Evening Star Newspaper, August 15, 1937, Page 90

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. (.—GRAVURE TREASURE HUNT ey "“She’s all dressed up!” shout oldtime seafarers a ing for the scene of salvage operations. life belt drill. Off on a treasure hunt. The Constellation puts out from New York, her bow pointed for Virginia coastal waters, where lies the sunken hulk of the liner Merida, supposedly contain- ing a fortune in silver and gold. Just before sailing time a newspaper reporter discovered what was up and the secret of the expedition’s plans was out. Reporters and other curious folk thronged the windjammer at her Jersey City wharf. Saying good-by to the tug which towed the Con- stellation to open water. The captain’s wife, Mrs. Johanna Loesche, dips the flag in a farewell salute. . the oil tanker in the background radioed re- assurance to anxious persons ashore. [ . e — SECTION—AUGUST 15, 1937. s they behold the Constellation with all sails set, head- (Below) At Sandy Hook Coast Guardsmen come aboard and there's a A spanking breeze, so topsails are clewed down. In fair or foul weather schoonermen clamber up the ratlines to work aloft, dangerously high above pitching seas. FATHER NEPTUNE is a zealous guardian of the treasures of the “dark, unfathom’d caves of ocean.” His capriciousness defeated the re- cent attempt of the four-masted schooner Constellation to salvage supposedly fabulous riches in gold and silver from the sunken liner Merida 65 miles off the Virginia Capes. Although fully equipped with salvaging apparatus, the Con- stellation, one of the last large windjammers without auxiliary power, was balked at every turn. First came a squall, snapping a foreboom; then heavy seas, prevent- ing location of the sunken hulk, 220 pog feet down. The straw that broke the camel’s back was a storm that broke the anchor chain. Driven far cff her course, the Constellation’s crew of 22 was forced to give up cnd return to port, enriched only by memories of thrilling storms and nights of rare beauty under a star- powdered sky. (Left) Captains courageous. Helmsman Charles Miller, in oil- skins and sou’wester, keeps his eyes on billowing canvas as he holds the four-masted vessel to her course. “Shooting the sun” for the ship’s position is Bernard Kohn, Washington writer who made the photographs on this page. » A squall has snapped the tore boom, first trouble of a trouble ridden voyage. The repc ing process going on here is known as “fishing the boom.” Homeward bound. Defeated by the elements, the Constellation shows its stern to the salvage grounds and sets sail for the return to port