M.C. Rice found a treasure map inside a pocket watch in 1934?

freeman

Sr. Member
Apr 5, 2003
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I'll close it. The recounts of the origin and story of the watch come from Harold T Wilkins or one or two newspaper articles. What they don't quote and what appears in only one Wilkins' book of the different ones that contain the recount about this watch is the further detail that the watch came from a person who was known to and had a habit of making such maps for enjoyment......

It even depended on which edition of the book you purchased as some editions, of the sole book that adds this, had this detail removed.
 

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Dshow

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Jun 18, 2018
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I'll close it. The recounts of the origin and story of the watch come from Harold T Wilkins or one or two newspaper articles. What they don't quote and what appears in only one Wilkins' book of the different ones that contain the recount about this watch is the further detail that the watch came from a person who was known to and had a habit of making such maps for enjoyment......

It even depended on which edition of the book you purchased as some editions, of the sole book that adds this, had this detail removed.

Thank you for posting. Would you happen to know which of Wilkins' books contains this specific information? I would love to get a hold of that
 

cw0909

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found a old newspaper article about this
The New York herald., April 23, 1922, SECTION SEVEN, Page 5,

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...+map&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1


Hello Aquanut Cocos is mysterious as legend supposed it to be.

Its rare day its not raining the humidity is about a hundred percent. You feel ya breathing water on the island

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Heading toward Chatham bay you will see Conic island some times also called Uiloa on the left below

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Inside Chatham bay in picture below the island to the right is Breakfast island known on the old charts. Today it mainly known as Manuelita Isalnd

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Landing on the shore is hazardous as large boulders are strewn across the beach

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The boulder and rocks around the bay are whos who of history of ship who have come to island to hunt treasure or whalers to get water.

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The creek below flows into Chatham bay. The creek heads in between two mountains. Its at given point you should branch off to the right which will lead to cave half way up the hill.

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This is the bay shown in watch. Paul Stachwick of Huron. He and S D Gordon Brawner of Springfeild Ill, and elmer J Palliser of San Diego California was allegedly cast away on Cocos island. In fact it was ruse to make an illegal search as they had no permission to search Cocos from the Costarican Authorities. They were picked up by the vessel Sacramento sent from Balboa Panama in 1931. The directions are fairly well known by hundreds of searchers over the years Paul Stanwick was just one of many.

Mr Rice it seems never made it to the island. All part of the lore of an amazing island.

Crow
 

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cw0909

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freeman

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Yes. There are two different accounts of the 'map in the watch' story written by Harold T Wilkins that contains more information than either the Popular Mechanics article or newspaper reports.

The one that 'finishes' the story appears in 'Modern Buried Treasure Hunters' (1934). It's a bit hard to get this book so I'll tell you what happens and then transcribe what it says.

Hard T Wilkins had received a letter from an acquaintance informing him about the newsworthy discovery of the treasure map being found in a watch.

The story is thus: in 1927 a Toronto collector of watch was given a watch by and elderly lady. He repaired it and put it away until 1933 when he got it out and cleaned it thoroughly where upon the details of the map and a small piece of paper with a message (this message is not really talked about in other articles). The message goes basically ' My son I'm the only keeper of a secret, here's the map to treasure on the island etc etc yak yak signed J.L.'

The man with the watch remembers that the lady who he got the watch from a lady named Lapelle.

And so what a good a thing, a real treasure map, lets go look for it! (And some tried).

But then, quote, Chapter VII, page 282:

Aye, what did I, the author of the book, think about it? I was tempted to recommend the would be seeker of island gold to take the advice of Mark Twain, and shoot in his tracks the fellow who first propagated this yarn of fool's gold. But the query answered itself in the letter following, from a lady who seeks to save the fool and his money from parting:

"We knew of the existence of this map in the watch, but attached no importance to it. (My aunt, Mrs Paul Lapelle, gave it to someone in Toronto) The old man was very imaginative and had rather a flair for drawing maps and charts in his declining years. I believe it might be of interest to have this statement published in order to safeguard any easily impressed people against the trouble and expense that would be involved in embarking on a useless search.

