Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1895-05-09
70 PUMP Up oUiNEAs.
Syndicate Of Wealthy Men Will Huub
for Sunlten Gold.

foundered off Port Morris In 1880 and
carried to the bottom seventy prisoners
who were manacled on her gun
deck and British guineas to the amount
Of $4,000000.
There have been many attempts to re-
cover the sunken treasure by the use
Of dynamite and the work Of divers,
but, as far as Is known, all have been
fruitless, says the New York Herald.
The plan which Is to be put in opera
ton In a few days is the most novel yet
devised, George w. Thomas, Of Orange,
N. j., who is said to represent syndi-
cate with n capital of ST50,000, has
chartered the tug Chester owned by H.
II. Lowe, Coenties slip wrecker and
fitted her out with wrecking appliances
Of the latest pattern. The boat has been
undergoing repairs in Hallett's cove for
some weeks, and is now about ready for
her work.
The Chester will be moored exactly
above the spot where the wreck lies,
and so moored that 1t will remain sta
tionary regardless Of tides. This in it,
self will be a feat attended by no little
difficulty, for 1t will be necessary to
carry two stout hawsers ashore In adj
dltlon to the four anchors which Will
be got down to seward and from the
bow and stern. !,
The work Of previous explorers OF
the bottom has been interrupted by the
rapldlty with which the current filed
up their submarine excavations. The
plan upon which Mr. Thomas will pro-
coed will avoid trouble Of this kind.
The wreck Is almost completely
buried, and the sand Is packed com.
pactly about the hull. Divers will be-
sent down to loosen the sand and earth
that hides the wreck at a given points,
AT that point big tube, connected with
q powerful suction pump on board the
Chester viii be applied. The loosened
material will thus be pumped to the
surface and then shot through O giant
sieve This selye will not permit the
passage Of anything us large us u
guinea.
That Is the general plan The wreck
ers and divers will dig and pump until
they have filed the sieve with British
gold or are satisfied that they have
worked over an area so large that the
story Of the Hussar's treasure has been
proved myth.
The men who have attempted to reach
the Golfers Of the Hussar since 1880
have failed In every instance, If they
are to be believed, but the story OF
sunken gold has just as many believers
to-day as 1t ever had. No later than
June last Connecticut syndicate was
digging up the bottom of the sound OF
Port Morris, and many similar attempts
have been made between that point and
Hell Gate.
1t Is believed now that the hull Of the
wrecked warship has been located to q
nicely and that by examining with care
IN area of about two hundred square
feet the treasure story may be settled
definitely at last.
And If 1t proves true-thls story %
British gulneas-the spectators will be-
richly rewarded. The Hussar was O
thirty-two gun ship, about two hum
dred feet long. She arrived here In
November, 1850, in company with the
man-of-war Mercury. Together they
carried $4,s00,00O, which was intended
to pay off the British troops in America.
The Mercury remained here, and the
Hussar taking on board the treasure
Of her sister ship, set sail for New Lon
don.
Although the pilot was not very fR-
millar with the channel the captain de-
clded to save some time by taking a
short cut In passing He'll Gate. The
Hussar struck sunken reef, and as
she was badly damaged her commander
decided to run her ashore.
She had taken on board seventy pris-
oners Of war from the prlson ship be-
fore leaving New York. and rs her hold
was filed with stores they had been
chained on the gun deck. AS their fate
was Of little consequence the captain
did not release them, but kept his crew
at work in an attempt to get the Hussar
to the beach before she foundered.
Hawsers were carried ashore and
fastened to trees, and an attempt was
made to warp the vessel in, but before
much progress had been made she
filled, heeled over, tore up the trees by
the roots and sank In eighty feet Of
water, drowning her manacled prison
ers. Some of the crew escaped.
From that time forward stories Of the
Hussar's sunken gulneas led to all sorts
of attempts to acquire sudden wealth
by their recovery. A British company
sent two briggs to the spot In 1910, but
the United States Government refused
to permit them to anchor over the treas
ure. Later on attempts were made to
blow up the wreck with dynamite, but
up to date-unless some lucky and
secretlve individual hid success and
fortune under the guise of faIlure--tha
gulneas have been undlsturbed.
There is one story that has always
caused the treasure seekers some I'M
easiness. 1t is to the effect that the
Hussar was wrecked Intentionally, and
that her treasure was carried away by
men who Matched the plot under her