GOLD SALVAGED FROM NIAGARA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27048, 25 May 1953, Page 10

GOLD SALVAGED FROM NIAGARA

SEVEN MORE BARS - RECOVERED FURTHER ATTEMPT TO BE MADE • (Neto Zealand Press Association) WHANGAREI, May 24. When the salvage ship Foremost 17, which has been engaged in the recovery of the remaining bullion on the sunken liner Niagara, steamed into Whangarei on Thursday and dropped anchor off Reotahi, seven bars of gold valued at more than £35,000 were lying in the cabin of the salvage superintendent (Mr Rodney Paul). The Foremost 17 has now recovered nine of the 35 bars which were inaccessible to Captain J. P. Williams’s expedition of 1951. These nine bars have been recovered without the use of either explosives to clear away the Niagara's steel plating or the “iron man” to pick up bullion lying in awkward places. Working for only five days and a half over the Niagara, the salvage company brought to the surface a quarter of the gold that is believed to remain in or near the Niagara’s bullion room.

For security reasons, explained Mr PauL in whose hands lies the sole responsibility for the safety of the gold, an undertaking had been given to keep the news of the Foremost 17’s early success secret until the gold had been landed in Auckland and taken over by officials of the Reserve Bank.

On Thursday afternoon, information was received which suggested that a visit to the Foremost 17 might reveal some interesting development in the salvagers’ venture. It was already known that during preliminary grabbing to clear the rubbish which had collected over the Niagara’s bullion room two “stray” bars had been brought to the surface by the grab. After handing the first two bars over to the bank officials, the Foremost 17 sailed from Auckland for the position of the wrecked liner on May 2. By Thursday, 18 days later, the weather had permitted them only five days and a half over the wreck, yet during that time the divers and grabs were working to a well-laid plan, and with the most modern equipment. The recovered gold has been under the ocean for more than 12 years, yet there has been no tarnishing of its purity.

Special equipment to deal with the mud and silt is to be loaded at Auckland and another grab which will work under the special conditions now know to exist is to be used. Given two or three weeks of good weather, it is probable that the final chapters in one of the greatest salvage stories in history will soon be completed.