The record-union., 1898-12-06
MINES OF THE SEA.
SEARCH FOR TREASURES By
SUBMARINE ARGoNAUTS.
Gome Famous Rainbow Chasers and
Their Dreams of Gold and
Jewels.

den treasures. The fever has goIlen III
to the blood of Sir George Newnes,
wealthy London baronet, who has come
under the spell of one Louis de Rouge
mont, who is being acclaimed the mod
ern Robinson Crusoe. Sir George
Newnes is the publisher of several peri
odicals in London, in one Of which is
running a startling yarn purporting TO
be the actual experiences of De Rouge
mont
The stories have been widely quoted
and commented upon. In the Her
ald," a few Sundays ago, appeared an
article dealing with this glib-tongued
adventurer, who might have stepped
from the pages of one of Robert LOUIS
Stevenson's remarkable tales. He ap-
peared in London, penniless and un-
known. But he told story wilder than
the widest flights of fiction Sir
George Newnes listened. From listen
ing he grew enthusiastic. He engaged
De Rougemont to write his story for
one Of his magazines.
But that wasn't enough. The Baro-
nets dreams were disturbed by visions
of fabulous treasures-treasures spoken
of lightly by his new-found protege.
OH the OtSeTl lSldHQ, vaguely AOSoiON e@o
'.off the northwest coast of Australia,
where De Rougemont had been cast
away after the wreck of the pearl fish
ing vessel on which he had shipped,
were treasures of untold worth. De
Rougemont was the sole survivor, and
when he finally escaped from his island
he didn't think it worth while to take
his treasures with him.
There are pearls-black pearls, each
worth a kings ransom; white pearls
such as no man ever saw before, and
pink pearls of great value. And Sir
George Newnes is fitting out an expe-
dition to go and fetch them to Lon
don. Many persons there be who do not
hesitate to say openly that De Rouge
mont is picturesque disciple of Ana
Mas. He has been hailed as the mod
ern Robinson Crusoe, but there are
some who say he is a fin de steele Mum
chausen.
FAMOUS RAINBOW CHASERS.
De Rougemont says he is willing to
go with the expedition, and that is re-
garded as something in his favor. But
there have been other De Rougemonts,
not as widely exploited perhaps as this
one, but De Rougemonts, just the same,
who have gone on other expeditions. I
have one in mind now, fellow named
Follingsby, who cast his spell over
Jacob Lorillard several years ago and
cost that gentleman pretty penny be-
fore he got through. We do not have
to go to London for our De Rougemonts
or our Sir George Newneses, either.
We have had them at home, a plenty
of them.
Which brings me back to the some
what trite observation that there has
ever been something irresistibly allur
ing in the search for hidden treasure.
Who, as child, has not gazed longingly
at the rainbow, knowing that at its end
was pot of gold? All, if we could only
get there before it faded away And how
we have run painting through the wet
grass Of the fields, only to see our hopes
grow DINNER and DINNER and finally
fade away into nothingness. Men are
but children of larger growth We
still have our rainbow chasers.
Captain Kidd, the pirate, has furnish
ed inspiration for more disillusioned
fortune seekers than can we'll be enum-
Grated.
Some of the rainbow chasers who
have been victimized by smooth
tongued De Rougemonts are men who
would laugh at Captain Kidd's hidden
wealth. They have sought for more
tangible sources, and have been in sight
of then-as the child fancies he is in
sight of the rainbow's end Wildly they
have chased over the wet fields of the
world, only to see their rainbows fading
away before their eyes.
Jacob Lorillard would not naturally
impress one as a rainbow chaser, and
yet even he, hard headed man of the
world as he is, has had the experience.
He was after $67, 100000 worth of
Spanish treasure, which went down
with the Spanish galleon San Pedro
when she sank in the Margarita Chan
mel. in 1872 The late DIR. Seth PAN
coast of Philadelphia, fitted out an ex-
pedition to recover the 81, 800 100000
which was sunk with the British sloop-
of-war De Braak when she went to
Davy Jones locker off the Delaware
Capes in 1898. Numerous efforts have
been made to recover 81, ,S000 900 in gold
which was buried beneath the waves off
Port Norris when the British frigste
Hussar sank, on November %, 1880.
And these are only a few
Think Of the waste of it all. 1t has
been estimated that 81, 100000 has been
expended in various efforts to recover
the treasure popularity supposed to have
heen lest with the Hussar And it
subsequently developed that the gold
had been safely removed before the ves-
sci sank
The Hussar was a thirty-two gun
ship, enc of old England's fifth class
war vessels, and was commanded by
Sir Charles Maurice Porle According
to popular legend, she sailed from Eng
land in company with the British ship
Mercury, loaded with gold with which
to pay off the British army and navy,
no payments having been made to the
red coats in nearly three years. The
IIussar carried f5S0,000 in gold, and
on the Mercury was an additional $780,
600.
Both vessels reached New York an
safety, and at the Battery the treasure
on board the Mercury was, by popular
belief, transferred to the Hussar The
latter was then ordered to Newport, r.
l.. at that time a British rendezvous
On her way up the East River toward
the Sound she struck on Pot Rock,
nearly opposite the upper extremity of
RandalPs Island
THE HUSSAR WENT DOWN.
The extent of her injury could not
have been fully comprehended, for she
Kept on her way. But she was TAX
ing water rapidly, and off Port Morris
an effort was made to land her. Less
than hundred yards from the rapidly
shelving shore she sank in seventy feet
OF water, carrying down nearly all of
her crew.