Los Angeles herald., 1891-08-29
DIVING FOR LOST GOLD.
SEA DIVERS RECOVER NEARLY HALF
A MILLION OF MONEY.

SEA DIVERS RECOVER NEARLY HALF
A MILLION OF MONEY.
How the Treasure of the Alphouso XII,
Sunk on the Canary Islands. Was Secured
by Captain Stevens Clever work-Nine
Months Of Toll Below water.
Some time ago we gave an interesting
account Of the diving exhibit at the
naval exhibition, and referred briefly to
the recovery of vast quantity Of treas
ure from the Alphonso XII. Mr.. A. D.
Stevens, a son of Captain Stevens, who
had charge Of the expedition, now writes
as follows:
In February, 1884, the Spanish mail
steamer Alphonso XII, belonging to the
Lopez line, bound from Cadiz to Havana.
sank off Point Gando. Grand Canary,
in twenty-five and half fathoms Of
water and about mile from the shore.
She had on board 100000 worth Of
Spanish dollars, these being the only
FIVE dollar pieces bearing the year 1874,
which were specially coined for the trip.
Reinsurance was effected on the specie
at Lloyds and was paid over to the in
surers after the vessel foundered.
More than year had elapsed before
the underwriters organized salvage ex-
pedition. and in May, 1885. Captain l..
T. Stevens. a Lloyds surveyor of great
experience in salvage operations. was
intrusted with the expedition, taking
with him three well known divers
namely. Messrs. Lambert, Tester and
Davis. Special diving apparatus had to
be constructed for the work by Messrs
Siebe g German, the submarine engi-
neers, and in the above month Captain
Stevens and his men left Liverpool in
the steamship Niger for Las Palmas, and
arrived at their destination on the 25th
of May.
LOCATING THE WRECK.
On the morning Of the Goth Captain
Stevens proceeded in the steam launch
Alianza in search of the wreck, strong
trade wind from the northeast, with a
choppy sea, blowing at the time. On
arriving at her supposed position he
steamed about, sounding at intervals, en-
deavoring to strike the wreck, but failed
to do so. Captain Stevens then employed
boats crew of fishermen to assist him
in finding her, and after some little time
the fishermen gave signal, and on steam
ing up he found that they had swept the
foretopgallantmast, and on looking down
through the water he distinctly saw the
shadow of the mast and the foretopgal-
lantsail loose and fouting in the water
at depth Of six fathoms.
He then had the topgallantmast buoyed,
and as soon as the weather moderated he
intended laying down moorings, so as to
place the vessel in such a position that
the diving was to be done from directly
over the wreck.
The money was in the mail room, al
most at the bottom Of the vessel, and to
obtain access to that part Of the ship
it was found necessary to blow up the
decks The dangers and difficulties which
were experienced in these operations were
of the most extraordinary nature. Not
only bravery, but great patience and per-
severance, had to be'exercised, as testi-
fed by the fact that Captain Stevens and
his plucky divers were about nine months
on the island before they had completed
their task
The wreck lay on a ridge of rocks, and
one of the fears entertained before the ex-
plosion was effected was that the force
might precipitate the vessel to almost
fathomless depths. But fortunately,
through Captain Stevens great expert
ence in the use Of explosives. the fear was
not realized
ALL BUT $50,000 RECOVERED.
When the explosion took place one Of
the masts shot right out Of the water,
and thousands Of dead fish came to the
surface Another difficulty, and proba-
bly, the greatest the divers had to en-
counter, was the extreme pressure Of the
water at so great depth. but the gal
liant fellows were most enthusiastic in
their work. and, although Captain Ste
vens had been advised to abandon all
hope Of recovery Of the treasure, he was
sanguine Of success directly fine weather
would set in And his hopes were soon
realized, for on Nov. II, after waiting
anxiously and patiently, he had the
pleasure Of wiring to London as follows:
Lambert has got both scuttles open,
and succeeded in sending up first box Of
gold" This was glorious news to all
concerned, and especially to Captain
Stevens, who had charge Of such tedi-
ous undertaking.
The saving Of the remaining boxes Of
gold was now merely a question Of OPP
portunity. Dip after dip was made by
Messrs. Lambert and Tester with vari-
Gus success, and by Dee. 10 they had re-
covered between them six boxes, the
lions share being obtained by Mr.. Lam
bert. thus leaving balance Of four boxes
to be raised. In q very short time, con-
sidering the unfavorable weather, they
succeeded in sending up three more
boxes. making in all nine boxes, or e90,-
600 out of 100000.
Unfortunately, the last box could not
be found. so Captain Stevens and his
plucky divers had to come away without
it. No praise is too great for the man
ner in which Messrs Lambert and Tester
worked under such an able commander.
have noted these few facts down from
my dead fathers log book. As the treas
ure chest and the gold dollars at the
naval exhibition attract so much atten-
ton send you these additional facts