in December, Chappell had dropped Dad a note to extend their existing contract until March 31. Then, on March 23, he sent a letter, long but worth reading.
March 23, 1961
Dear Mr. Restall:
Apparently I have been somewhat lax in replying to your letter which is dated March 6th. As a matter of fact, I believe the letter arrived in Sydney the evening of the day I went to Halifax on practically a whole week of Hospital Meetings, hence I did not get it until I got back from those meetings. [This refers to Chappell’s position as a member of the hospital’s board.] I believe it was March 16th. And incidentally, this old hip of mine is giving me quite a lot of trouble in moving around. It does not bother me much in sitting down or even lying down, but as soon as I start moving, it begins to kick up quite badly.
I have had several letters during the past number of weeks from parties who have all sorts of ideas about Oak Island. I am enclosing you a copy of one in particular from a party who has been corresponding with me every spring over a number of years, in fact seven or eight years, I believe. He also corresponded with Mr. Blair before he died and that is about eight years ago. Just what this man has behind him, I do not know; but I have written my son in Washington, D.C. asking him to check up and let me know what the resources are behind this company and what this man’s record is for carrying out work that he undertakes.
I have a letter from Calgary, Alberta, in fact, two. The first one came from a firm of solicitors and the second one came from a party who was their client; and he seems to be extremely anxious to get going on some sort of a proposition this spring. I have written him asking what his proposition is, so when I hear from him, will let you know if I think it is anything worth considering.
You remember the fellow in Boston who phoned me and said that he could raise practically an unlimited amount of finances. I had another telephone call from him yesterday, and he is anxious to come down the latter part of April and visit Oak Island with me and discuss matters with you. He seemed, according to conversation, quite willing to work in any kind of a proposition. I would gather he is a highly qualified engineer from the conversation I had with him, or if he is not, he has highly qualified engineers at his command to look into any technical angle.
Due to the extremely severe winter weather, we have not been able to get together as early as I had anticipated, so in order to keep things on the level until we can get together I am dropping you a line extending our time from March 31st to May 10th. The reason I say May 10th, is that there is a possibility I may be going in the hospital about that time to see what can be done in regard to my hip condition; so, we must come to some final decision before that date.
Incidentally, regarding the balance of the Island, or at least the portion that was formerly owned by Beamish. I do not know for sure that it covered all of the balance of the Island or not, but I am having a solicitor check the records and make sure. But in any case, the option is being taken up so that we will have possession of the Beamish portion anyway, and if there is any other which he did not own, it must be a very small portion; but I hope to learn within the next few days just what it is. [Chappell had incorrectly thought he owned the entire island, but he had found another piece that was for sale and was going to acquire it.]
You remember the boat that used to lay off there on the south side last summer. Nobody seemed to know just what they were doing, who they were; well I have just learned what was going on. Apparently, a couple of skin divers were operating the boat and looking for the entrance to the tunnel to the money pit; and they claim they discovered it. So far as I can find out, they are both local boys, that is from around Halifax, and they have three or four Halifax men, some of them fairly well off, who are interested with them. I do not know any of the men, in fact, I do not know the names of them, but they have asked me to meet them on Monday, the third of April, so I expect to be in Halifax, Monday morning, and meet them and learn what they have discovered and what their idea is. Of course, I suppose I have no jurisdiction over them doing work out in the water, but so far as coming in beyond the shore line, apparently, they realize that my licence protects me fully. So, it will be interesting to find out what they discovered and what they have in mind; that is if they will tell me.
The discoveries that you have made during the past season are certainly interesting. I am hoping that the weather will clear before too long so that I can get down and look things over and have a chat with you.
Yours truly,
M.R. Chappell
It is obvious that Chappell kept up a running correspondence with many other would-be treasure hunters, as he had with my parents before awarding them the contract. Déja vu. It sounds as if Chappell considered some of these correspondents to be possible replacements for my family, and others, like the man from Boston, to be a possible source of financing to help Dad’s operation. The comments about the entrance to the Money Pit refer to previous searchers who had speculated that there was a walk-in tunnel from South Shore Cove. These 1961 skin divers were claiming to have located it. Even if that were true, they needed Chappell’s permission to proceed because under the Treasure Trove Act only Chappell had the licence to recover treasure. This is an example of the intrigue that constantly swirls around Oak Island.
But the only thing my parents cared about was their contract. In Chappell’s letter to them just before this one, he indicated that he was highly satisfied with their work. This informal extension to only May 10 must have driven my parents mad. They needed a contract so that they could use it as a basis for raising capital. Who would sink large sums of money into a recovery operation that could be out of business in thirty days?
Raising operating funds relied on having a contract. In their less than six years on the island, my parents had twenty-five investors who, altogether, put in $57,883. Some invested large sums, some invested as little as $100. 1961 was a very bad year, as a formal contract for the entire year never materialized. And although investment money came in during every other year on the island, in 1961 not one cent of investment capital was secured.
Money raised by Dad went exclusively for the recovery operation. My parents lived in self-imposed penury, but the big pump in the Money Pit virtually inhaled money. Equipment and services had to be purchased. Workmen had to be hired. It would have been unsafe to run the big pump with Dad and Bobby working down the Money Pit together. One of them had to be on top to deal with emergencies.
For the recovery operation to have a chance, it needed a steady flow of capital. And that could be raised only with a contract of reasonable length. But Chappell was not one to give long contracts. It seemed he needed to wait until the end of one contract to be sure that work was progressing vigorously. Then he would entertain an extension. Even when he did promise a new contract, bad weather or the state of his health could delay the signing for weeks. More than once Dad had an investor, cash in hand, unwilling to part with it until the next contract was signed. Contract renewal was a serious source of concern for my parents, and delays resulted in several periods of time lost from the recovery operation.
Attempting to get contracts signed in a timely fashion was such a challenge that all else seemed trivial. Yet there were other frustrations. Chappell was continually contacted by people who promised to unlock the secret of Oak Island, and he seemed compelled to hear them out. He was bewitched by the idea that someone somewhere might come along with a unique idea that would instantly solve the mystery and yield results. He even expected Dad to play tour guide to these wannabe treasure hunters or to let them camp on the island. Sometimes he wrote asking Dad to provide measurements of certain landmarks so they could make more accurate drawings. Chappell seemed to need to inform Dad of all of his correspondence with these people. It was hard to take.
There were other players. A number of adventurers had theories that involved locations on the island that were not near the Money Pit. For a time Chappell entered into
