Evening star., 1901-05-13
THE PIRACY OF NEPTUNE,
FreiShted Ships That Have
FOundered in the Sea.

From Tit Bits.
lnere is popular belief that vast wealth
lies buried deep between the sand and rocks
OF our coasts Ship after ship. laden with
insots and coinage. has struck on the Brit
lsh beaches and gone to pieces during the
fast five hundred years. From time to time
hundreds of pounds worth of gold has been
shoWered on the seashore and picked up
and used: yet there still remain something
like eighty millions sterling in gold and
silver under the sea-
When the JOnkheer Meest er Van de Wall
Dutch East Indiaman, struck the iron
bound Sea-front of the Lizard MANY wears
ago, she went to pieces before anything
could be done to save her. Some fishermen
from Penberth Cove, while engaged in fish
ing up blocks of tin which formed part
OF the vessels cargo, found a tin box lying
in slX-fathom water. Being opened it was
found to contain coins to the value of f13-
uoo. 1t is said that there are other boxes
OF gold. silver and banknotes lying amons,
the rocks and sands where the ship sank.
In 1874 a Spanish galleon went ashore
near the Lizard. having on board many
thousands of pounds worth of bar gold and
money, which We're being carried to Lon
don for safety during the unsettled state
OF affairs in Spain. The greater part of this
vast wealth still lies awaiting recovery be-
tween the rocks, which have, even at low
water. six feet of water them.
Some years ago a company sank a shaft
through the rock below high-water mark
to try to recover the riches the sea holds
so tight. 1t was imagined that the waves
after storm would drive some portion OF
the buried specie into the hole at the bot
tom of the shaft. Before the work was
completed, however, the sea broke in, and
the shaft had to be abandoned. Another
syndicate soon afterward dragged the bot
tom of the sea in the Lizard district, but
nothing of Importance found. The
treasure is undoubtedly there. for coins and
ingots are being constantly washed ashore
on. the beach.
Treasure to the value of a million and
a half sterling, which went to the bottom
of the sea with Dutch galleon, lies await
ing recovery somewhere on the CheSil
Beach a long, narrow tongue of shingly
land near the great convict station of Port
land. This Dutch treasure-ship
turning from the West Indies laden with
precious metal and when coming up the
channel caught in a gale and driven
into Portland Race, where tremendous
broken seas rage when there is any wind.
Gradually she was carried toward Chesil
Beach, and it did not take her long to dis
solve into mat tchwood. The entire freight
of gold and silver went to the bottom.
Occasionally the fishermen are reminded
of its existence by finding silver or gold
bar or two on the beach.
The Abergavenny which was lost in a
storm off Weymouth about the year 1890.
had on board several thousand pounds
worth of specie and jewels. In 1906 syn
dicate was formed, and. by means of
diving-bell. siXty-two chests of dollars, to
| the value of 100000, We're fished up
Treasure of vast amount is supposed to
lie under the sea in the Sarn Badrig.
sunken causeway running miles out to sea
from the Welsh coast. The story runs that
a French treasure-Ship, the Bretagne,
struck on this death-trap of ships, and.
caught by huge wave, hurled COM
pletely over, to sink with all hands. in deep
water.
Another case of total loss involving four
and half millions in gold coins, was the
striking of the Infanta, noble Spanish
galleon. on the rocks of MiZen Head. near
Bantry bay in November, 1913. The ma
| ture of the coast renders investigation diff
ficut, and not a single coin has been
| brought to the surface. In all probability
the treasure will remain in the sea for
centuries.
The Czarina. having f3, 100000 in gold on
board, foundered in Filey Brigg. on the
Yorkshire coast, and another galleon was
lost a few miles farther south. near Brid-
lington Quay. Thirty thousond pounds have
been drawn from the seas clutches at
Bridlington Quay, and the remainder lies
awaiting the person who is able to rescue
The Gunfleet Bank. off the Essex coast.
is thickly strewn with gold and silver, in
| coin and ingots, for the Erouwe Polder, a
| Dutch vessel emptied its cargo of half
million sterling in gold and silver there.
| About a century ago Spanish treasure
ship. carrying freight of million sterl-
| ing, was caught in a storm near Beachy
Head, and sank with all on board. The
treasure lies in a deep hole over which
| a strong current runs making it impossible
| for divers to descend. -
Much treasure-trove lies off the coast of
Ireland Many Spanish galleons have shed
| their riches there, and several ships of the
Great Armada, with all their wealth on
board, came to grief in the district. Ihree
millions are scattered off a point near Ira
lee. or rather its equivalent in doubloons
Numerous attempts have been made to re-
cover the treasure, and one synolcate aCt-
naIlv rescued f4o 600 from the sea- but the
hulk of the wealth remains untouched to
| this day, and at low tide there is only
foot of water over the scene of the wreck.
The ship however, is buried In the sand:
hnt one day a mighty gale might scoop the
sand away and reveal the lost treasure and
then some person will find himself rich be-
youd dreams of avarice.
Prosperous Kansas.