Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, AUG. 25, 1932. THE EGYPT’S TREASURE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 227, 25 August 1932, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, AUG. 25, 1932. THE EGYPT’S TREASURE.

When the big liner Egypt foundered off Ushant ten years ago, after a collision with a French vessel, there was carried into the ocean depths a treasure whose recovery, now being successfully accomplished by the Artiglio’s crew, marks one of the most stirring and brilliant achievements in marine salvage. From the bottom of the sea, seventy fathoms deep, gold ingots, sovereigns and silver are being steadily brought to the surface, to the astonishment of a world which, marvelling at the divers’ rich success, applauds them for their rare courage ancl determination. The story of the search for the sunken Egypt was the prelude of the thrilling adventure now taking place off Ushant. In the summer of 1929 the men of the first Artiglio searched unsuccessfully for the lost liner. They could only operate under fair weather conditions, * and their efforts were restricted by heavy seas and other marine factors. The following summer found them back at the task, and at the end of two months they were successful. Then commenced the Tindertaking they had set themselves to accomplish. They set to work on the wreck and before the storms of winter set in had brought the captain’s safe to the surface. They were, however, not fated to crown their task with success, for they were, a few months later the victims of a shocking tragedy. Working on the wreck of another vessel, the Florentine, which was sunk with a cargo of munitions between Belle Isle and the mainland of France during the Great War, these intrepid Italian divers and seamen had fixed the charges that were to remove the wreck from the channel, and had withdrawn to what to them was a safe distance. They miscalculated the force of the explosion, and the tremendous upheaval caused a sea sufficient to engulf the vessel and its gallant divers whose fame had spread throughout the world. The captain and most of the crew were also drowned. Thus the men who had been so conspicuous in locating the Egypt and commencing the salvage were denied the great success that has come to the new Artiglio and its crew. It was a cruel turn of Fortune’s wheel. Last year the divers attached to the present ship took up the task of their dead comrades, but gales, rough seas and fogs were their bugbear, causing them to return to port on several occasions. As soon as the weather

cleared, however, they were again at their task, the divers, working in their special shells 400 feet below, attacking the barriers between them and the treasure. To reach it they had to clear away the boat deck, the iron hurricane and upper decks, and the intervening cabins. “Whenever the weather permitted,” it is recorded, “and often when it was far rougher than the most daring diver could like, they worked swiftly and for long' spells, always with the risk that a slight mishap might mean death. Then another summer came to an end and still the treasure was out of reach.” This year found the Artiglio and her gallant, and determined band at the scene of operations and, after several disappointments, the first gold was brought to the surface on June 22. It was a moment for exultation among - the Artiglio’s personnel, but in the joy of achievement they spared a moment to think of their dead comrades of the old Artiglio, a period of silence brief but surely as impressive as any recorded in marine history. A large quantity of the Egypt’s treasure is now stored in London, and the work of winning the remainder continues successfully, for it was recorded the other day that one lift of the salvage ship’s grab brought £15,000 worth from the great depths where the divers guide this marvellous mechanical device. “It is a magnificent achievement,” says a commentator, “the most difficult piece of salvage work ever undertaken in the open sea, and it deserves whole-hearted a dmirat io n. ”