What would a 40-year-old piece of cake taste like?

Whoever digs up the time capsule buried at the Coast Guard Yard's Veterans Monument in 2037 might find out.

The slice of cake, about a decade old now, is just one of many pieces of memorabilia that a group of World War II veterans stuck in the capsule back in March 1998. The capsule honors the Coast Guard's seven 327-foot cutters, built for search and rescue in World War II and named for former secretaries of the treasury.

Dottie Mitchell, spokesman for the Curtis Bay yard, said the veterans dedicated the capsule in honor of the 60th anniversary of their ships'...