Caillavah than the
columns of _The London Times_ which stated in the issue of October 6th,
1882:

"A certain Madame Caillavah, who in spite of a long experience does not
yet bring the credentials of success, is said to be exploring the
pavement of St. Denis[9] in search of buried treasures. The French
Government likes partnerships, conventions, and co-dominions, and it
insists on what almost amounts to the lion's share of the spoil.
Nevertheless, a good many people have been found to invest largely in
the enterprise, which will cost something if it comes to actual
digging. The investigation itself is not in the nature of an
excavation, nor is it with the spade or the pickax, unless, indeed, it
should turn out that it is a veritable gold mine under St. Denis, when
the royal monuments may be thankful if even dynamite be not freely
resorted to.

"The divining rod is to lead the way.... At the beginning of this
century France was one vast field of buried treasure. The silver coin
was so bulky that L200 of our money would be a hundredweight to carry,
and L1,000 would be a cartload. So it was buried in the hope of a
speedy return. The fugitive owners perished or died in exile. Their
successors on the spot came upon one hoard after another, and said
nothing about it. That they did find the money and put it in
circulation, there could be no doubt, for it was impossible to take a
handful of silver forty years ago without one or two pieces showing a
green rust in place of a white luster. This was the result of long
interment, and calculations were made as to the likely total of the
exhumation.

"But one then heard nothing of the divining rod, not at least in
cities, in cathedrals, among the sepulchers of kings, and in the
department of State. Our first wish is that the experiment may be
quite successful. It would be so very surprising; quite a new
sensation, much wanted in these days. But there would be something
more than a passing sensation. Even a moderate success would discover
to us a means of support and a mode of existence far easier and
pleasanter than any yet known. We should only have to walk about, very
slowly with the orthodox rod, properly held and handled, keeping our
attention duly fixed on the desirableness of a little more money, and
we should find it springing up, as it were, from the ground before
us....

"The French Minister of Fine Arts need not be deterred,--nay, it is
plain he is not d