Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-04-22
ROMANTIC HISTORY OF SUNKRN
TREASURE.
specie In the zuyier zee-An Attempt
10 Recover tsie Riches of the Deem.

OH INC HlSnI Oh OCb0Def &, 119
Her Majesty's ship Lutine, freight
ed with an enormous amount G
species, varying from 81, 500, 900 t.
t3,O0O, 900, fnnndered on the san,
banks off the northwest coast {
Holland, and the greater bulk q
that treasure still lies buried wifi
but nine fathoms Of water over II
The Lutine was bound to port +
the zuyder Zee, and the Ell 500 90
she had on board was subsid
money for the English troops VIII
were then serving under the Prime
Of lHolland-Holland being atwa
with France. She had ais
large assignments of specie 70
merchants in the country, as wei
as for bullion dealers and banker
at Hamburg, to which port she wa
to have proceeded after landing tn,
government subsidy money at tn,
port in Zuyder Zee. There wert
also on board the Crown jewels o.
Holland which had been
sent to this country by the Prince
Of Orange to be reset and polished
by Messrs. Rundell & Bridges, the
then famous jewellers to the Eng.
lish Court, on Ludgate Hill They
had been placed in strong iron
case, hermetieally sealed, and
were shipped on board the Lutine,
at Lowestoft, a few days before she
sailed, on the morning of October
6; and it is alleged that the COM
mander was so elated with his i'm =.
portant commission from the bank
ers, that the night before the vessel
took her departure on her fatal
voyage, he entertained all the elite
of Lowestoft and Yarmouth to a
grand ball on board. OF the
circumstances of her loss very little
is know beyond the fact that on the
following night the Lutine, in
making her entrances the Zuyder
Zee, encountered a fearful storm,
and was driven on a sand-back, be-
tween the Islands of Tarschelling
and Vieland, and subsequently
foundered, all her officers and crew
excepting one man perishing. The
survivor, however, only lived a few
hours. He was picked up by some
Dutch boatmen, who found him
floating on some spars, and after
stating the facts of the dreadful
wreck he died. Nearly 200 persons
persisted on the ill-fated vessel.
After much exertion the sunken
wreck ofthe Lutine was discovered
lying in nine fathoms water within
three miles of the western portion
Of the island of Terschelling; but
no attempt, we believe, was made
to recover the sunken treasure for
one or two years, owing in a great
the shifting sand banks
and the rapidity of the tides which
swept over the spot. The Dutch
offered a reward of
$4,000 for the recovery of the
crown jewels, which, with other in
1ucements held out in England, led
to company being formed, who
commenced operations, and in a
few years they recovered about
Of the specie, of which the
Dutch government claimed $4,000
as a royalty. Subsequently their
were stopped by the
wreck becoming imbedded in sand,
and in that state it continued for
three years and the conse-
quence was that the COM
pany became bankrupt, and
the salvage operations ceased. Since
then several other diving companies
have been formed, and they all
failed after a series of years work
ing. The last operations on the
wreck were about three or four
years since, when the divers found
that the bottom of the ship, with
her keel, where the bulk of the
treasure is, is entire, with the
skeleton of her ribs remaining.
The sand buried her from time to
lime, but as certain currents set in
be sand-banks shift, and the wreck
s exposed. 1t was only for an
hour, or half an hour, that the
1ivers could remain down, at the
slack Of the tides, and only in very
fine, calm weather, and even then
they could hardly keep a. footing
on account of the rapid current
In addition to the El60,000 recov-
cred, another &c., 900 was recov-
cred by the companies. The last
recovery took place a few days
since, and about 100000 was paid
as royalty to the government, who,
up 10 that time, had repudiated all
claims on the wreck by the English
underwriters and marine insurance
companies who had taken lines of
assurances on the specie, and had
paid the e, 100000 as a total loss.
The English underwriters were pre-
pared with better appliances to
work at the wreck; but all offers
we're refused, and it is only lately
that the Dutch Government ad-
mitted that they had any right to
the wreck whatever, and, if we are
correctly informed, the representa-
tives of Lloyd's have now full power
to take possession of the wreck, to-
gether with its treasure. All the
underwriters who were inter.
ested and paid on the total loss have
been dead some years, and it being
impossible for any claim to be set
up by any surviving relatives ofthe
the Lloyds, it is said,
intend to apply to Parliament for
powers to appropriate all moneys
recovered from the wreck for pur
poses named in the proposals. Of
the 100000 which the Dutch gov
eminent formerly received as roy
atty money, no portion has been re-
turned; but of the second amount
of 100000, this was made over to
Lloyds a few years since by order
of the King of Holland, which sum
remains untouched By the manag-
ing committee, and, with the inter
est that has been accumulated since,
near $4,000, it is probable that
operations will be renewed on the
wreck during the ensuing summer,
and on a scale which is likely to be
successful. The plan