Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-06-13

chests, and, again, meaning speciaiS
such treasure as has been lost for cen
turtles past and can only with difficulty
be regained; and, once more, referring
to such bullion at the bottom OF the
sea. perhaps IN the holds Of Spanish
galieons-that word treasure" Is one
which strikes quickly into our imagin-
alton and makes the most placid won
der II there is not something OF the
adventurer in, him after all. despite
his constant occupation by day in the
routine Of an office Then let us con-
slider treasure for while. Where Is
the lost treasure? How did 1t get
there? And how can we get 1t out?
These are important questions.
Many of US had our fancy tickled
immensely year or two back by the
terms Of one Of the most fascinating
financial prospectuses that has ever
been issued. s. A company was being
got together with a capital Of 100000
with the avowed object OF making
such a thorough and scientific effort
to come by some of this lost treasure
as had never been made before. The
story is that seventeen Spanish galle-
ons, mem of-war Of two or three
decks, laden with gold and silver and
valuable merchandise brought from
the West Indies, took refuge In Vigo
Bay, where they were surprised and
attacked by Admiral Rookie In order
to prevent the victorious British and
Dutch allies from gaining possession
of the treasure the galleons were
sunk. DR.. Iberti came to the conclu-
sion that the toal amount upon arrival
at vigo, as valued In 1902, was up
ward of a27,000.000, out Of which the
treasure saved by the Spaniards, the
booty taken by the victors and the
treasure recovered by the different
concessionaires since then Is altogeth-
or only worth es,ooo,ooo. so that
something very good remains.
giAll this treasure was the accumu-
lated value Of three years workings OF
the gold and silve mines of Spanish
America, and the annual yield from
these sources is computed to have
been more than ss,oo0,o00. Besides
E. all this, there was a, great quantity OF
costly merchandise, including pearls,
emeralds, amethysts, amber and pre-
cious woods from South American
forests, and it was reckoned also that
the wood of the sunken galleons. har-
dened by centuries Of submersion,
would yield handsome profit on the
labor Of recovering 1t. Some critics
have essayed to show that the sunken
treasure, exceedingly valuable as all
must admit it to be, is not quite
worth all this. But at the low
est estimate its value must be many
millions, perhaps at least twenty; and
there was the word Of Sir Roger Fen
ton that "this Spanish fiota was uni
yersally regarded to be the richest
that ever came from the West Indies
into Europe" The unloading Of the
vessels had commenced some ten
days before the engagement with the
fleet of the allies, but, owing to the
difficulty Of transport over bride
paths on pack mules, only 1858 chests
of plate or silver, worth about e.
100000, were landed when the enemy
sailed in to, the attack I believe that
the concession in the present case ex-
tends until 1916, and that there are
strong hopes Of some considerable
success attending the treasure-seek-
ing in vigo Bay. .--
It Is believed that there Is one OF
those Spanish galleons at the bottom
of the sea near Dollar Cove, at
Mounts Bay, in Cornwall, and there
is a local tradition that many years
ago the farm hands in the neighbor-
hood were in the way Of going down
to the shore at low tide and picking
up the dollars in buckets! A year or
two back a serious effort was made to
effect salvage, If there was any sal
wage to be done, and diving and sand
pumping were carried on at the spot
where the galleon loaded with specie
was supposed to have foundered. SO
far as is known no tangible good came
Of these efforts.
No community Of persons is so con-
stantly reminded Of great treasure
that lies on the bed Of the ocean as
are the members Of Lloyds, in Lon
don, reminded of the last Lutine and
the treasure that went down with her
The Lutine and Lloyd's are linked to-
gether in divers ways. A large and
somber- looking bell hangs from ar
iron bracket at Lloyd's, and a goot
length of ships cable chain is at
tached to it. This is the bell Of the
lost Lutine, and it Is rung-and ca''se:
a grave and anxious stiffness when.
ever 1t is rung-when there Is impor'
tant news to hand concerning some
ship that has been reported overdue
and whose fate, of course, Is a matter
of great concern to the underwriters
of this famous exchange.
The Lutine was a sloop-of-war car
rying thirty-two guns, and she came
by her sudden and unhappy end II
October of 1877. Just after midnigh
on the 9th, when running under
press of sail, she struck on the Quite
bank of the island Of vilieland, sh'
sank at once, and all on board he
perished, except two men who manag
ed to cling to floating spars and wer'
ultimately picked up by Dutch cua
ter. One of these, however, died i'm
mediately, and the other survived blu
a very short while. In the following
year some 955,OOO worth Of treasure
was fished up from the wreck, ant
since then large number of attempt
at salvage has been made, for tn
treasure that has been recovered Il
small in comparison with that whicl
has not. In 1886 some 5000 coins. tw,
cannon, three watches and variou
other articles were obtained from tn
wreck.
Comparatively recently another an
more determined attempt at salvag
was decided upon. 1t was ascertaine,
that the wreck is now so deeply buri
ed In sand and mud that specia