The Washington times., 1922-10-01

Ana margaret MAYOR laughed at
the suggestion. But to her. and 10
everyone else connected with the
treasure.hunting expedition, the
project is one Of the utmost seri.
BUSINESS. Margaret did not reach
the site OF the sunken ship, but
other divers have, and what 10
more to the point. they have actu-
ally brought up evidence that the
Almirante de Florence rests there
with its treasure.
The evidence is strong enough 10
satisfy almost any scoffer, because
It consists OF Spanish gold coins,
Spanish weapons and other valu-
able bits Of salvage. For an un.
derstanding Of the possibilities OF
the treasure quest, il is necessary
to leap back several centuries to
the sailing Of the ship.
1t was in 1883 that King Philip
Of Spain dispatched the armada to
seas. Sir Francis Drake was vice
admiral Of the English craft that
met the huge invaders. The issue
was Joined in the English channel,
where a violent storm broke out
TREASURE SHIPS COURSE.
Caught between the elements
and the savage assaults Of the tiny
British vessels. the armada fled
northward. and the British harassed
the unwieldy Spanish ships as far
as Newcastle on-Tyne. The disor-
ganized fleet set sail for the Ork.
ney Islands, then turned and
headed down the west coast. Nine
teen OF the great ships were
wrecked between Scotland and Ire.
land.
The commander of the Almi-
rante de Florence, which contained
the treasure Of the invading expe.
dition, put in at Tobermory bay to
reprovision. Scotland was then 4
neutral country and Tobermory
was an ideal harbzor for a storm
wracked. war.harried foreign gal.
leon. There is a legend that the
wild Scots welcomed the huge
stranger.
But even then the laws OF neu.
trality ruled and the English EN-.
bassy, learning of the location OF
the fugitive OF the seas, dema nded
that the ship and it's crew be not
permitted to depart until the war
had ended.
RICH SPOIL ABOARD.
At that time the English records
calculated that the Almirante de
Florence carried gold and jewels to
the value Of s1.50O,OOO aboard.
Soon after an explosion occurred
aboard and the great vessel foun.
dered suddenly. One tradition has
1t that the inhabitants of Tober
mory blew up the vessel that they
might loot the wreckage at their
leisure. Another version sets the
sinking as the result of an acci.
dental explosion. In any event,
the vessel surely went down. and
OF her crew only two. it is said.
reached the shore. Since then. the
estimate Of the treasure has run
as high as 10000, 900
This may seem gross exaggera.
ton, but 1t must be remembered
that pieces Of eight and gold plate
and jewels have tremendously in.
creased not only in intrinsic value.
but as works Of art and curios
since the Almirante de Florence
went down. Further, the company
now carrying on the big salvage
operations checked up the Spanish
and English records carefully he
fore investing their modern money
in the enterprise.
GALLEON LOCATED.
The exact site of the vessel has
been definitely determined. and the
evidence brought to the surface is
convincing. The difficulty of the
task is to be found in the fact that
the tides Of centuries have been
surging through the hulk. deposit
ing sand layers on sand layers, and
even shifting the original position
OF the vessel.
1t is believed that the explosion
which sunk the galleon could only
have resulted in blowing out the
bows and damaging the upper deck.
The eloquent testimony to the pres.