The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1940-07-19
Seek Wealth in
Sunken Ships
Old Wars Are Recalled by
Treasure Hunt at Vigo
Bay, Spain.

O4Ns III N1SO Ooy
Spain, new installment in a CEN
turies-old drama is in process, as
treasure hunters prepare to dive for
an estimated S3O,O0O,OO0 worth of
gold, silver and jewels.
1.-The story, whose plot includes
scuttled galleons, sunken treasure,
two wars, and a widow, began in
1902, soon after the outbreak of the
War of the Spanish Succession,
says the National Geographic soci-
ETY.. "The Spanish fleet, returning
with gold and silver from the New
world, encountered British and
Dutch ships in the harbor of Vigo.
Many of the Spanish galleons were
sunk, their cargo taken. Others
were scuttled with their treasure,
according to some accounts, to pre-
vent their falling into enemy hands
Target for Many Attacks.
To-day f1Ourishing port of north
west Spain, Vigo has seen various
unsuccessful attempts to recover
the sunken wealth of its bay. In
1886, the second war wrote another
chapter in the story by hating the
latest of salvage operations. In the
Insurgent-Loyalist struggle the own
er of the concession was killed. His
widow is reported to be carrying on
the work.
"Vigo's ancient and often turbu-
lent history has been linked with
many battles. The Romans, who
knew the site as Vicus Spacorum,
drove out its early inhabitants, fore
ing them to take refuge on neigh
boring islands.
More than century before the
harbor battle of the War of the
Spanish Succession, the port was
raided, on two occasions, by Sir
Francis Drake. In 1719 it was cap
tured by British forces. Early in
the Nineteenth century, under the
leadership of 'strong-man' Sergeant
Morillo, Vigo was the first to break
the hold of French invaders who had
taken over the Galician region.
Although Spain was not a bel
ligerent in the first World war, Vigo,
as a seaport, erected a monument
to the merchant seamen of all ma
tons who lost their lives in that con-
fict. Again neutral in the second
European war, this port, because
of its convenience to important sea
routes, was one of the Ravens in
which merchant vessels found tenn
porary refuge after the war declara-
tons of -eptember, 1899.
'In the recent Spanish struggle,
on the other hand, Vigo was less
affected than many cities as re-
suit of its situation far from the
path of the major offensives.
Active Trading Port.
with some $4,000 inhabitants.
Vigo is one of the leading ports of
Spain engaged in transatlantic
trade. Many lines plying between
western Europe and Latin America
operate out of the port. In the last
half decade the city has nearly
trebled its population and vastly in
creased its commercial activities.
It's factories turn out such varied
products as leather and flour, beer
and soap, paper, sugar, and above
all, canned fish. It is also a Span
ish naval base.
Famous for the scenic beauty
of its northumberland harbor,
modern Vigo rises above the old
town in tiers of neat, white houses
that contrast wildly with a green
background of luxuriant vegetation.
Its old fishing quarter swarms with
people as motorboats and sailboats
unload their days catch of sardines
and funny. Typical scene along its
quays was once that of women at
work skillfully decapitating sardines
with their thumbs. Today mass
production canning factories dot the
shoreline from Vigo south to Bouzas,
several miles away"