Miser Swimm Dying — Buried $78,000, No One Knows Where

Ohio, 1895

MISER SWIMM DYING.

Unable to Tell Where His Money Is Concealed.

HE BURIED IT SOMEWHERE.

Suffering From a Stroke of Paralysis Which Will Undoubtedly Cause His Death, He Endeavors by Signs to Tell Where It Is Planted but Can Not. How He Surprised a Kenton Attorney.

COLUMBUS, O., April 8. — In his dying hours the mind of the aged miser, John Swimm, turns back toward his hidden treasures. The stroke of paralysis he suffered a few days ago, however, renders him speechless, and he can not tell where the fortune is buried. He tries to talk of it, and makes signs to indicate the location of the place where the money lies, but no one can understand him. The indications are that be will die without revealing the hiding place of his hoarded wealth. The only things he can leave behind him for the benefit of others, under the present circumstances, are his farm lands, valued at from $15,000 to $30,000.

Planted His Hoard.

It is undoubtedly a fact that the old man has planted considerable wealth. Some place in this wide domain of Uncle Sam's there might be found $78,000 that was placed underneath the ground by the miser. There is reliable foundation for the statement that he has buried this amount. The authority for it is General M. B. Walker of Kenton, a well known attorney, and a man of the utmost veracity. The story goes back to about 15 years ago. Swimm was then on one of his tramps about the country. At Kenton one night be was sleeping in a fence corner, and on awakening the next morning

Claimed to Have Been Robbed

of $10,000 during the night. He caused the arrest of two men who were subsequently acquitted. Then these two men in turn sued the miser for $10,000 damages for false arrest. General Walker was the attorney for Swimm. During the trial of the case one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs sarcastically remarked that he did not believe the old codger had 10,000 cents, let alone $10,000. This angered Swimm, and later in the day, in General Walker's office, he demonstrated to his attorney that he not only had $10,000 but considerable more. He dug down into the lining of his clothes and

Produced $78,000

in greenbacks. General Walker not only saw the money, but had it in We hands. At the time Swimm told the general that be intended to bury the money and take no more chances of being robbed. Shortly afterward he left the place, and a week later General Walker received a letter from the old man in which he stated the small fortune had been duly planted. It is believed the treasure is somewhere in Indiana.

Prospector Digging Gold Finds Wife Instead

1907

FIND GIRL'S NOTE HIDDEN TWELVE YEARS; TO WED HER

Gold Seeker Discovers Missive That Was Buried In Fun and Speedily Answers It.

LEAD, S. D., Jan. 5.—A few weeks ago Benjamin Hurst, a young prospector, unearthed in the Black Hills, west of here, a rusty tin can containing a note scribbled in pencil by Miss Julia Demming and buried by her twelve years ago.

As a result of the finding of the note, Hurst and Miss Demming are soon to be married. The note, written and buried in a spirit of fun by Miss Demming, read:

"Whoever finds this note will please the writer of it by advising her that he has unearthed it. Her address in Portland, Ore. JULIA DEMMING."

Hurst promptly wrote the young lady that he had found the note. A week or two later he received an answer to his letter written at Seattle, the present home of Miss Demming.

He wrote her again, she replied, and thus was begun a correspondence which grew into friendship, resulting finally in love and an engagement. Hurst is a young gold seeker who has spent the greater part of his life in the Western mountains.

Cleaning Cistern Finds $50,000 Bonds

1908

Vineland, N. J., May 22 — All Newfield was excited when it was learned that A. S. Kandle had found $50,000 worth of bonds at the bottom of an old cistern he was cleaning. Kandle is the village barber, and soon his shop was besieged by anxious neighbors and friends, whose congratulations were most hearty. The bonds were issued by the West Jersey railroad forty-two years ago to John Kandle, father of the barber. The elder Kandle died about fifteen years ago, and old neighbors recall to mind his oft-repeated assertion that he had wealth but could not use it. The reason is now found to be that somehow the bonds got into the cistern, where they have lain for over forty years. Kandle immediately took his find to a lawyer friend in Camden, and as the lawyer advised silence until he could make an investigation, Kandle refuses full details.