The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-04-14

the COrslcan character. Iney Hhfe lele
Corsica fifty years behind its neighbor5.
The people are made hardy, independent,
and defiant, but vengeful and lszy. But
they were full of heroes. Della Rocco,
sampriero, Paoli, Napoleon,-a constel!a-
tion--and, / may add (for / have seen him,
yet alive, in his own garden, where his
great General, Napoleon, planted lemons and
wandered when boy,) General Sebastian
these illustrate the martial daring and OBJ
stinate character of the Corsican. The
people ere very proud Of these names. But
for Napoleon, they say, they would not now
be q part Of France. Indeed, it is com
mon to hear them say: France did not an
nexed Corse-CorSe annexed France!
A Sapken Treasure-Specte in the
Zuyder Xee-An Attempt to Keco-
YER the Riches of the Deep.
From the Daily Telegraph.
On the night of October 7, 1899, her
Msjesty's ship Lutine, freighted with an
enormous amount OF specie, varying from
FL, 500, 900 to $4,000, 900, foundered on the
sand-banks off the northwest coast of
Holland, and the greater bulk of that
treasure still lies buried with but nine
fathoms of water over it. The Lutine was
bound to port in the Zuyder Zee, and the
Gl, 500, 900 she had on board was subsidy
money for the English troops who were then
serving under the Prince Of Holland-Hol-
land being at war with France. She had also
on board large assignments of specie for mer-
chants in the country, as well as for bullion
dealers and bankers ct Hamburg, to which
port she was to have proceeded after land
ing the Government subsidy money at the
port in the Zuyder Zee. There was also
on board the Crown jewels of Holland,
which had been sent to this country by the
Prince of Orange to be reset and polished
by Messrs. Rundell s. Bridges, the then
famous jewellers to the English Court, on
Ludgate Hill. They had been placed in Q
strong iron case, Theoretically sealed, and
were shipped on board the Lutine, at Lowe
stoft, few days before she sailed, on the
morning of October 9Th and it is alleged
that the commander was so elated with
this important commission from the
bankers that the night before the
vessel took her departure on her fatal
voyage he entertained all the elite of Lowe
stoft and Yarmouth to grand ball on
board. Of the circumstances of her loss
very little is known beyond the fact that
on the following night the Lutine, in making
for the entrance of the Zuyder Zee, encoun-
tered fearful storn, and was driven on a
sand bank between the Islands of Terschel-
ling and Vieland, and subsequently foun-
dered, all her officers and crew, excepting
one man, perishing. The survivor, how
ever, only lived 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 perished in the ILL
fated vessel. After much exertion, the
sunken wreck of the Lutine was dis
covered lying in nine fathoms water with
in three miles of the western portion
of the Island of Terschelling; but no at
tempt, We believe, was made to recover
the sunken treasure for one or two years,
owing in great measure to the shifting
sand banks and the rapidity Of the tides
which swept over the spot. The Dutch Go
vernmert offered reward of t. 900 for
the recovery Of the Crown jewels, which,
With other Inducements held out in Eng
land, led to company being formed, who
commenced operations, and in few years
they recovered about $4,000 Of the spe-
cic, of which the Dutch Government claimed
ESQ, 200 as a royalty. Subsequently their
operations were stopped by the wreck be-
coming embedded in sand, and in that stete
it continued for three years and the con-
sequence was that the company 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 working. The last ope-
rations 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 en-
tire, with the skeleton Of her ribs remain
ing. The sand buried her from time to
time, but as certain currents set IN the
sand-banks shift, and the wreck is exposed.
1t was only for on hour or half an hour that
the divers could remain down, at the slack
of the tides, and only in very fine, calm
weather, and even then they could hardly
keep footing on account Of the rapid cur
rent. In addition to the 100000 reco-
yered, another 100000 was recovered by
the companies. The last recovery took
place few days since, and about t2O, 600
was paid as royalty to the Government, who
up to that time had repudiated all claims on
the wreck by the English underwriters aud
marine insurance companies who had taken
lines of insurances on the specie, end had
paid the FL, 100000 as total loss. The
English underwriters were prepared with
better appliances to work at the wreck; but
all offers were refused, and it is only lately
that the Dutch Government admitted that
they had no right to the wreck whatever !;
and if We are correctly Informed, the re-
representatives. of Lloyds have now full
power to take possession Of the wreck, toge-
ther with its treasure. All the under
writer's who were interested 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 of the
underwriters, Lloyds, it is said, intend to
apply to Parliament for powers to appro-
pirate all moneys recovered from the
wreck for purposes named in the pro-
posals. Of the tS0,O00 which the
Dutch Government formerly received as
royalty money no portion has beeA
returned but Of the second amount Of
ECO, 900, this was made over to Lloyds q
few years since by order Of the. King of
Holland, which sum remains untouched by
the managing committee and with the in
terest 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 eminently successful. The
plan, we understand, will be to construct
large iron caissons, similar to those used
for constructing the foundations of the
,;,rs of tha peu R!ackfriar,s hridea and
sink them into the sands, completely en-