.

This done, he went back to Chili with a light heart, but no sooner had he set foot on shore in Valparaiso than he was arrested and thrown into a dungeon, and told thab when he gob ready to hand the money over to the Government he would be released, and nob before. Some of Pinto's friends, however, told him that so long as he kept the money out of the hands of hi? enemies he was safe, but as soon as he turned ib over to the Governmen he would be taken oub and shot as a traitor.

Pinto is a native of Buenos Ayres, and he concluded to use part of the money in effecting hi 3 release if possible. With this object in view he wrote to Mr. Parry, telling him how matters stood, and offering him one-fourth of the money if he would induce the Argentine Government to take up his case and demand his release. The location of the buried treasure was not given in the letter, bub would be sent to Mr. Parry if he concluded to accept the proposition. Mr. Parry by accidenb lost the letter, and the finder soon made known the fact thab the big fortune in Bank of England notes was buried somewhere near the town; and the result is that about every man that can secure a spade is now out digging for the treasure and leaving everything else to I take care of itself.