TREASURE TROVE OF THE SEA.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 155, 30 June 1917, Page 15

TREASURE TROVE OF THE SEA.

FABULOUS WEALTH SUNK IN THE WAR. COMING HARVEST OF THE DARINC, DIVER. Jules Verne aud R. !_. tStcvens-u never wrote of such riches as now _j e buried at the bottom of the sea. l'robably uu accurate estimate will ever be made of the fabulous wealth that has beeu destroyed during the last two years and a-half. It may be as much as the War Loan— it.OOO.OOO.OOO— but it can be safely said that the losses will enormously exceed the sum total of all the shipwrecks that have taken place during the hundred years previous to the Great War. Tliero is indeed no comparison that ran be made with the past. The treasures that have been lost at sea in storm and warfare throughout the eeutures, if a value could he set upou them. would look very small beside those with which the ocean-beds have been strewn since the C-boats began their famous attacks. Even the Spanish galleon of old could not compare with the great liner of to-day laden with food and merchandise of incredible value, and also carrying sometimes specie to the value of a million ■pounds. A great liner to-day, without a ton of r.irgo inside her. is worth over a million pounds. Vet a few torpedoes have sent several or these modern treasure ships down many fathoms in a few minutes. There were gorgeous tapestries and car- | pets from the East lhat were either sunk j or captured in the early days of the war ! before Die intervention of Turkeyj wonderful cargoes lhat had been consigned jto Ueriiiau ami Austrian ports, many of ! them to be captured by ISriti.su mei-.-o'-war. | who put prize crews a ird. One of our j biggest captures was tlie seizure by one !"f on.- warships of the merchant ship Cap Ortegal. which had over i 1.000.000 worth !of specie iv her hold. j Cold and precious stones, aud rare potj tery and fabrics from India; more gold | and precious stones from South Africa; ! still more gold, silver, and diamond, copper ! and lead from South America; silks and j velvets from China; and. nearer home, quicksilver, copper, silk, and oils from Spain. Much of this treasure which was continuously pouring on to the shores of Hritain in the early days of th e war is now lying j,, hundreds of shattered bulks jin the Atlantic, the Pacific. t!i e Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. I Our own submarines must have sunk an enormous amount of wealth in the Sea of I Marmora. And-Just consider what treasure j the Emden accounted for! This will-o'-the wisp, whose exploits, conducted according Ito the rules „f nava! warfare, are about | the only creditable record in th,. annals iof the German Navy, captured o r sank ,in the liny of Itengal. Ihe Indian Ocean, j the Arabian Sea. and the China Sea. over a s.-ore of strainers of a total tonnage of over mi.iiik). the majority of them having cargoes of ri.-h merchandise. Sonic ~f the biggest hidden-treasure hunts ever known will In all probability begin when peace is declared. And WmN princely days they will be for divers! Of late years experienced divers have "been able to earn from i;, to £100 a week while engaged ou a big and risky commission, and in addition made a thousand pounds or two out of a very big undertaking. But after the war divers ought to be able to make large fortunes, and easily eclipse all previous records. Probably the vast majority of the wrecks j will be beyond their reach'- 1„ fathomless | deeps. Rut others that lie near the coasts. I to,, n great many fathoms down, will ofTer I a slriin: temptation. The re, ord depth i reached by divers in modern times was | achieved by two Hritish naval ofll-ers. who ! lot down to J 10ft. where the pressure was fKilh to the square Inch- a terrLll,- weight !to bear. A Spaniard once descended many j limes ;,. off Cape Finlstcrre. and | brought up altogether tOOOO in silver bars.