ELINGAMITE TREASURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13396, 26 January 1907, Page 5

ELINGAMITE TREASURE.

further PARTICULARS of THE EXPEDITION. the DEATH of MI?. HARPER. A BRAVE AND ZEALOUS DIVER. Souk further particulars of the operations of lie Elingamite treasure salvage expedition ltd the circumstances connected with the death of Mr. Harper, the diver engaged in connection with the expedition, were related to a Hkk.vlh representative yesterday, in the course of an interview with Captain Willis. who accompanied the expedition as the representative of the London Salvage As* social ion, and who arrived in Auckland from the North by the s.s. Clansman yesterday morning. Speaking firstly in regard to tin' occasion oil which the wreck was located by Mr. Harper (January 4) Captain Willis said that the diver stated that lie located a portion of tin 1 wreck in 17 fathoms of water after touching bottom at 15 fathoms and walking down what had the appearance of a m'assy slope. As fur as he could see the remainder of the. wreck lay on an angle sloping down into deep water. On the following day live descents were made and Mr. Harper then reported that the gear of the. vessel was in a general state of " smash' and that the vessel was completely flattened out. At half-past ten on the morning of the next day (January 61 the diver brought up a number of coins and reported that ho could see no signs of the boxes in which the money had been placed, the coins being found lying loose over the surface of the iron plating, in about 20 fathoms of water. At eleven o'clock Mr. Harper again descended and remained under water till noon, during which period he sent up some additional gold and silver coins. Shortly after coming to the surface, on this occasion Harper complained of deep water pains, and soon after being taken on board the Huia lie. fainted. Restoratives were applied and ivery possible attention Mas .shown to Mr. Harper, who was much better that evening, though he was still evidently suffering considerably from the effect, of being in such a depth of water for a long period. By the Bth Mr. Harper had apparently completely recovered and he resumed diving operations. "It had been arranged," said Captain Willis, "that on no account was Mr. Harper to stay below more than fifteen minutes at a time. The necessity of observing this precaution w.us impressed upon him by both Captain McKenzie and myself. On that and the following two days further sums of money were recovered. Owing to a strong swell and the shortage of water the party then went to Maugonui to relit, and as soon as the weather w;is suitable a return was made, to the scene of operations." MR. HARPER'S LAST DESCENT. " Diving operations," continued Captain Willis, were resumed on Tuesday last, when the launch with the diver and party on board left the Huia and proceeded to the scene of the wreck about half-past eight a.m. Mr. Harper went down twice and on each occasion was signalled at the expiration of fifteen minutes. He remained below, however, twenty-three minutes on each descent. When lie descended for the third time he was very cheerful, being in excellent .spirits and apparently in the best of health. He was signalled as usual at the end of the fifteen minutes, and he replied "all right.' Although, as already stated, he had been so strongly warned against remaining below for a long period he persisted in doing so, and on this occasion he had been down thirty-two minutes before he came up. I was on board the Huia at the time. Mr. Harper complained of being ill when he came to the surface and was at once conveyed by the launch to the Huia. He was placed on hoard the steamer, where every endeavour was made to bring him round. After a time he commenced to show signs of recovery. The efforts at restoration were continued and he still showed some signs of rallying. A consultation was held, with the result that Captain McKenzie left the steamer to obtain the big life boat. I continued the use of restoratives in the meantime with satisfactory results. Captain McKenzie returned to the. steamer in less than half an hour from his departure. Shortly afterwards, despite our continued exertions, Mr. Harper showed signs of collapse and he passed peacefully away at about a-quarter past two." Speaking of the disregard paid by the deceased to the strong advice not to remain below more than fifteen minutes Captain Willis said that, one of Mr. Harper's sons gave him the signal to come up, but as he did not respond, said that nothing could be done as his father would always have his own way. It should also he stated, he said, that Mr. Harper when he came up ascended in the usual way. and it was not until after he stepped into the launch that it was known that anything was the matter. He then complained of being ill and made a remark to the effect that it was a mistake to remain so long under water. "I should like to express my deep regrit, which was shared by all on board," said Captain Willis, "at this sad termination of Mr. Harper's career. Personally. I had the greatest respect for him. I consider him to have been one of the best and bravest divers that 1 have ever had anything to do with. I never met a braver man. and it was just through his persistence and his extreme desire to make a success of the expedition that he met his death. All possible precautions and care were, taken, and if all the doctors in Auckland had been there they could not have saved his life. Both the deceased's sons have expressed their thanks lor the kindness shown by Captain McKenzie and the crew of the Huia. and for the sympathy extended to them." "I suppose the search for the treasure will be continuedV" " Yes, you may be perfectly sure of that. The syndicate has its license for carrying on operations, which will, no doubt, be continued when the neces-aiy arrangements ate made. Beyond that I am not prepared to say anything at present."

The body of the lute Mr. Harper was brought down in the Claii.snfan to Omaha, where it was landed eatlv yesterday morning for the interment. Captain Mifveiizie. of the Hum, and deceased's two sons also landed there in order In take part in the obsequies.