Evening Star Newspaper, January 1, 1933, Page 39

Features B Fiction PART 7. The Sundhyy Shae Magasine WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 1, 1933. Art Notes Puzzles - 16 PAGES. LET'S GO FISHING—FOR GOLD! The Urge to Seek New Wealth During the Days of Depression and Improvements in Salvaging Methods Have Given Fresh Impetus to Treasure Hunting—If You Are Inclined to Join the Hunt, Here’s Where Your Chances of Making a Golden Haul Are Brightest. HEN, a few weeks ago, more than 100 antique coins and a number of pieces of valuable jewelry were washed by a storm upon the beach at Old Lyme, Conn., it was at once assumed that they were from some long-forgotten wrecked vessel or from some pirate’s hoard. ; Had the valuables been found upon the beach at Southampton, Long Island, it would have been far from probable that they had come from a pirate's hoard, for back in 1831 Charles Gibbs— as conscienceless and as villainous a pirate as ever flew the black flag—buried $25,000 in gold in the beach at South- ampton. And, as far as is known, not a dollar of the treasure ever has been recovered. But, as there are no records of pirates having buried loot at Old Lyme, it is highly" probable that the miniature treasure trove did come from some wreck near shore. Whatever the truth of the source of the coins and jewels, the incident has renewed the interest in sunken treas- ures, an interest which has been steadily increasing during the last few years. No doubt this interest is partly the re- sult of the depression and men seeking new means of acquiring wealth; even more it is. because of the success that attended the salvagers of the Egypt, who secured about $5,000,000 from this sunken ship off the coast of France; but, most of all, perhaps, it is due to the fact that with modern methods and apparatus the salvaging of sunken treas- ures is no longer a romantic adventure or a gamble, but an engineering problem and a business proposition, Though the public hears little of what is going on fathoms beneath the waves, expeditions are constantly at work, lifting long-lost treasures from rotting hulks and battered wrecks, FOR months past Simon Lake and his company have been working on the Lusitania, sunk, with her millions in specie and gems, during the World War. Another expedition has been laboring during the last Summer on the Merida, off the Virginia Capes. Now comes word from Lewes, Del., stating that the British sloop-of-war De Braak with her $1,000,- 000 in specie has been located near Cape Henlopen. The De Braak went down in 1798 and the divers who have found and surveyed the 134-year-old hulk report that it is buried to the level of the main- deck in the sand. But that is good news to the salvagers, for it means that the ship’s cargo and treasure will no doubt be found intact when the old wreck is lifted, floated and brought ashore. Even the Japanese have $aken a hand in wresting treasures from their resting places beneath the sea. A dispatch from Tokio states that two groups of Japanese salvagers have located the hull of the Russian cruiser Nachimov, which, with over $53,000,000 in gold, was sunk by the Japanese fleet at the battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War. There are a number of modern salvaging de- vices which should make the recovery of the Russian navy’s pay ship a compara- tively easy matter. At last the sea is yielding up its lost and sunken riches; but there are count- less millions still beneath its surface to tempt the treasure seeker. Much of it Hes in the rotting hulls of treasure ships \ -\\1\ \) W “Each moment, the pirate ship drew nearer.” By A. ‘H)/att Verrill whose stories are well known, and whose locations are established facts. There, for example, is the Don Carlos III, that went down about 1812 after striking a reef off Cuba, carrying with her a treasure well worth getting. As she struck the coral the panic-stricken crew strove madly to save their doomed ship, Cannon lashings were cut and the guns thrown into the sea. Round shot, ammunition, everything movable, fol- lowed. And when all efforts failed and there was no longer hope, the crew took to the boats and left the proud old Don Carlos III, with all her treasure, to her fate. Today, during calm weather in Decem- ber, January and February, one may peer down through the clear water and see the wreck resting on the coral reef barely five fathoms beneath the surface. Seat- tered about, partly overgrown with coral and sponges, are the ancient muzzle- loading cannon, the iron round shot, the wheels of gun carriages and piles of the ship’s iron ballast—all jettisoned by the crew in their effort to lighten their ship and free her from the reef. And in one spot, embedded in the brown, yellow and lilac coral growths, is an iron- bound treasure chest. For over a century-the wreck of the Don Carlos III.has lain there-with her treasure almost intact. From time to time the native divers have gone down, and little by little they have recovered some 2500 pieces of eight—good silver coins bearing the dates 1794, 1810 and 1811. Still, the bulk of the treasure re- mains undisturbed. Here, then, is an excellent opportunity for treasure seekers. ALMOST as accessible as the wreck of the Don Carlos III is that of a far older Spanish ship that was sent to the bottom with a much greater treasure in her holds. Up from Cartagena and Maracaibo came sailing the great plate ship San- tisima Concepcion with tons of silver and gold in her hold. In her strong rooms, in iron-bound chests and casks, were hundreds of thousands of minted gold and silver coins, blazing gems and price- less holy vessels. Uron her decks were cavaliers, richly gowne.. women, grandees and soldiers, and ionsured, sandaled friars, for the Santisima Concepcion was homeward bound to Spain from the Indies and Panama. She was headed for Margarita Island, there to take on the year’s catch of pearls and to join a fleet of galleons under convoy of heavily armed ships ‘of war. Manned by a crew of more than 100 men, with a full company of froops on board, with her 20 guns, her falconets and carronades, the Santisima Concep- cion was practically a war vessel herself. But when she was nearing Margarita a strange ship sped out from its hiding place under the land. The Spanish cap- tain’s face paled, for he recognized the stranger as a buccaneer craft. Heavily armed as his ship was, Capt. Hernando Ferara had no inténtion of Jattling with pirates if he could avoid it. His vessel held a vast treasure, it carried men and women of exalted rank and station, and he was responsible for their safety and the safety of the treasure, 8o, as long as he could run for it, run he would; with the harbor and the convoy only a few leagues distant, he might reach safety before the pirates came within cannon shot. But the oncoming vessel was a far speedier craft than the Santisima Con- cepcion. Each moment she drew nearer, and presently from her bows there was a flash and a puff of smoke. A round shot plunged into the sea a scant hun- dred yards from the plate ship’s quarter, Five minutes, ten, passed, and now ahead rose two small rocky islets sep- arated from the main island by narrow straits or “bocas.” Sudden hope rose in Capt. Ferara's breast. Beyond these, almost in sight, lay the harbor and safety, His ordinary course was well outside the roecks; but-to-round the islets and their surrounding reefs meant: mak- ing a wide detour and tacking “about, and he knew that long before this was