Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-01-05
DIVING FOR LOST GOLD.

III ttNU FUn EOoJ uOLU
So ofvEas aEcoyeH NEARLY HALF
4 AslLLIon or MONEY.
Hsw shs rssssurs - ne AlpAs~ss xIi.
esnh Orth~ CAsssy aslasda. Was sss.ve<
~ capt.is sssvsss' clever werk-Nins
Months ~ Toll ssiou 8sssy.
Some time ago ne gave an interesting
account Of the diving exhibit Il the
naval exhibition, and referred brfely 70
tbs svpovery Of ! vast quantity u tTsasv
uTe from the AlphonsD XII HI. a. d.
Stevens, son Of Captain Stevens, who
had charge Of the expedition. now writes
- follows:
In February. 1884, The Spanish mai
steamer AIpbonso XII, belonging to the
Lopez line, bound from Csdix to Havana.
sank Of Point dando. GRIND Cansxy.
IN twenty five and half fathoms u
water and about mile from the shore
She bad on board 100000 worth Of
Spanish dollars, these being the only
1--WE dollar pieces bearing the year 1874.
which were specially coined for the trip
The insurance was effected % tks specie
At LIoyds and was paid over to the in
surers after the weasel foundered.
More than : year had elapsed before
,s,.,is;or ~ N 49, faox $780,. =.
r ytsvsr. iIo-d. $500. "a s-..-t
evnsr;arcs e ssiv.as o,,s,s q - -
ivtrrst.d -r;th ~ s,,,ss;t;s,. $3.50
with Mn, tbrss ,vsu Ern,-r &c. 4
ramelv Messr~ I,s,ry,srt =, Tsst y. 7, VA
Is. ara,.;aI a;v;,,-- - ),
- --,v,,s.-,,,t..5 - ~. 49, - u--.-
S;eha g fsormsr ths snhr,s.,r -. 49,.
rsar, "a II ~ .bo.s ,,,o.,th 1890,
G,avar. 80 ~. ,,,a,s go ;~.-,.-.rsi :.
tbe ste.,nsbi,, N;o.- ~ :. p.l,r.. .ra
arrived a. their dastin.t;o,, =, -. estb
- Me-
LOCATING THE wRrcx
On the morning al the 29tb Cantain
Stevens nroceded n the steam lanncb
Alianza in searrh Of the wreck. strong
trade wind from the northeast. With I
choppy sea. blowing nj the time On
ARRIVING NJ hay snnnceed r,n~itior IL
steamed about. soundino a. interval. en-
deavor;no To str;ka tho vre<,k INIT f.;lad
to do 90 CAPTAIN Stevens chem emnIovea
: heats crew ~ /; shevmer T., assist hin,
IN finding her and after some little time
the Fishermen rave Z signal and On steam-
inc mn he found that thev h.d svant The
Observation-Disclosures. and on hooking down
through the water be Distinctly ssv the
shadow a. the mast and the foretono.I.
lantsait ioose and fioutir0 IN thu vstar
at a deuth of six fatho,na
Hethep had the topoaIlantmast buoved
and a. soon as the weather moderated he
intended Iayin1 down noorinps. 40 A To
Mace the vessel 81 such : 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 aefess To that mart Of the shin
it was found necessary 10 blow mn the
decks The dangers and tiif1icnIties 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 pIucky divers were about nine months
ON the island before thew had completed
their task
The wreck Law ON a ridge of rocks. and
one of the fears entertained before the ex-
plosiou was effected was that the force
might precipitate the vessel 70 almost
fathomIess depths. But fortunately.
through Captain Stevens great experi-
ence in the use of explosives. the fear was
not realized
AL BUT $50. 600 RECOVERED
When the explosion took place one of
the masts shot right ont of the water
and thousands of dead fish came To the
surfacs Another Difficulty. and proba-
bly the greatest the divers had to en-
counter, was the extreme pressure of the
water at so great a depth, but the gal
liant fellows were most enthusiastic in
their work and although CAPTAIN Ste
vens had been advised to abandon all
hone of recovery of the treasure he was
sanguine of success directly fine weather
wonld set in And his homes were soon
realized for ON Nov II. after waiting
anxiously and natiently. he had the
Measure of wiring to London as follows:
Lambert has got both scuttles open.
and succeeded in sending nm first box OF
gold This was glorious news to all
concerned. and especially to Captain
o,s undertaking