Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-23

A recent issue of The Star contained an
interesting and somewhat detailed account
clipped from London lid Bits. of certain
fan Gus treasures which have in times past
been lost in the oceans depths and sub
sequently searched for In vain The Ave
decked Spanish galieon San Pedro, lying
with her millions somewhere at the bot
tom of the old Margarita channel off the
Central American coast; the English man
of-war Hussar; La Lutino. the captured
French frigate-the romantic story of the
loss of these and other famous ships of
bygone days was sketched very graphically
in the article referred to. Concerning the
San Pedro the writer has this to say:
mo one has ever yet found the San
Pedro, the five-decked Spanish galleon
which sank in the Margarita channel. off
the entral American coast. ninety-two
years ago, carrying untold millions in gold
and Jewels to the bottom of the sea. There
were two chests which held over 100000
in doubloons; there were gold images and
precious stones almost beyond number,
placed on board for safety. from Catholic
churches; and there were millions of treas
ure to pay off the garrisons and Spanish
Warships along the American coast.
In all, the treasures of the San Pedro
were valued at f13, 800 coo. Syndicate after
syndicate was formed to rescue these riches
squandered on the search, but all to pur-.
pose. Davy is still gloating over his doub-
looms and golden images as he gloated first
nearly a century ago"
Now those familiar with the inside his
tory of the several attempts to recover this
treasure may well question the statement
that "Davy is still gloating' these I'M
told millions. Probably the only man alive
today who is competent to speak authori-
tatively on the subject is Mr.. Gilbert Was
gait of Boston, Mass. a survivor of two
wrecking expeditions which had as their
object the exploration of the sunken hull
of this very San Pedro. Mr. Wasgatt who
Is the father of Mr.. T. F. Wasgatt of the
Treasury Department this city, is over
eighty years of age, though still hale and
active, and his account of the adventures
of the treasure seekers is we'll worth listen
ing to.
THE article which you have shown me
concerning the treasures which Davy Jones
holds slowed away in his locker is very
interesting" said Mr. Wasgatt the other
day., but the statement in regard to the
San Pedro Is very erroneous. In the first
place, the full name of the ill-starred snip
was San Pedro de Alcantara. or, in Eng
lish, Saint Peter of Observation-Disclosures
being the name of a town on the Tagus
river in Spain, probably the town in which
she was built. l have worked on the wreck
of the San Pedro for more than year, and
l suppose that l was the first man that
ever took any money from her.
No, there was no doubt as to the identity
of the ship, for among other things re-
covered were brass rudder braces inscribed
San Pedro de Alcantara,' plain as could
be. 1 was employed by the Boston Sub
marine and Relief Company as diver, and
our first voyage was made in the schooner
Silver Key, Capt. Darius Clark in command
We cleared Boston in October, 1850 for La
Guayra, but from the latter place, because
the captain could not at that time obtain
concession from the Venezuelan govern
M IN hn Gov, pa6T lad to
the Island of Trinidad and worked the
wrecks of two Spanish war ships, which
the Spanish set on fire and destroyed at
the time the English captured the island.
At that age of the world they used hemp
cables instead of chain, and the cables
of the two ships we worked on had burned
through at the time of the fire the vessels
themselves had drifted ashore on the Island
of Gasparillo, twelve miles from Port of
Spain. We worked there two or three
months, getting copper, lead and brass
guns and loaded n large schooner with old
cast iron guns, which we sent to New York.
I'VE got all we could conveniently from
the wrecks of value and then went to st.
Thomas for supplies. Here found that
the company had sent Capt. Joseph Govt
hCuy as agent to look after their business
He had gone to Venezuela and left word
for us to follow, which we did as soon as
we had taken on the necessary supplies.
After Capt. Couthouy had been to Caracas
and secured permit to work the San Pedro
we beat out to sea to where we believed the
old wreck lay. On that coast the wind al
ways blows from the east, and 1t took us
several days to make our destination.
THE San Pedro lies about four miles to
the west of the Island of Cache and about
halfway between the Island of Margarita
and the South American coast, in ten
fathoms of water. We were not prepared.
on this first journey, to make a protracted
stay, but simply to examine the wreck.
The ocean bed in the immediate vicinity of
the hull had evidently been worked over
by other parties before US, but it is doubt
full If these Adventures had located the hull
itself. The wreck in two parts, the
stern lying half buried in the sand about
800 feet from the forward part.
According to history, a fleet of Spanish
warships lying at anchor in Cumana
bay. on a pleasant morning in June. 1915.
Suddenly, while the crews were al break
fast, the flagship, San Pedro, was seen to
be on fire. Her men took Immediately to
the beats and sought refuge on the other
ships of the fleet, leaving the San Pedro,
which was by this time mass of flames,
to her fate.
in ba diving md