Carteret Academy - Carteret Yearbook (Orange, NJ)

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28 THE CARTERET he Went to call on a friend of his who had inherited a great deal of money and was always ready to enjoy some excitement. He sailed for New York, where his father, upon hearing of his plan, warned him that he was going on a wild-goose chase, but he was not to be stopped so easily. The third day after his arrival in New York, ten fellows started out on the Overland Limited bound for San Francisco. Immedi- ately after their arrival, Charley Went in search of a craft. The only one that came within his price was a three-masted schooner. One fine June morning in 1921, she sailed out of San Francisco Bay on her long voyage. The good weather lasted but for two days, and then storm after storm pushed them far from their course. Finally a water- logged and weather-beaten ship touched at the town of Aparri, which is on the extreme northern point of the Philippines. Here they inquired of an island to the north. One old man said that a ship had once been wrecked on the coast, and the crew had told of an island of fire far to the north, but besides that, he knew nothing. They all laughed at this, but Charley remembered that there was something about a fire in the instruc- tions and he thought that perhaps there was some truth in the story. When all was in readiness they set sail and were soon a good way towards their destination. On the night of August 29, the man that was stationed in the top yelled out, Light away to port. At first as they approached, it resembled the reflection of a distant fire, but as they drew nearer it took the form of a burning oil tank. When they were within a mile of the island, for there was no mainland in that latitude or longi- tude, they heard a muttering and rumbling like that of thunder. Could it be that the story of the fiery island was true? It was two o'clock when Charley decided to investigate, and if possible, learn what it was before daylight, for if there were natives on the island, they would probably see them coming, lie in ambush, and kill them all. They rowed very quietly and as soon as the boat touched the beach, they jumped ashore. They Worked their Way through trees and underbrush until, to the surprise of all, they came upon a plain which was about a mile in diameter. In the center was a huge pit about an eighth of a mile in diameter, from which shot flames and small particles of lava. As soon as they made certain that there was no danger, they returned to the ship to try and get as much sleep as possible before they commenced their Work in the morning. Early the next morning Charley went ashore with the men to com- mence the search. As the heat was so intense and as the men had so much to carry, they wore only pants and shoes. First, they went one mile inland and then two miles west. It was a terrible trip, climbing over rocks and

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THE CARTERET 27 spoke that his father recognized him. The reunion cannot be described, for the joy of the older man was unspeakableg so much so, in fact, that tears came to his eyes. Robert's pride in having made good overwhelmed him as he stood before his father. Robert's genius for business soon made itself felt in the New York house 3 and, under the guidance of his father, the firm of Robert Tilford 85 Co., thrived as never before. Not many years after Robert's return, his father retired, giving Robert the sole management of the business. SPANISH GOLD It was a warm summer evening of the year 1797, when Capt. John Rubois stood surrounded by a group of pirates who were preparing him to walk the plank. He was returning from burying his treasure, when he was captured by a band of notorious pirates. He refused to reveal the whereabouts of his treasure, and was going to be made to walk the plank. Before they could secure his arms, he drew a small bottle from his pocket and threw it overboard. There was the report of a gun and he fell Writh- ing to the deck. As it was dark, it was impossible to recover the bottle, so its contents were never discovered by those who sought it. are 4 in in is is Charley Bryant, a young chemist of about twenty-two, came out of the clear Bermuda water and threw himself upon the warm sand. He lay there chatting with some friends of his and running his hands through the sand. He struck something hard and pulled out a small bottle. It was tightly sealed and contained some white paper. Upon seeing this, he went to his bathhouse in search of something to open it with. After work- ing with it, he dislodged the cork and produced a piece of dirty paper. As it was very old it had to be handled very carefully. There was a dim writing on it, but all he Was able to make out was the Word treasure. He dressed quickly and jumping in his car, soon reached home. He used chemical after chemical until finally the message same out. But the rest was very indistinct and all he could get out of it was about a-n island, a pit and a fire. He had tried every chemical but one, and this had to be used by dip- ping the paper into the liquid and then holding it over a flame. As he held it over the flame the following message came out: Lat. 24 16 4, Long. 122 18 24. One mile inland to edge of pit, two miles west and down twenty-five feet. The rest was torn off. Charley hgured that it must be an island about five hundred miles north of the Philippines, and although he had a very good position, he did not feel that he could afford to finance such an expedition. That evening

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THE CARTERET 29 mounds of lava, and chopping down the underbrush. Suddenly Charley, who was leading, burst through a th-icket and found himself on the top of a sheer precipice. It went about 600 feet to the sea. As their instructions were of no further use, they commenced to dig. They dug for two days, and then the men became so exhausted that they had to rest before they could go any further. As Charley lay in his tent that night, he turned the whole problem over in his mind. He simply had to win. The next day, as an incentive, he offered a prize consisting of one eighth of the treasure to the man that found it first. On Sunday, Charley took some lunch with him and went to explore the cliffs. They were steep and dangerous, so he decided to return to the ship, take the gig, and row to the bottom of them. At last-he beached his gig and stood looking up at the dark and threatening projections. Af- ter examining them, he slowly began his dangerous climb. At times he hung by his fingers, and at other times he had to jump for a hold above. At last he reached the object of his trip, a large smooth rock, which he had noticed while fishing the day before. By throwing a noose over a large rock, he pulled himself up to a small ledge. Then he leaned over and managed to Work the boulder loose, so that with a final shove, it fell to the sea with a tremendous splash. ln its place was an iron door secured by rusty bolts. With the use of a hatchet and some rocks, he managed to pull the door off, and there lay a pit with a ladder going down. Charley not trusting the ladder, fastened a rope to the iron door, and lowered himself down. At the bottom there was a passage-way leading to some remote re- cess. Taking a candle from his pocket, he slowly made his way forward by the use of its small light. Suddenly the narrow tunnel swung into a large cavern, which was filled with large iron-bound chests. Taking his hatchet, he drove it into the nearest one, and, as it was rotted by age, it split open and revealed that precious yellow metal that was valued so high- ly by his ancestors, Spanish Gold. ,l.i..l.- ' Traffic Cop: What's your name? Truck Driver: lt's on the side of me wagon. Cop ftrying to read namej : It's obliterated. Driver: Yer a liar. lt's O'Brien. -Bucknell Belle Hop. Hi: Did you hear about Max Funn losing a hundred and thirty pounds? Rum: No. How's that? Hi: His wife died. -Rutgers Chanticleer.