The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-09-30
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 a sunken
ship on which there is over $1,000,OOO
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, Stillson says.
The treasure-laden ship is, or was,
the Ward line steamer Merida. She
was sunk in the summer of 1911 about
fifty-fve miles off Cape Charles Light
ship when she vas 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 in Norfolk.
Among the passengers were a num-
Der of Americans fleeing from Mexico.
They had with them the savings of
their lifetimes and these savings they
say, were 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 to Ia any of their
valuables.
The Merida also carried silver bull
ion said to have been worth over $780,
900. The purser's safe is filed with
money and jewelry. The vessels car
go was fruit.
Treasure Hunting Fleet.
The treasure-hunting fleet is COM
posed Of the yacht j. Fl. 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
to explore the bottom of the Atlantic
lear 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 it 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, respectfully 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 encounterine
strengthening objects under water
of stumbling against a 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 fol