Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-14

wealth millions of
~ dollars in gold coin,
silver bars and jew
els. In the past, Spain's raparious rule has
prevented the recovery Of much of this
treasure although several men have been
made milionaires by the findings of divers
in Cuban waters.
During the early years of SPANS rule in
the new world hundreds of salleons sailed
yearly from Mexico and the shores of
South America for Spain, stopping ut the
ports Of cuba and passing out into the At
lant!c through the Windward Passage. FOR
mCre than ii century there was a close ri
yaIry between the buccaneers and the hur-
ritancs to see which could sink the greater
number of these treasure fleets. In many
cases the location of the wrecks is now
definitely known, while in many others the
records al Madrid and at Havana show the
location only approximately. West Indian
waters outside Of the harbOrs are extreme
" clear, so that it is ofteHtimes possible
to see To III. depth of eighteen or twenty
feet, making it easy for divers To make the
necessary exploration. Indeed, with SOM
OF the recently invented submarine boats,
such a boat, for instance. as Simon Lakes
Argonaut. which craWls the bottom of
the sea, It would be comparatively easy
task 10 prOWl around on IN bottom Of the
sea and discover these old wrecks and loot
them Of their gold.
\ Million Every Year.
little research into the muSty records
Uf Madrid shows that during the early
part of the seventeenth century over thirty
million dollars worth Of silver alone was
shipped from Spain. During the latter part
of the seyeate enth century one mine, tire
Naienciana of Guauazuato. Employed 1000
slaves. and The company owning il lost 81.
UD,bDD every year by pirates and accidents
q; sea without in the least impdiring its
credit in European markets. Most of thrse
enormous losses StTcW the ocean bottom
around the West Indian islands y careful
search Of old spanish records would reveal
the approximate location Of scores Of The
4 dSuIe wrecks, SO that they could b.
visited with very little difficulty.
My researches have been limited to such
ancient Spanish records as may bc found
in America, and from these aIouc-aud
their number compares with the immense
Libraries Of such works in Madrid
drop 10 a Siredm-1 have unCaTthc1 the
stories IF more than score of vessels and
ieeis the wrecks of which now lie in
American waters.
East Of the Isle of Pines are the Garii-
nil"S. or famous JarIiue rocks. where lies
a whole fleet Of good ships. 1t was here
that the daring buccancgr captain Bar
thrI0me Portuguese, lost the richest prize
H. ever took in his adventurous career, and
it lies there today. awaiting the lucky sub
marine Explorer The account of the wreck
in the oil books is most circumstantial.
Capt. Portuguese Capture
Harthelume Portuguese had fitted out =
small threc-pounder vessel at Golpho Tristc.
on the Gulf of Campeachy, and with a
crew Of thirty men he had captured treas
ure gaueon bound from Carthagenia to
Havana 1t was lucky adventure. The
inventory Of the ships goods showed over
Il hundred Thousand dollars worth of gold
and silver bullion. with as much NOR. in
coin. Portuguese set his sails for Tortuga
but as they We're passing Cape CorrieHtos,
three swltt-SaiIing guard vessels from New
SPAN swept down upon the ship ana cap
tured MIN and the entire crew. and took
them in irons TO San Francisco in Cam
peaehy. The old account tells how Por-
tU@ueS escaped that night and after an
almost Incredible journey through the
:" amps secured 4 canoe from Il friend.
enlisted thirty men. and actually recovered
tn ship that had been taken from him.
Thou ne sailed away again tor Tortuga.
that island of blood and spoil.
of the Isle of Pines a hurricane brought
down vengeance upon him and carried him
1rr"SiStIblE ON the JardIne rocks, and the
Eal.eon with all its treasure went down.
Some of the hardy buccaneers escaped in
small boat 10 tell the story. but the gold
and silver bullion for which they :isksd so
much Is stu heaped in some hollow oi that
rcck-buund bed OF the sea. This treasure
would pay richly for the recovery.
Tons of silver Bars.
Another account OF sunken treasure is
told musty joke in a musty tome. IN
1850 three canoes, manned by fifteen buc-
cancers each. crept around the western
end of Cuba and came suddenly upon one
of his majesty's treasure ships bound from
Caracas to Havana. They swarmed over
the side of the great vessel like SO many
rats, and threw every Spaniard overheard.
The uuCOuth visitors ranSacked the YES
sci for booty. but. To their disgust. found
only a small quantity of wine in the Off
GERS quarters, and in the hold a lot Of
STay!Sh metal, which some wiseacre On
board decided to be tin ore. and not wish
Ing their newly acquired vessel TO he laden
with such trash the leader ordered il TO
be thrown overheard. And there il lies to
this day. not far from the Colorado banks
not less than fifteen tons of fine silver bars.
Sir William Phipps. a Oaronet Of New
England, who was once governor of Massa-
chusctts. enriched his ancestral house and
left his descendants among the wealthiest
In New England by sharing the secret of
a smuESier. who saw plate fleet go down
IL storm. about half way between the
nearest points of Cuba and Haiti. "Phipps'
fortune has been famous ever since And
Yet II IS said that he found only one of the
suHken ships of the feet. containing not
less than thirty-two tons of silver with
Jewels enough to make S2.lsOOOO0 The re-
ina!nder of the vessels still lie off the east
err point of Cuba, and they are estimate
TO contain many millions of dollars
Another treasure wreck is the center Of
= most romantic and thrilling story of