Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-20
A FAMOUS TREASURE SHIP
: :. - ..illa fesg
More Than 100000 at the
Bottom of the Sea.
LOSS OF THE SHIP LUTINE
With Her Vast Treasure and All on Board-Re-
covery of S500.00O-StiIl Crop
ing for the Rest

There is an oaken chair in the Office of
| Lloyds, in London, the great maritime
| firm, which has strange and romantic
| history. It was made from the rudder
| of the king ship Lutine which, in 1899,
| was wrecked in the North sea, with the
| largest amount ofsgold on board that ever
| went to the bottom. The secretary Of
| Lloyds recently gave to the public an
| interesting account of this wreck and of
| the numerous attempts to find her lost
| treasure The Lutine was a thirty-six-
gun frigate, captured from the French
| in 1898.
I'm the autumn of 1899 it was neces-
sary to send a. large amount of specie
across the North sea, and, as usual, ap-
| plication was made to the admiralty for
| kings ship. This method of convey
anee was thought the best guarantee for
| honesty, the best assurance against cap
ture by foreign foes. Although some
| money Is supposed to have been trans
| mtted by the Lutine to pay British
| troops then serving in Holland the bulk
| of the treasure was forwarded for purely
commercial reasons
London merchants trading with North
Germany in those days were in the habit
| of sending their goods and then drawing
| bills for their value upon Hamburg ana
| other houses at so many months ahead.
Ry the time the bills fell due the goods
| had been sold for cash, which was paid
| into the banks to meet engagements. But
| protracted frost in the early part OF
| 1899 had so long sealed the Elbe that the
merchandise had been detained ice-bound
| and could not be landed or disposed OF
| in time.
1.-The London traders to save their
credit and escape the expense of protest,
providing new bills and other probable
| commercial disasters, resolved to SEND
| 20 bair c thew
| came to maturity. So grave was the
| crisis, so great the sum to be embarked,
| that a kings ship was asked, ana nearly
| every banking firm in Lombardi street
| dispatched a member in charge OF Its own
| cash contribution.
| MOREOVER. as many legal questions
might arise, an experienced notary-his
named is preserved, Mr. Schabrach--was
secured to accompany the party and ad-
wise in any difficulty. The precious cargo
was insured principally at Lloyd's.
"Various ideas. and nothing quite au-
thortative, prevail as to the exact
amount on board the Lutine. Some say
| the specie, which was in coins of all
Sorts gold and silver. guineas, golden
piastres, double Louis dor. Sicilian gold
pieces silver piastres and dollars, also
| in gold and silver bars, reached a total
value of upward of $1000,000. The only
| contemporary report is that in the An
nual Register and in the Gentlen1en's
| Magazine for 1899, which fixes the amount
| lost at merely 100000 pounds sterling:
| but Lloyds underwriters are said to have
| paid insurance to the extent of 100, 900
| pounds sterling; another sum of 100000
| pounds sterling was insured in Hamburg.
| and there were 127, 900 pounds in public
| money for pay to the troops.
Loading the Treasure Ship.
"In October of that year the Lutine was
ordered round to Yarmouth to take treas
-,1 nd fn t1n
Her captain was one Launcelot Skinner
r. NJ, an officer Of distinction, and no
doubt his mission was much to his taste;
The short voyage was likely to bring him
considera BILE profit, for it was the rule
| to pay naval captains commission of
per cent on the total value embarked
Ion the evening of the 5th of October
the Lutine lay in Yarmouth roads. with
| a merry party on board. The captain,
| no doubt in excellent spirits, had given
| grand ball to the leading people in and
around Yarmouth The last of the guests
| had hardly gone ashore when peremptory
| orders came from the admiralty that the
| Lutne. should forthwith go to sea. She
sailed in the early morning of the 9th,
and from that time very little was heard
of her
ut is however, known that she steered
a straight course for Cuzhaven. at the
mouth of the Elbe, wind strong from
NNW, and greatly in favor. After land
ing passengers and treasure, the Lutine
was to convey a fleet of merchantmen To
| the Baltic.
Struck on the Rocks.
"Soon after midnight, going free and
under full press of SAIL she struck on the
| outer bank of the island of Vlieland
| Flyland), the next to the Texel, and one
| of the ring of islands that hem the mouth
| of the Zuyder Zee. She must have been
slightly out of the course, and it Is said
| that there was a strong ice-tide rum
ming. During the night she went down
| with all on board. Another kings ship.
| the Arrow, Captain Portlock, was in
| company, but she could give no help. nor
| the Schools or fishing boats of the
| coast, and when day broke there was no
| Lutine; only two survivors were picked
| up by a Dutch lugger at daylight cling
| ing to the wreckage, one of whom died al
| most immediately and the other Mr..
| Schabrach, the notary, very soon after
ward died, but not until he had told the
| little he knew.
Repeated efforts have been made to
| recover the money. In the year imme-
| diately following, when the whole thing
| was fresh, and before the sand had silted
| or drifted over the wreck, the Dutchmen
| fished up some So, 900 pounds sterling.
| Then more systematic, and some really
| costly efforts were made, and by 1888
another $4,000 pounds sterling was re-
| covered
|
| 1892 by an English engineer, Mr.. Fletch-
| err who had been engaged on the Dutch
| coast in raising sunken dredger. He
| became interested in the Lutine, and as
sociating himself with another eminent
engineer, Mr. Rinipple. they have sp-
| preached the business in a novel way.
| Their idea is to clear the ship of sand,
| but to inclose her in a central area or
| dock faced by sandbags. which will pre-
vent further sitting, while they ransaclS
| the interior of the wreck by divers This
area is 200 feet in diameter, FROM which
| the sand will be removed by powerful
| suction dredgers.
| 1T is calculated that a lesser area of
| some so feet diameter incloses the ship
and it's bullion chamber, possibly much
| less area, but it is supposed that the
| chamber has been broken up and its con-
| tents dispersed some distance around. No
doubt the heavy bars of bullion will have
worked deep down into the sand-as the
| guns must have done, for only two have
| been recovered; but they will be found as
| the sand is removed. loose coins-many
| of them will be probably sucked up
through the dredging pumps-when de-
posted on the perforated tables on top