The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-10-06
Diver Tells Of Difficulty in LOOat-
ing Wreck Of Treasure
Ship.
CASH AND SILVER BULLION
Other Wrecks Are Found by Treasure.
Hunting Crew. One Of Them Ap.
parently Being That Of
a Steamer.

Norfolk, Na.-SearChing for sunkon
ship on which there is over Sl,OOOoOu
In money and silver bullion, the treas'
ure-huntng crew of 3i men under the
command Of Capt. George Sullson, a
muster diver inventor and expert tn
submarine engineering, is not proving
an easy task, Stllson says.
The upusure-lndcn ship Is, or was,
the Ward line steamer Merida. She
was sunk In the summer of 1911 about
fifty-fve miles of Cape Charles Light
ship when she was rammcd by the
freight steamer Admiral Farrugut
The Merida carried over 800 passen-
gers, nh of whom were taken OF by
the Farrugut and transferred TO the
Old Dominion steamer Hamilton,
which landed them in Norfolk.
Among the passengers We're a num-
ber of Americans fleeing from Mexico.
They had with them the savings of
their llretimes and these savings they
say, We're locked in the safe in the
Office of the purser Of the Merida.
When the steamer was struck the wa
ter poured through the hole in her
starboard side so fast that they did
not have time 20 save any of their
valuables.
The Merida also carried silver bun.
ion said to have been worth over $780,
600. The pursers safe is filled with
money and jewelry. The vessels car
go was fruit
Treasure-H Hunting Fleet.
The treasure-hunting fleet is COM
posed of the yacht J. II. Beckwith, the
trawler Fearless and barge used by
divers. There are about a dozen
divers in the outfit including F. MI
son, who is said to have been the first
to explore the bottom Of the Atlantic
near where the Merida went down.
Capt. c. HermansOn, who Is in COM
mand Of the flagship Of the fleet is
Of the opinion that If the Merida Is
found she will be some miles away
from the spot where she went down.
Divers have explored two miles of
the Atlantic ocean, 1t is stated, and
have found several wrecks one of
them apparently a steamer, but 1t was
not the one they sought. Divers sent
up portions of a deckhOuse of the
steamer. There was nothing Of value
in the wreck.
Captain Stillson says he has not
given up hope of finding the Merida
and is not disappointed at not finding
the vessel at the point where she went
down.
"A vessel seldom goes right straight
TO the bottom when she sinks" he
says, especially where the water is
deep and the currents strong" It is
possible that the Merida IS ten miles
away from the spot where she went
down. Under currents sometimes car
ry a vessel miles away before she set
ties on the bottom. And after she |
strikes the bottom, shifting sands |
sometimes carry a vessel several |
miles.
Captain Hermanson also is of the
opinion that the Merida will be found,
and the divers, too, are confident.
The men tell Of encounterlng
strange-looking objects under water,
of stumbling against sunken vessel,
or meeting a shark face to face.
Search Is Thorough.
After searching five miles in one
direction, the treasure hunters will re-
turn to the spot where the Merida
went down and search five miles in
another direction. After they have
gone north, south, each and west for