The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-04-12
RICHES UNDER THE SEA.
Methods Employed I'm Recovery of
Ocean HOards.
London Golden Penny.


London Golden Penny
1t is not generally known that at her
death Queen Victoria gave Princess Bea-
trice the crown rights to the gold of the
Spanish armada. This gold lies in COM
paratively shallow depths in the English
channel. Its location is known to the ad-
miralty, and the value of the gold is said
to be enormous. The right is invested In
the royal family, and many offers have
been made looking toward its recovery.
But the bottom of the Atlantic is vast
treasure bed. If skillful mariner had
submarine boat, and if the boat had
cyclopean eye in the hull Of it, its owner
might easily rival a Rothschild. A large
amount OF this treasure is located as ac-
curately as the principal banks in our great
metropolis. Many diver can take you to
a chart. lay his finger on a number of spots
and say: go to longitude so and so, in
latitude definable within fifty feet. Dive
deep enough and bring up a fortune
Every wrecking company has its own
private list of these ocean boards. Some
are being worked, while many will doubt
less become accessible in the future Last
year the Boston Wrecking Company recov-
cred $4,000 in gold bars which had lain for
sixty years on a bank near Turks island.
Twelve months previously to this find
New York company fished up couple of
bags OF gold from an old-time wreck off
Staten island. In the United States there
are companies prepared TO undertake the
hazardous business of recovering valuabes
from wrecks. They employ the best divers
obtainable, and for days these men work
away and endeavor to bring to the surface
the lost treasures. When the Spanish
steamer BiZcaya sank off Barnegat on Nov.
l, 1890, a well-known American wrecking
company received the following telegram
from Havana: spare no expense to re-
cover the body of Don Pedro" Don Pedro,
wealthy Cuban merchant, was a passen-
ger by the Inflated vessel. The telegram
came from the widow, and certainly seemed
to indicate her devotion for her husband
The wrecking company fitted a tug, hired
the best divers and. began the search. They
worked for many days, bringing up ships
officers and seamen-everybody except the
Cuban merchant. The search was at last
abandoned. Then the company heard for
the first time that Don Pedro had a belt
value of $4,000.
In Hell Gate, at spot marked with a
star IN the charts of wrecking offices. lies
sank she carried $500 900 in cash to paw the
British army just before the revolution
She sank in only ten fathoms of water. AS
at work upon the wreck. They brought up
few scattered gold coins, brass buttons
and some scrap iron. Another British ship
loaded with gold captured from the Span
1ards lies at the bottom of Chesapeake bay
| In only forty-eight feet of water. She went
down in 1870. Before leaving the port at
Lewes her captain was heard to say: 1--WE
have gold enough aboard to buy a king
DOM" Just as she stood out from the land
a cyclone struck her. She keeled over and
| went down. The body of the captain was
| Within recent years a considerable amount
| of gold has been brought up from her by
divers.
| AT the base of Dunderberg in the Hudson
| river, lies a pirate vessel with thirty-seven
| bars of gold, quantity of plate, a box of
| gold watches and a diamond necklace on
| board. In September. 1857. the Central
| American went down outside Havana. She
| carried 100000 of the precious metal The
| wreck is set down accurately in maritime
records, but unless some way is found by
which divers can work at depth beyond
| one hundred feet this treasure will never
be recovered. Thirty years ago 100000 En-
| glish pounds of gold were recovered from a
| Spanish galleon by diver named Phipps
| In the West Indies. The gold had been un-
| der water 200 years. Recently the Boston
| Wrecking Company secured a good deal of
| silver from the wreck of the frigate Severn,
/ a British boat, which went down near
| Turks island, in the West Indies, in 1898
with $4,000 worth of silver on board. She
| lies in a basin exposed to the rough swell
| of the Atlantic. She is only thirty feet un-
| der water. The location of the wreck is
| given as latitude q, longitude 50 degrees sc
| minutes.