Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-12-22

monsoon. wouldn't it? Rain, fog. hur-
ricaues-"
That's So
And the water might have been SO
lumpy that careful sounding would
have been out of the question"
Hardly. They wouldn't attempt TO
sound in bad weather. unless for their
own safety. Still, they might not have
happened to try il when they were
over the exact spot, and the shifting
of the monsoon might make anything
like an accurate search impossible
Oh. wouldn't venture TO say that
there is no reef there; its existence
and position are not definitely known,
that's all. But suppose there is. Sup
pose for the sake Of argument that its
lagoon isn't more than 100 feet or
so deep. how much chance do YOU
think there would be Of finding even
he fragments OF a hulk lost there 100
years ago? Why. man, il would have
a coral Jacket on so thick that you'd
have to use dynamite If it were above
water. Coral deposit increases At the
rate OF an eighth OF an inch year, OF
y
would make make thickness of about
IS inches. Adding shell-fsh and other
marine growth, il would lie safe 10 fig
ure two or three feet. wouldn'tit?"
'PrCbably; but thought that coral,
diatomaceae, and foramiEifera depos-
tied rerpendicularly on these volcanic
atolls ."
That's SO. If the wreck lay in
bold position some of her side timbcrs
might still be exposed. or at least Gov
cred very thinly. Harry. what crazy
notion have you got in your heudg
There isn't one chance i'm million OF
an attempt to raise that treasure be.
ing successful. II would be folly to
think of trying il without fully
equipped wreckiug steamer and even
then you'd have piracy TO contend
with among ycur crew"
well. | became interested i'm the
story. Md then the idea occurred to
me that. being ont Of a Job. there would
be nothing 20 hinder my investigating
the thing i:ttlc. just for the sake OF
G'gumc1t. i'1w-we might as well
amuse curselNcs with hi. as ANYTHING.
--suprCsr were 10 leave he steamer
nt Gua.'aa; hats the 5'!pcst and most
southcrly Ladrone. ism; IL? Right.
Then suppose should happen 10 get
hold of Fray lgnaci0's account Of the
shipwrecked officer. aad should find ir
ii just where the galleon went down.
I'd very likely get myself into a serious
scrape, but just suppose | should man
age to see the document after all. Then
suppose | took little trip some day
on one of those flying catamarans-
they make % knots sometimes, il re-
member correctly-and succeeded In
locating this reef. Suppose had
diving suit with me; there probably
isn't such a thing between Frisco and
the Yokohama navy yard, but imagin-
alton is cheap. Suppose | actually
found something that looked like an
old wreck, crustcd over with coral, and
tried dynamite cartridge on it. Sup
pose | found something there, and
slowed it away until you could join me
eh?"
Halstead was filling his pipe as /
spoke, but his fingers trembled little
He took several long, meditative puffs
without saying word. Then he got
up and began to pace the deck, up and |
down, back and forth. Presently he |
cleared the table and spread upon it an |
Imray chart of the western Pacific be- |
tween New Guinea and Japan. After
rure -rtT inc .TDr-rrI rvrnri wnrctin TIC "ISJ |
consulted. The conversation had |
drifted casually into this channel from
it's association with the Ladrone Noy'
age. but the subject was taking hol"
Of us with the grip that such seeming |
impossibilities often will; and all sorts
OF wild absurditics flashed through my |
mind as | watched the captains face.
After what seemed an hour OF calcula-
tion over the chart and directory, he
said:
THAT reef hasn't been found by any
vessel since 17lO, but 1t isn't safe to ac-