Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-02-06
Frederic Haskin's Letter
A BOOM IN SALVAGE.
especial Correspondence Of The Arras,.

Washington. D. c., Feb. 4.-Sal-l
wage of sunken ships is a PROPOSE
ton which is attracting widespread
interest. Numerous companies have
been formed to raise bulls and re-
cover cargoes. Britain has reclaim
ed over 500 Of her 5000 wrecked
)ehips, and United States salvage
companies plan to raise such of our
Graft as are in shallow water or
can be most easily found and lifted.
New inventions in diving and sal
wage apparatus, removal of mines
from the sea, and the demand for
tonnage all combine to stimulate
the wrecking business, and make it
probable that operations will be
extended to mid-ocean and to local
tiles hitherto inaccessible to divers.
All the famous treasures buried
in the earth by medieval misers and
pirates are Insignificant compared
with the incalculable fortunes sunk
IN the sea. Seven billion dollars
is a conservative estimate of value
OF the seas hoard before the war,
and it is believed that after four
years of war this figure is doubled.
Davy Jones' locker has so far
been as good as locked to .ambi-
tious plunderers of the deep. Divers
are willing to take the chance of
meeting sharks and other monsters.
They will brave the danger of being
trapped in rotted ship, or of their
apparatus becoming faulty. But
they cannot by sheer courage over
come their physical limitations, es-
pecially the effect of heavy pres
sure on the body, and this has pro-
tected the sea treasure better than
their shark policemen, the darkness
and the enveloping sands.
Until few years ago, ships sunk
! below $50 feet were as safe from
treasure-seekers as if they had been
encased in unbreakable glass. Div
ers could see them. and occasion
ally a wrecking company would
snatch a bit of the cargo from a
hold, but the great mass of Davy
Jones' property remained intact.
Many of the sunken treasures
famous by tradition are now declar-
ed to be the product of various
story tellers' imagination. Pirates,
for instance, are popularity regarded
as a Millionaire class, whereas re-
alists maintain that most of Cap
tain kidd's fellow buccaneers
would never have had to pay an
income tax had their government
levied one. Thus is another iIlu-
sion cracked-but not shattered, for
enough buried and sunken treasure
is now and again brought to light
to keep the faith of the romancists
from wavering.
The fascinating tales of the pir-
ates' treasure ships may be dis
credited, but it is a matter of his
tory that fortunes in gold, silver
and precious stones have for CEN
turtles been carried over the seas
wherever ships could travel, and
many craft have been sucked under
/ by storms, whirlpools and strong
currents.
| Staid British historians tell, for
example, of Sir Francis Drake cap
turing a fleet of ships in the harbor
of the Azores and recklessly order
| ing them sunk, laden as they were.
This command sent down four or
five million dollars worth of prec-
iious metals which have never been
disturbed.
Another famed example of a
treasure ship that was sunk was a
Spanish galleon lost off the Eng
fish coast in 1874 with a load OF
gold estimated at SS5, 100000. Then
there are the uncovered cargoes OF
the Spanish armada, exaggerated
perhaps as to value, but undoubt-
eddy worth retaining.
The Lusitania, laden with seven
million dollars worth Of gold and
other metals, and five millions in
securities, as we'll as jewels and
other private property, is one of
the great prizes to be angled for.
Experts agree that the Lusitania
will never be raised from it's posi-
ton, 2S5 feet below the surface,
but company is now awaiting ia
vorable weather to go after the in
destructible part of its cargo.
The Merida, which sank off Cape
Charles, is another untapped source
of wealth, which is to be tackled
next summer by a New York diver
The storms and treacherous cur
rents that wreck so many ships in
certain places endanger equally the
company that attempts their sal
wage in rough weather. For this
reason. salvage cnmnanies are now