Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-12-28

TO EXCAVATE IN YUCATAN.
Party of English Treasure Seekers
After Buried Cities.

Yet another party of treasure hunt
ers sailed from England last month.
This time the search is for no paltrv
hoard hidden by an time pirate
nor for a mere million or two of
golden doubloons sunk in some SPAN
ish galleon. This latest expedition
is to go diving for a lost continent.
Atlantis perhaps. and salvage of
countless millions worth of gold and
gems and art treasures of the sunk
ell cities of region as large as all
Europe.
At the head of the expedition is Ber-
nard Meekham. an English explorer
His plans include the employment of n
huge floating dry dock, at least a dozen
submarines for work on the sea bottom
and ii hundred or more expert diyerssas
For nearly a hundred years, says
Neekham Yucatan fishermen have
been bringing up from the waters
along the coast beautifully carved
stones. vases and small ,objects of
gold and silver. These fishermen are
Maya Indians, who believe themselves
to be the descendants of n once mighty
race. They hold these trezsu If
the deep as sacred and when ast
=
have been given them by their 70.
fathefs.
The reports of these finds led Nee
ham to explore the ruined cities of z n
cent civilization scattered all alo' );
the coast Of Yucatan. He thus becaln.
convinced of the existence Of a or ,
populous and rich country, swallow
up by the sea long ages ago, but still
hon g. Il
conclusions were substantiated ind
pendently by Prof Monsenvi, distia-
euished geologist and archeologist OF
Budapest. AS the result of a confer
ence and comparison OF notes with the
professor the present expedition was
organized
First of all engineers and investi-
Cators were sent to Yucatan. Their
reports showed that the country mark
ed for exploitation had apparently sunk
over an immense irregular land sur
face stretching along the twentieth
parallel and breaking away from what
is now the northern coast of South
America and the eastern coast of Cen
trail America. Further observations
showed that the temples, palaces and
houses which formed the cities of this
ton than the land buried cities OF Yu-
catan and Guatemala. Several valua-
BILE OBJECTS of gold and silver. incrust-
ed with Jewels and recovered by the
crude methods, necessarily employed by
the searchers, made it practically Ger
tam that the inhabitants of the DOOM
ed land had not had time to escape
with their wealth before the final cat
astrophe.
These discoveries, together With the
traces found in the buried cities of Yu-
catan of a once powerful and enlight-
ered race, indicate a wonderful civili-
cation that was in existence long be-
fore the days of Egypt or Babylon
Even when the Spanish eonquistadores
invaded Yucatan these mysterious cit
les had been in ruins for centuries.
In some cases other cities have been
built upon the sites, and some were
considered holy, while others were
places to be stunned. In the ruins of
the ancient city of Tikal, near the
border OF Guatemala mas been found
evidence that its long forgotten people
used paper chemically prepared from
wood fiber, and that they had printed
books and libraries. They also had tel
escopes, accurate astronomical instru-
ments and a perfect calendar, besides
theaters and hippodromes, While their
art was excellent. Gold and silver
were used lavishly, even in their house
hold utensils, and their carvings re-
veal higher state of culture than
Egypt or Assyria.
Submarines and divers will be en-
ployed to explore and loot the sunken
cities These submarines of the curl
out Pine type. fitted with steel arms
ending in immense claws controlled
from within the boat, will crawl about
the sunken cities and carry the treas
ures which the divers bring them to