The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-25
HUNT FOR GOLD UNDER WATER
NOVEL JOB OF THE SUBMARINE
BOAT ARGONAUT At NEW YORK.

| J1SO - How the New sea wonder
| VIII Search for Lost Treasures.
The Argonaut is at New York in search
for sunken treasures in the harbor of that
| city The first job will be an effort to re-
cover nearly 100000 in gold which was
lost on the frigate Hussar 118 years ago.
II was in November 1880, that the Hussar,
flying the colors of his majesty, King
George III of England, carrying 100000,
with which TO pay the imperial troops, es-
sayed to pass up through Hell Gate on her
| way to New London. Just off what is now
East One Hundred and ThlrIy-fifth street,
but what in those days was a long stretch
| of primeval forest, the ship ran against a
| rock Despite all efforts to save her, she
| became total wreck, and sank in sixty
| feet of water. Time and time again eff
| forts have been made to regain those
! sunken guineas. The English government
| itself attempted to do salvage work for
its lost coin in 1894. but was politely, yet
/ peremptorily ordered to keep hands off by
this government.
| In the summer of 1892 the last great
! effort was made by private enterprise to
! get at the Hussar. The quarterback was
| located, and among the detritus, seventy
| feet below the surface now, We're found
orockery, fiints, rusied rings of iron, and
other articles believed TO be part of the
| Hussar's complement and equipment. The
ship was 200 feet long and IS feet beam.
AS soon as we get our specially fitted
ballast which came by train from Balu-
| more said Capt Lake, I'VE win put
n 81 xsrI- Ill,
| some bottom-of-the-bay exploring. l have
! here chart prepared by the United States
| photographic office, showing the loca-
| ton of every wreck surrounding it. There
| seem to be good many wrecks off the
Hook, on the famous Romer shoal, and in
| side the Horseshoe. The oldest sea cap
| tain at Atlantic Highlands had told us
that in fifty years there have been fifty
| wrecks thereabouts
All we want 10 do is to go to one of
! EN-, send over our diver. hitch some of the
! cargo TO our derrick in front there and
| hoist away. when we demonstrate our
/ ability to do that, as we have already
done IN the Patuxent river In muddy, yell
low water, we prove that boat 100 feet
/ long, equipped with sand pumps, heavy
| hosting derrick, and more powerful pro
/ pell1ng power but built on exactly these
same lines, can earn huge sums for those
| controlling her"
win you tackle the treasure shin Hus-
| sar?"
I'VE expect to; but we are making no
| boasts"
Then there are the Umberto Primo
| which broke in two on Romer shoals. and
the wrecks which the government has
not destroyed. Win you use them for OBJ
ject lessons.
I'VE hope to; we shall make New York
our headquarters and base of supplies for
a couple of months at least I know this
| locality, having made practical descents
IN inns Day few years ago in the Argo-
maui, Jr., sixteen-foot wooden boat
worked by hand power. She lies up on the
beach there now. This present boat is not
! SO large as l wanted to build, but YOU
know tailor must cut his coat according
| to his cloth. This craft is only thirty
eight feet long, but she weighs ffty-seyen
tons, and her steel plates are only three
! eighths of an inch thick, yet she is calcu-
| lated 10 withstand the pressure of water
| to depth of 100 feet"
| Capt. Lake is acting as the agent of a
! company which furnished the means TO
equip the expedition and has chartered the
sole right to work the wrecks in New York
| harbor
In about ten days Mr.. Lake expects to
be able TO make trial trips to the nearest
eharted wrecks. No formal notice of
these demonstrations win be given, as he
wishes TO proceed quietly, and visitors are
distinctly not desired.
He said that the banks of New York
| bay sloped at an acute angle, but the bot
tom everywhere he has explored it, at
New York and further south, is compare
| lively level. No very deep gulies nor
| creyasses are to be found In the vicinity
| of New York. Even If the Argonaut STUN
| bles into one she is bound TO right herself
| Just as a cane held in the middle RECEIVERS
! its equipoise after one end is depressed
Mo Frr1,s l. H.
side of the coming tower that the Argo-
| maui has never been more than thirty de-
grees off her normal plane, and rarely
| half that.
I'VE had a delightful trip from Balti-
| more to New York, under water nearly
all the way, and had a chance to prove
| and diSproVe several theories" said Can't
Lake 1--WE had fun off Long Branch
| when we turned on the electric search
| light and attracted half a dozen PROPOSES
They seemed irresistibly drawn to the bow
of the Argonaut. They tumbled about
and created quite a commotion Mr.. VIII
! son, the chief engineer and diver. caught
seemed dazed, and were easily caught
| by opening the trapdoOr of the diving
chamber.
mo. we never have any trouble about
Fridays menu" and Capt. Lake laughed
| heartily I'VE have speared crabs and
| on the way from Baltimore"
What are you going to do in the neigh
! borhood of New York. he was asked.
I'VE think we have demonstrated by
this trip up and through the Atlantic
| ocean that submarine navigation is prac-
| ticable. Four of us, Mr.. Gault of the
Lake Submarine Company, Engineer Viii
son. the cook and crew, John Vogel and
| ], have eaten, slept and lived on this boat
for several consecutive days and nights
! without discomfort or danger, all the
while making progress toward New York.
| If we had not drifted into a pier at Cape
May and broken off another propeller
blade we'd nave made better time. Origin
all we had four blades; now we have
| one"
What else have you learned by your
| ocean trip to New York;"
We showed that the 800 cubic feet of
air in the chamber Of the Argonaut was
sufficient to supply four men, without
| calling upon the compressed air storage
| tanks or taking in any through the mast
| tube. for lhirtN hours. Two of the men