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NATIONAL BRIEFING / TEXAS

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Times Wire Reports

A contractor helping clear debris from Hurricane Ike is looking for the owner of an ammunition box he found buried in sand that contained keepsakes, including an 1863 Confederate $50 bill, war medals and diamond earrings.

The green steel Army ammunition canister found Jan. 7 by Michael Pate also held several clues that could help him confirm the owner: family photographs, a driver’s li- cense and a Social Security card.

Pate was working on a tractor equipped with a grappling arm, snatching storm debris from the sand at Galveston Island State Park, when he found the box. The can’s rubber seal preserved the treasures inside.

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“I thought it would be an encouraging story for the community,” he said. “We’ve seen so much destruction.”

Hurricane Ike walloped the Gulf Coast in September.

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