The San Francisco call., 1901-12-04
OLD STORIES
ARE REVIVED
No Proof That Wreck of
the Rio Has Been
Found.

L
the Rio de Janeiro. which was sunk in
the Golden Gate on February y last, is
being widely commented upon by the
Eastern press, which regards the report
as authentic. Even the officials of the
United States Photographic Once appear
to regard the news as hnal, and they are
discussing in the newspapers the best
means Oh recovering the treasure which
went down with the ship and which is
awaiting the Efforts OF salvage men to
Drlng IL to the surface.
Ever since the no went down with 126
passengers ana d cargo roughly esulnat-
ca 10 ue worth neaIIy $l,UOU,UUO, reports
nave been periodically circulated 10 the
erect Unat the nun had been located.
Lnese statements were refute0 as often
as made, until at last the man VINO knew
where the snip lay was looked upon with
COMPASSION ny nIs neIgnpors. LVen the
splrluuaIisLs look d nand III the game
anu Dy the alu Oh the spOoks- the nun Was
--pOsIL4VeIS' IUCated. W men Proofs OF Lne
a14egauoh were demanueo Wy the SIX
Ieeu insurance cOmpduIes inueres Leu iii
Inc reporLeu nnu lIIey were mot rOrtu-
coming. In fact, alI me wrecAers couId
say Was tnat IIey were certain Iney. hau
Inc sunr1eA snip, DuL GnIs was IilsulIIcleIIl-
Inc lIISuI dlICe agents as Wen as lne Fd-
clnc Man oLealLsnlp Company are viii
Ing to treat with the various Wrecklng
COMPANIES, out thus lar nothing tangible
mas resulted from these negotiations.
One Company Remains at Work.
There Is one company, however which
remained perslsJenIIy lm the lIeId anu the
enthusiastic Oh lis olIIcerS Succeeued In IN
ouCIng various INSURANCE COMPANIES
as We'll the Faclnc mail Company TO
sign d contract contingent upon produc-
ing the goods contdlneu IN the null. Inc
company is known as the ,tIoiden Gaze
Wreck ana Savage Company, anu it was
formed on the statement OIL mis- Soren-
%hs2f he 1-l
Gated the wreck. 1t is claimed that ne
stood upon the deck of the snip in twen-
ty-three tathomS of water about half a
mile from Fort Point, and that ne brought
something with him from the depths in
proof of mis- assertion What this article
was is kept secret, but it is said to have
satisfied the stockholders in the COM
pany that they had a magnificent invest
ment for their money The result was
that Ccin was raised TO continue the in
vestigation1 ion and to provide for the raising
By the terms of it's contract with the
interested insurance corporations the
wrecking company is to receive from 20
to Is per cent of all that is recovered
from the wreck. The cargo consists of
block tin worth SIS 900, raw silk worth
$500, 900, $4,000 in gold coin in registered
mali pags ano $4o,OVO worth OF machinery.
There are other valuables in the wreck
worth about 100000 more.
Insurance Men SkepticaI.
Inquiry among the insurance COM
panies yesterday developed that the
agents are not wildly enthusiastic over
the outlook. Scarcely an agent could be
found who put any faith in the stories
OF the finding, of the wreck. Indeed all
without exception expressed the belief
that the wreck would never be found,
and were 1t to be the discovery would be
yalueless for the reason that it lies at a
depth too great to permit divers to op-
crate. This view is entertained by Vice
President Jacob B. Levison of the Fire
mans insurance Company, chairman of
the committee of the underwriters which
conducted the negotiations for the re-
coyery and raising of the hull of the Rio.
The Pacific Mail officials regard with
some skepticism the reports of the ind
ing of the hull. They asserted YESTERDAY
that as far as the company was con-
cerned they knew no more about the 10
cation OF the wreck than on the dav the
disaster occurred. They expressed the
hope that the vessel would one dav he
found, and that when found some practio
cal method of removing valuables there
from would be advanced.
On the other hand the officials of +ha
wrecking company claim that their story
about finding the wreck is no dream
Ihey assert they have absolute nroof ~
discovery and that the only difficulty con-
irontlng them is the Slowing of the hull
into shalower water. They admit the
wreck cannot be worked by the divers
IN her present location, but this will be
overcome by means of pontoons At the
present time the location of the wreck is
marked by buoy twenty-five feet under
water. The company is hopeful of ac
comprising the task before it. but there
gre men conVersant with such tasks who
aeclare that 1t is impossible of realiza-