Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1892-07-28
Dredging for Treasure.

The little tlotliia anchored oh Fort
Morris, waiting to pick up from the
bottom ofthe Sound s., 500, 900 reported
10 have been dragged down in the cof-
fers bf fthe British man-of-war Hussarin in
1850. has so far met with little encour-
agement. For three weeks the pro-
motcrs of the enterprise have been Ia
boring without any return.
Nj they have succeeded in getting is
a few coins. few bits of porcelain and
con iaerablc flint. which was used as
ballast in the last century The tiotilla
comprises the equipment Of the Little
Cant IIussar Wreclling Company.
T4ey are not the first who have at
tempted the recovery Of the millions
supposed to be beneath mud and sand at
t.sa bottom OF the Sound, so feet under
the surface o. the water
Ile IIussar.as recorded, was 4 32-gun
snip, POO feet long with a 5S-foot beam.
S.la and the British war ship Mercury
arrived at New ork November %, 1850,
each with money 10 pay Off the British
soldiers there. The Mercury is said 10
have carried e3S0000 and the Hussar
ej60,0JO amounting in al TO 4,5G5, 600
in American money. The money on
the Mercury was transferred to the
IIus5ar while both vessels were in New
YoY', harbor
'.le lIussar set sail with all this
money for New London. Seventy
prisoners were taken from the prison
ship and placed aboard the Hussar,
Were they were manacled to the gun
deck. The Hussar's captain in order
to save time attempted a short cut
through Hell Gate But the Hussar
struc.; on sunken reef and received
such damage that the only hope was to
beach the vessel. With that object in
View her captain made for the shore.
lis believed that he started toward
Port Morris Hawsers were sent out
and fastened 10 trees and the attempt
ma le TO haul the ship on to the beach.
Tle vessel sank in eighty feet of water
and pulled up the trees by the roots.
Her prisoners. chained to the deck,
were carried down with her and 4
number of her crew were lost. The
money. wlich was in British guineas,
was carried TO the bottom and never
recovered.
No one to-day can tell Just where
the Hussar went down. Port Morris is
said to be the place, but there is long
shore. and ii is a tedious task to fix the
location of q vessel that sank so many
years ago and which the tides have had
such chance to work upon.
Two brigs from the British govern
ment arrived at Port Morris in 1874
and started to delve for the lost treas
ure They searched for two years,
when the United States government
concluded they had no right there and
ordered them away. In 1919 com
pany composed of English capitalists
was organized to search for the vast
wealth. They were not successful.
From that time several companies have
been formed They searched for a
time and finally gave it up.
The search was abandoned for a long time.
Twenty-six years ago the Worcester HusSar
Wrecking Company found the wreck and
tore away the upper part of the ship with
dynamite
Enough was found to convince people that
bly, had the present apparatus been in exist
cnce then they would have found whether or
not the vast treasure was secrcted there. Sevc-
raj cannon were found, aud 50 were leather
buckets marked "Hassar.'
The present dredging outfit in under the
command OF Captain Thomas Simonds, of Leo
min ter. Mass. 1t consists of two scows, 4
tug, hydraulic bucket and floating house
where al employed in the work bunk.
The bucket weighs about one ton. 1t is capa-
bic of h.ting about four tons. The company
has capitll stock of $4,000 Their forces
also include diver. On the dredging scow
is dynamo with q 6,O00 candle power cleo
tric search Light used by the diver at the bot
tom. Capt,.in Simonds said Tuesday that he
still had hope.
''of course" he said. the great trouble is,
We don't know just where our object lies.
They have tried 10 tell me. but I have found
ont more since ! started work than was told.
There dosen't seem TO be anybody who can
tell where the treasure lies We have been
digging over space fully one hundred feet
square. Opr work in one day with the ap-
pa.atus we have amounts 10 more than the
previous companies did in two weeks and per-
hapS a mouth."-.N. Y. Herald.