SUNKEN TREASURE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 306, 17 April 1877, Page 4

SUNKEN TREASURE.

Work upon the wreck of the British frigate Hussar, says the Sate York Herald of November 3, sunk in the East River during the Revolutionary War, lias been assumed, after a suspension of three years. On Thursday last the sloop Tent was moored over the wr;ck, which lies a short distance below Port 31orris, and within a stone's throw of the shore. In a frame structure on the deck of the sloop is a steam engine and other machinery used in submarine work. The dver is lowered to the wreck from a platform sn the shore side of the vessel, lie mide his first descent on Saturday morning for the purpose of making a general survey of the wreck. He found but tittle of the old frigate. All that remains is the worm-eaten keelson, knees, and planking, below the copperline. The wreck is covered with a heavy deposit of sand and mud, and several large boulders have lodged in her hull. The Hussar was 206 feet in length, 58 feet beam, and carried 32 guns. She arrived in this port with the frigate Mercury and a fleet of merchant vessels on November 23, 1&70. In the Hussars treasury were L 560,000 in gold, and on the Mercury were L 380,000, making nearly five million dollars in all. This treasure was sent over by the British Government to pay the forces engaged in waging war on the colonists. Two'days afterwards the gold bought over by the Mercury was transferred to the Hussar, with which, after taking on Ward 70 American prisoners from the overcrowded hulks in the Waltabout, she set sad for New London, Connecticut. Paul Jones was at the time cruising along the American coast. His feat ©IF Flambor»ugh Head a year before had inspired the commander of the Hussar with a healthy respect for his powers, and it was, therefore, determined to make the voyage by the way of Hell Gate. It wa3 a hazardous undertaking for a vessel of her tonnage, but a negro pilot had succeeded a short time before in taking through another frigate. The Hussar attempted the passage with a favouring win I and a high tide, and safety passed the moat dangerous points in the channel, but with a smooth course already in view the frigate struck heavily on Pot Rock. The swift current swung her around and she drifted helplessly up the stream past Ward's and Randall's Islands, making water rapidly. Wuen the vessel once more obeyed lier helm she was titling so fast that the commodore determined to beach her at the entrance to a marshy c»ve below Fort Morris. This was dnm% and the crew, with the assistance of farmers at work near by, held her to the shore by passing hawsers around the large trees there. A more dangerous point could not have been selected, for the frigate from amidships buns over a precipice nearlv !W> fVet high. When the title began to fall the strain upon the cables was tremendous. !v>rne parted, others putted op frvin the roots the trees to which they were attached, when the ship gave a lurch and went '. odily over t'-e ledge. Worst of all, she carried down with her the seventy hapless wretches chained to her gun-deck. The officers and crew escaped. In ITtM the Britis'n Government sent over two brigs, and for two summers unsuccessful etlorts were made to raise tac sunken frigate. Una of the brig.* foundered white engaged in this work, and now lies in 13 fathoms of water, a short distance below the hull of the Hussar. The other was driven off by the American Government. Twenty-five years elapsed before another effort was made. A company was formed and work was begun in the spring of' 1819; bu l :. with the clumsy appliances then in vogue no progress was made. One enterprise succeeded another, but with a like result. Over 50,000 dols. was expended in constructing * coffer dam, which proved too weak to rcs r st the force of the tide. Over twenty years a 3 «o a company was formed in Worcester, Massachusetts, called the New England Submarine Company, with Horace Barnes as superintendent. This company and its successor, the Frigate Hussar Company, have prosecuted the work since, except during the three past summers. Ttiey have n».v resumed operations, and hope by the use of improved machinery and a new process to get possession of the golden treasure buried in the frigate's hull. Mr. Karnes still superintends the work. But little money has thus far been taken from the wreck, and the sums found are supposed to havj been the private hoards of officers and men. In a stable at Fort Morris are stored human skull* aud bones, and manacles worn by the drowned American captives, together with musket barrets, cannon balls, thnts and bullets, pewter plates, Ac. Tue British Museum paid 1500 dols. for a bronze gun. In the Central Park Museum are other mementos of the wreck. Obstacles to be overcome are numerous and great. The ship's treasury was located in the run of the vessel. The kentledge (iron) and shingle (stone') ballast have, by the action of the water, become joined together in a mass almost as dense as cast iron. This mas overlies and surrounds the treasure, and has to be drilled or blasted through. Eternal night reigns around the wreck. Electric lights have failed, and owing to the swift tides, divers cati work only at slack water.