Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-09-29
Diver Tells Of Difficulty in LOcat-
ing Wreck Of Treasure
Ship.
CASH and SILVER BULLION
other Wrecks Are Found by Treasure
Hunting Crew, One Of Them APP
parentiy Being That Of
a Steamer.

Norfolk, Va.-Searching for n sunken
ship on which there is Ovef S1,00O,O0O
in money and silver bullion, the treas
ure-hunting crew of "a men under the
command Of Capt. George Stillson, a
master diver, inventor and expert in
submarine engineering, is not proving
an easy task. Sdllson says.
The t-reasEre-laden ship is, or was,
the Ward fine steamer Merida. She
was S,Ink in the summer of 1911 about
>fty-nve miles Off Cape Charles Light
ship when she was rammed by the
freight steamer Admiral Farragut.
The Merida carried over 300 passen-
gers, all of whom were taken off by
the Farragut and transferred to the
Old Dominion steamer Hamilton,
which landed them i'm Norfolk.
Among the passengers were a num-
her of Americans fleeing from Mexico.
They had with them the savings of
their lifetimes and these savings they
say, we're locked in the safe in the
office Of the pugser 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 to save any of their
v~aluables.
The Merida also carried silver bull
ion said to have beer worth owe $780,
100. The purser's safe is filed with
money and jewelry. The vessels car
20 was fruit.
Treasured Hunting Fleet.
The treasure-hunting feet is COM
posed of the yacht J.. II. Beckwith, the
trawler Fearless and a barge used by
divers. There are about a dozen
divers in the outfit, including f. Mill
son, who is said to have been the first
10 explore the bottom of the Atlantic
near where the Merida wen 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,, it is stated, and
have found several wrecks, one of
them apparently a steamer, but it was
not the one they sought. Divers sent
up portions of a d%eckhOuse 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 O disappointed at not finding
the vessel at the point where she went
down.
"A vessel seldom goes right straight
10 the bottom when she sinks" he
III Especially where the water is
deep and the currents strong" 1t 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 e%ncountering
strengthening objects under water,
Of stumbling against a sunken vessel,
or meeting n 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 Aorth, south, each and west for