New-York tribune., 1912-02-11

ovy vouId vou like TO be virtually In
- touch with S,G0OON and then nave
l. n nature interfere with the winning
n such a prize? The mere mentoh "a
.,,cb riches living ready to be taken SOUNDS
Ike a fairy tale, but romance has become
fact and the dream Of more than CEN
ury will probably be realized In the neN'
,eu months The fascinating gamble re-
,arding the treasure lpst in the old frigate
'utinc. after something ever hundred
md twelve years of tempting and part way
.ewardjng. has resolved itself into cold
Slooded business proposition, with the CLINT
OF gold actually in sight.
One can easily understand the impauence
with which the successful searchers await
the coming of spring and less ooisterous
seas. so that they may resume operalohS
upon that veritable mine To the genera
,ions gone since the Lutine stranded upon
the sands OF Holland, in October of I1S9' the
sea has yielded enough of specie ana oul'-
ion from the wreck 10 bear evidence u
the precious burden she carried "hen sne
sailed from England IN that month anu
year in her run to Hamburg to relieve the
existing shortness of the money market al
that time But the swirlng currents anu
the shifting sands at the entrance 10 'he
Zuyder Zee seemed TO conspire TO make
the task Of the searchers tantalizins
one-giving to them one year some OF the
sunken treasure and the next year Durylns
the wreck so thoroughly and deeply tha'
approach became impossible. At Intervals
since the ship stranded golu and silver DULL
ION and coins have been recovered reaChihe
a total value of substantially $5O0,OOO
What has made the wreck more allurlhe
has been the very uncertainty or the en-
tire value of the wealth aboard or the Lu'
tine when she sailed from Yarmouth. Ihs
uncertainty, coupled with rumors that nave
made the amount moro tnan f2'VO"o' ha'
inspired a fairly long list of disheartehns
efforts 10 reach these problematical rches
hut now the salvers are actually in toucf
with the missing bars Of gold and silver
and we shall know before a great while
how nearly right the estimates OF thai
wealth have been. The public naturally
wonders why It has not been possible tc
establish the value Of the Lutine's cargo
and II would seem that circumstances haC
ioined hands with the sea to keep this
knowledge from the world
TIGHT MONEY IN HAMBURG,
Without going into historical details
most Of them have been repeated on many
occasions-it is enough for us to know that
the banks of Hamburg in 1899 were unequal
20 the suddenly developed commerce OF
that port Because Of this, discount ran as
high az . and 60 per cent, and business
could not stand that eNOrtitant tax. To re-
heve the condition a number OF British
banking houses determined TO ship bullion
and specie to Hamburg, but the problem
was to find a safe way to get II there.
England was at var with France, and
British shipping in the Channel and The
North Sea was me0aCed by the presence
of the enemy's cruisers. At first 1t was
proposed to send the money In a merchant
vessel. conveyed by British man-of-war,
hut this reached the cars Of other London
banking houses. which then sought permis-
sion Of the Admiralty to send shipments CT
gold and silver too. The growing volume
OF this wealth at .ast ir6uced the naval
authorities to abandon the original plan
and to detail a ship Of the navy for the
actual carriage of the treasure.
In those days the French ships We're ger
orally swifter than the fighting craft Of
English design. Some Years previously the
French frigate La l.IIinc had been. capt
Ured by the British fleet, and IL was deemed
hest that this speedy vessel be assigned to
the task Of eyadins the watchful enemy
while slipping through 20 Hamburg with
Lcr precious cargo her battery OF thirty
mo guns being depended upon 70 safegua" "a
bcr from effective moIestst!on. For tAe