The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-06-03

he ha0 pictured 10 himself anatGereQ
and rotten wreck, which, though eaten
by the sea water and broken, by the az
plosion, would still retain good deal
Of Its old form and appearance In Dr..
Tring's room at 1903 Shaftoe street had
been. among other things. a volume Of
old prints which were copies from the
req pictures in the great council cham
ber Of the. doges' palace at Venice.
Dolly and hs had studied these careful
~, and from them had obtained very
tolerable notion Of the naval architec-
ture Of the earlier centuries He ex-
pected, therefore. that the galleon would
have some traces remaining Of lofty
forecastle and aftercastle; that at least
one Of her great poop lanterns would be
left; that she would have, at sny rate,
one mast standing. He had pictured to
himself the size and shape Of Its heavy
''roundtop" and, in fact, though the
whole would do 80 be shrouded by
a heavy growth of sea shrub and creep
Ct. he had hoped that hts Imagination,
by filling in few gaps here and there.
would still have given him very fair
picture Of what the galleon was when
she rode in Ill her br ~ Of canvas
and bunting over the waves Of the
surface.
But he had forgotten to allow for the
corroding power Of the brine. Iron nails
had dissolved to mere threads. copper
had turned to thin green sirup, the
hard lex oak timbers and sheathing
had rotted to a pulpy slime The whole
fabric Of the great vessel had disin-
tegrated Of ite own weight reclining
where it fell, and the ever precipitating
diatom ooze had shrouded its identity
almost completely. Save here and there,
where some charred beam or plank Of
the hard Spanish timber projected
crookedly like a rotten tree snag. the
symmetry Of the mound WAS uubroksn.
"Bravo. Dollyl" said the Doctor
"Whatsver We do get now we've to
thank you for. D'you know, Guthrie,
that this is the third time we have been
over this particular piece Of ground and
: that was on tho watch ON the other
occssiona and must have passed this
precious hillock as I did any other in
equality Of the sea fioorf'''
"Min Colspepper, said the under
graduate. "the very next time we pipe
down to dinner I shall crave the honor
Of proposing your health"
"And III join you in drinking the
toastl" cried the doctor heartily. ""But
now we won't waste any more time in
congratulations The length Of our stay
down in this gloomy treasure house is
limited. We can't prolong it without
danger. So, Guthrie, away with you
below again, Lift her bit with the
pumps, give few turns to the crank
shaft till ! get her under command
again and laid fairly up alongside, and
then stand by to work the grabl"
At the word down the young man
tumbled, full Of eagerness as he had
half an hour before been full of lassitude
and loathing He told the tale to the
others, and never had work in those
gloomy tween decks been more cheer
fully done. The pumps clanked merrily
till the ketch was of the ground again,
and then the screw shaft hummed
round at such a pace that Or. Tring
was forced to shout down to ease her or
be should run the hi1lock out Of sight.
And afterward, when the doctor had
ranged her up into position and dropped
her down on to the SEA floor again, the
others tumbled briskly forward to the
set of cranks which worked the grab.
every man of them tingling with excite
ment. For the result of all their weary
labors was now to be put to the proof.
This "grah." as its inventor had
christened 1t, deserves a word Of de-
.scription. II was in structure very like
those uncouth contrivances yclept
"steam navviea which are usually as
ISOLATED with the making Of railway
cuttings. Attached to the mainmast,
az to an upright, was heavy moving
arm, which was capable Of complete
control from below. At the end Of this
was long strut, armed with large
iron scoop, which would dig up load
of anything within its reach, swing it
round and deposit it upon the deck. All
the movements of the machine were
arranged 80 that they could be controlled
from the tween deeka
In practice the grab had many draw
backs; but, considering the enormous
difficulties under which it was worked,
it did its duties very we'll 1t certainly
reflected great credit upon its inventor,
DR.. Tring. The machines movements
in Medium SO dense as sea water is
at that level were sufficient to set up
small eddies, and, although these had
not been calculated upon beforehand,
their presence was noticed with pleas
ure. Under their influence much of the
ooze, which the scoop brought up along
with the more solid matter, was swept
gently from the decks, and in conss-
quence the weight Of the cargoes which
had to be carried to the surface was
considerably lightened.
There were, as it turned out, many
of these journeys to the surface and
hack again. for the Eurska's people did
not by any means hit of the treasure
room Of the galleon at the first attempt
Under that formless mound. amid which
the ruins Of the Santa Catarina were
heaped, it was impossible TO distinguish
stem from stern, and for awhile they |
did not even know bow from broadside.
In fact, five Journeys forward and back
to the surface were necessary before
they could gain even this elementary
knowledge, and then many, many, more
before they brought to daylight the
FIRST coin Of the coveted treasure.
Yet with what keen interest they
waded among their Shiny hauls may be |
guessed. Many page from the history |
of the past which had long been pluck
ed away from the view Of modern man
was opened to their eager eyes. In one
or another Of their trips they brought I
to the surface heavy culverins, brass
sakers and falconets. the shell bound
stock Of an arqusbus, the bronze holder
for linstock-all archaeological treas
ures over which DR.. Tring gloated as I
be never gloated over the golden harvest
which came later. Captain Colepeppsr
picked up the jeweled hilt Of some
dandy rapier, whose blade had centuries
ago dissolved in rust. The doctor found
n ,orpar "a uouurat hnr ~ tortoieo shall |