Margaret Lapelle Fisher
New York, March 1934"
 

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Dshow

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Jun 18, 2018
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Imagine living in those days where the country was in a great depression after the stock market crash. Where the president makes an executive order that no one can have any gold of any kind. It makes sense that she went to Canada to drop off a watch made from gold. Whether she went to sell it or get someone to hold on to it for her.
And when she told the guy about the maps it could possibly be a ploy just so no one would go after and follow the map. Protecting their assets. I mean I would say just about anything to protect something of major value to my family and I.
 

barbr555

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Any essay requires your attention and time but what if you do not have it? Our team of professional writers is ready to help you so that you could find a few free hours for more important things. Our
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totally agree

barbr555 Is Banned For Life for Spamming us Here

<-------------------------------\


And in his Signature. It is obvious he was Not here to Contribute
J/Pa

 

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Dshow

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Jun 18, 2018
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Hello folks, I have been looking at certain information and I just wanted to know why is @aquanut1 profile picture popping up on this search engine when looking for this watch. How is it possible for someone who really didn't have much information on this subject be able to have their profile picture when searching for this thread? If he is of importance I would like to contact him. His picture didn't pop up when we first started on this thread except for a post he put up responding to someone else.
 

MiddenMonster

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Hello folks, I have been looking at certain information and I just wanted to know why is @aquanut1 profile picture popping up on this search engine when looking for this watch. How is it possible for someone who really didn't have much information on this subject be able to have their profile picture when searching for this thread? If he is of importance I would like to contact him. His picture didn't pop up when we first started on this thread except for a post he put up responding to someone else.

Probably AI spiders. They probably just grab an image at random, with a bias toward getting a picture of a person over an object.
 

Dshow

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Thankyou for your input. I understand the bias of wanting to put a face to this subject but that one? AI spiders or not somebody is behind it and I was just wondering who and why. Why not do it a different way? Or get in contact with the people who has physical evidence of this item.
 

MiddenMonster

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Thankyou for your input. I understand the bias of wanting to put a face to this subject but that one? AI spiders or not somebody is behind it and I was just wondering who and why. Why not do it a different way? Or get in contact with the people who has physical evidence of this item.

That's just it, no one is "behind it". A human never had a hand in selecting that picture. That would take time, money and effort and the person sifting through images would want a break now and then, not to mention vacation. AI spiders crawl the Internet 24/7 logging web pages and randomly selecting pictures to display with searches. They don't complain, want time off or buy stuff on Amazon while on company time. Sure, they probably look at porn while they are working, but that's their job! You might be able to contact whatever search engine company you saw the picture on and let them know the picture isn't relevant, though they probably don't care.
 

freeman

Sr. Member
Apr 5, 2003
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Why would anyone bother looking for this watch?

It's all a dud.I have numerous versions of 'the map' talked about from the article and even posted the end warning about it that many who continually 'discover' the article are not aware of.

It even made an lateral appearance as it was the basis of the 'true research' in the totally faked and scripted second series of the reality TV show 'Treasure Quest: Treasure of the Trinity'.
 

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freeman

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"........have this statement published in order to safeguard any easily impressed people against the trouble and expense that would be involved in embarking on a useless search."
 

Dshow

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Jun 18, 2018
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Hey folks, it's been a while since I posted. I have been watching this thread keeping up with everything. I see the nice update the website has and I just felt the need to post to let y'all know I'm still here holding on to this beautiful watch.
 

MiddenMonster

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Hey folks, it's been a while since I posted. I have been watching this thread keeping up with everything. I see the nice update the website has and I just felt the need to post to let y'all know I'm still here holding on to this beautiful watch.
So, are you still secretive about this, or can you provide us some information in an update?
 

Dshow

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Jun 18, 2018
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So, are you still secretive about this, or can you provide us some information in an update?
As I stated before I am giving out as much information as I can. I have took pictures of the watch but will not show how the map is presented. Even with that I explained how it works to the best of my ability. So no, no secrets being held here. Just take another look at the markings on the watch.
 

MiddenMonster

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So no, no secrets being held here. Just take another look at the markings on the watch.

As I recall, no one was really asking about the details of the map. It's just that it was like pulling teeth while herding cats to get you to provide a provenance, and to get the date of the watch verified by a professional before someone here invested time and money to meeting with you.
 

Dshow

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Jun 18, 2018
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Hey guys, just wanted to give yall an update on what's going on. I am now sending all information to Amazing Discoveries to try and help get more clarity so we can move forward with information. This is a real opportunity to prove what this watch does and to further get the full story if possible. Once I do that then we will have the information needed to move forward. I will be back again and I thank each of you for your input.
 

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