LONG-LOST GOLD

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 12486, 21 October 1938, Page 2

LONG-LOST GOLD

THE FRIGATE LUTINE SALVAGE OPERATIONS SUCCEED USE OF A WONDERFUL DREDGE I have just had an experience which in a lifetime of sightseeing I count unsurpassed. I have seen brought to the surface off the storm-swept island of Terschelling, at the mouth of the Zuider Zee, relics of the famous British frigate Lutine, which have been hidden beneath the sea for nearly 140 years, writes Herbert Antcliffe in the Daily Mail. These relics have in themselves a great sentimental interest; but of more importance is the fact that they show how close the salvage operators have approached to the long-sought treasure of between £1,000,000 and £2,000,000 in gold which lies in the Lutine’s hold.

The Lutine was wrecked, with a loss of 270 lives, in a storm as long ago as 1799, She was carrying gold and silver bars- sent by the Bank of England to save Hamburg bankers in a financial crisis.

During the intervening years only £IOO,OOO has been recovered, plus the most interesting* object of all —the Lutine Bell, found in 1859 and presented to Lloyd’s, where it is rung on receipt of any news of importance to underwriters.

Now a Dutch concern, operating under a concession from Lloyd’s, is engaged on a still further salvage attempt with one of the biggest and most remarkable dredgers in the world—-the Karimata, If the treasure is recovered most of it will be handed over to Lloyd’s, since they originally paid out on the insurance of the Lutine.

Let me describe to you the scene on this amazing vessel, the Karimata, which rides the waves over the wreck, sending an endless chain of 180 twoton steep buckets down through the 70ft. of water to the sea bed to scoop up the secrets which the sand has held. The objects recovered during the past few days consist mainly of bits of the wreck itself and several heavy cannon balls which the old frigate carried, A zinc pulley and a copper coin, probably of the Swedish currency at the end of the 18th. century have also been found.

The cannon balls, mixed with sand, clay, shells, and half-dead fish, are well preserved beneath their rusty coatings,. With a few strokes of a hammer a salvage expert restored their pristine global form. The most impressive sight in the Karimata is the working of the 60ft.long sieve or drum which sorts all various objects brought up. Dimly in the background one sees the huge train of buckets emptying their contents into this immense cylinder. As the drum revolves, fierce streams of water are directed into it from various points to clear away the age-long accumulation of clay, sand and shells which covers the precious relics.

In the mouth of the cylinder, a gaping cavity some 14ft. in diameter, and amid these streams of water, stand three men clad in oilskins and sou’-westers, with broad shovels in their hands, seeking, seeking, constantly seeking for objects of interest or value.

As one or other spots a relic he seizes it and passes it to the overseer on the “Niagara bridge,” a solidly built iron structure which stretches over this seething trough, to be further examined, cleaned, and handed to the salvage authorities. Day and night the buckets tear relentlessly away at the sea bed, for the calm summer weather passes only too quickly on the storm-swept Dutch coast.

If the treasure-seekers are to be successful —if they are to emulate the Italian salvage men of the Artiglio, which recovered more than £1,000,000 worth of bar gold from the sunken liner Egypt off the coast of Ushant—they must work quickly. Their work is perilous, but they arekeen and cheerful, and they seem already to be nearer success than any of their predecessors.