SUNKEN CARGOES

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 91, 14 October 1922, Page 9

SUNKEN CARGOES

UNDER-WATER PRESERVATION

WORK IN TOBERMORY BAY.

The success with which the treasure hunt in Tobermory Bay is now meeting has revived interest in sunken cargoes, declares Lord Headley in the "Manchester Guardian." There are few subjects on which there are more erroneous ideas. Until I, visited Newcastle a few months ago I was under the impression that immersion for a few weeks meant destruction to practically all goods except those encased in'water-tight coverings. It was therefore a matter of surprise to me to find examples of/steel goods and machinery, which had been under water for eighteen months and more, practically as good as when tHey left the factory. With respect to such perishable stuff as soap and cheese I came across instances where, soap was none the worse after a years' immersion—a cake of hard, film-like casing enclosing each cake or bar. As to the cheese; keping, improved it considerably, and a certain speculator-who purchased an entire cargo dirt cheap made • quite a small fortune over his deal, the cheese fetching a higher price than it would have done in a "new" and uninteresting condition ! , Of course there is 'a largo class of goods which salt water renders practically valueless. I heard, however, of a cargo of flour which had been under water for over eighteen months. The vessel in the hold of which the bags were lying was thrown up on a very wild shore. The, natives found that the bags of flour were apparently hard and perished beyond possibility of use till one man, brighter than the others, cut into a sack. He found that there was. a thick coating of crust •an inch and a half-thick, and that inside that coating the flour was in perfect preservation and as good as when it left the mill. He promptly secured the lot and made a handsome profit out of the transaction. Again, an interesting story reached me of a turbine steamer which had suffered so little after eighteen months below the surface that she was actually got off under her own steam after very little overhauling. But all the ships to which my inquiries were directed were steel vessels sunk during ,the war. Every, detail was known as to the cargo. Vastly different are the conditions surrounding those countless wrecks of the wooden walls of old England sent to the bottom centuries ago. The glamour of romance and uncertainty hangs round each tale which tradition provides; we know that * our coasts are literally peppered with wrecks —ancient and modern—and we also know that the value of these sunken monuments to man's enterprise and Nature's fury is enormous. A great deal of this glamoiir hangs round the picturesque island of Mull, where the .quaint little hamlet of Tobermory holds a secret in its tiny harbour. As far back as the year, 1588, when the north wind so effectively assisted the British Navy that the "invincible" Armada was scattered in hopeless, confusion, one of the most valuable of the Spanish galleons—the Almirante de Florencia—put into Tobermory Bay partly to get shelter from the terrific weather and partly to reprovision. It is said that the inhabitants, who were none too friendly towards England at the time, gave her a good welcome, but that afterwards, having heard of the value of the treasure aboard, they treacherously blew up the ship, hoping to secure the valuables. Anyhow the ship went to the bottom in some ten fathoms of»water and within a stone's tKrow of the shore.

Various attempte have been mad© at different times to salve portions of the treasure, but it cannot be said'that conspicuous success has up to now rewarded these efforts. In recent years Colonel K. M. Foss succeeded in bringing up some valuable articles—plate, coins, and so on—and these were sold for nearly £900 only a few years ago. The Colonel has an able assistant in Miss Margaret Nayloi-, who has the proud distinction of being tie first lady to take lip this rather dangerous and arduous profession in a serious way, and, I believe, the very first of her - sex to walk the bed of the sea. in GO feet of water.

It is interesting to watch the efforts of those who are trying to salve thp valuables on board the galleon, and to speculate as to the number of "pieces of eight," gold vases, and jewels which may be collected by the Tobermory trea-sure-seekers.

It is suggested that the methods now being adopted are unsuitable for recovering articles which are easily damaged. The finding of quantities of broken bottles in the necks of corks seems_ to indicate that there was a possibility of having a taste of some fine old Spanish wine 334, years old. But, alas! we have probably lost the opportunity of asking all our connoisseur friends to dinner and saying' in a genial way, "Now you must try just one glass of my 1580 port." hear the use of. unsympathetic grabs, gouges, large-size sausage 1 mincers, and weapons of that class is not conducive to the safe recovery of worke of art or bottles of wine. I have confided to Mis 3 Naylor my own plans for securing not only tha contents of the galleon, but the whole vessel in perfect safety, and I think she is convinced as to the soundness of them, but the expenditure of five or .six thousands of pounds would be necessary. After all, what is that when you have in view a cool million or two, and the chance of tho Spanish Crown all studded with gems each one of which is worth a king's .ransom?