The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
DynamitingOut ft 5,000.000 0 GoldenTn
asure
At Last Success Awaits the Searchers for the
Vast Golden Hoard of the Warship Lutine
Sunk Beneath the Zuyder Zee 113 Years Ago
Apparatus Used in Pumping 1,500,000 Tons of Sand
from the Wreck of the Lutinc. and the EIrrfrlr
Magnet Used to Draw Up Masses of Iron and Gold.
London, October 15.
AN extraordinary oituation has confronted the
treasure hunters engaged In searching tho
wreck of the British frlgato Lutine, lost in 1799
with over $5,000,000 of gold and sllvor on board.
It has at last been found that tho bulk of the treasure
Is hidden in the magazine of the old ship. There it is
surrounded by metal, consisting largely of iron cannon
balls. These havo been cemented together by rust and
Boa-growtlis until nn impenetrable armor has formod
around the treasure.
It was entirely beyond tho power of divers to pene
trate this barrier. Finally recourso has been bad to
dynamite. Tho dlvors aro now dynamiting holes in tho
metal, .barrier and a huge magnet is used to draw out
tho pieces of rusty iron lying around the holes. Dut
for tho use of this explosive It would never havo been
possible to reach the treasure.
This is a caso whero treasure hunting is no merely
fantastic and romantic adventure. Many hundreds of
thousands of dollars in gold and silver havo already
been recovered from tho Lutine, but all that has been
found is a moro trlflo compared to the hoard that lies
concealed within tho iron-bound magazine.
Tho Lutine, although a Government warship, was
carrying gold and sllvor bullion belonging to a company
of London merchants. Tho destination of tho vessel
was Hamburg. Thero 1b some mystery about tho pur
pose for which tho treasure was sent, but, as tho
Napoleonic wars woro thon nt their height, it is sup
posed that it was part of tho vast sums sent to tho Con
tinent by Pitt to aid in fighting Napoloon. Presumably
tho London merchants lent it to tho British Govern
ment under a secret agreement
Tho ship was driven far out of her courso by a
ctorm on tho black night of Octobor 9, 1799, and was
driven ashore on a shoal in tho Zuyder Zoo, off tho
coast of Holland. Sho lay near tho small island of
Torscholling. Only ono sailor escaped from tho wreck
and he died shortly after being pickod up from n spar
to which ho had lashed hlmsolf. Lloyd's, Uio famous
marino Insurance company of London, had a right to
what could bo recovered from tho wreck, but owing to
the Btato of war prevailing in Europe, It was unnblo
to undertake sorious salvage operations nt onco.
Meantime the sands near tho wrock held a golden
harvest for tho Dutch flshcrmon of nearby Islands. At
low tldo tho wreck of tho Lutino was partly exposed,
with a channel running closo by.
The amount of trensuro rocovored in theso early
searches was as follows:
Fifty-eight bars of gold, weight, C4G pounds 8 ouncos;
41,697 Spanish sllvor pistoles.
Thirty-live bars of silver, weight, 1,758 pounds 8
ounces. ,
Ono hundred and sovonty-nlno Spanish gold pistoles.
EJghty-ono doublo d'or.
Ono hundred and thlrty-olght slnglo Louis d'or.
Four English guineas.
In tho year 1801, for lack of npparatus, tho search
grew unprofitable for tho Dutchmen, and was aban
doned. Lloyd's was again obliged to postpone tho quest
owing to general onxlety over Napoleon's warlike
activity. Other international troubles Including Hol
land's claim to halt tho Lutine salvage intortorod with
systematic search until 1858, when divers again located
Uio wreck and brought up tho boll of tho old frigato,
which now rests in tho commlttoe room at Lloyd's with
other relics.
-Tho Dutch flsherfolk wore so excited over this re
newed locating of tho treasure hulk that they swarmed
about In well-mannod boats until thoy had to bo driven
off by an English gunboat. Tho work of salvage wont
on until 1861, with an additional total of $110,000 in bul
lion recovered.
Strangely enough, records Showing tho amount of
treasure consigned to the Lutino had disappeared, and
Lloyd's was Indebted to the Ingenuity of tho Dutch
salvors for information, virtually proving that $5,000,000
Etlll romains to reward prosent opr rations off tho
Island of Torsohelllng. The Dutch investigator based
his cBtlmato on tho fact that the bars of sllvor and
gold already recovered woro stamped with certain lot
tors and numbers indicating a comploto scries, and
that tho missing numbers and lottors would show tho
proportion of tho treasuro etlll resting at tho bottom
of tho sea.
Later findings have verified this estimate, showing
that thero wero in all ono thousand gold and silver
bars in tho Lutino's hold. Tho latost cstlmato of Uio
total amount of treasuro originally in tho ship is as
follows:
Salvage in Uio years 1800 to 1801 $278,850
Salvage In 1857 and 1858 106,015
Salvago in 1859 and 1861 24,000
Total salvago $499,465
Total troasuro cstimatod to havo boon lost..$5,875,000
Troasuro remaining In tho wrock 5,375,535
Tho snnds gradually covorod up tho wrock and made
It practically hopeless to recovor moro troasuro at one
tlmo. Thon tho recent progress of engineering science
onco moro gavo a hopo that tho bulk of tho treasuro
might bo found.
Tho National Salvago Association of London, with
tho assistance of American exports, took up tho work,
under nn ngrooniont by whioh Lloyd's wsb to rocolvo
15 per cent of tho treasuro rocovored, tho Dutch sal
vage company 15 per cent, and Uio now company 70
per cent.
Ono of Uio greatest difficulties tho salvors had to
contend with waB tho fact n. strong circular current rnn
around tho Lutino, constantly filling up with sand any
excavations that had boon made. To romody this, a
deop channol wob cut around tho Bhlp. Over 1,500,000
tons of snnd wero pumpod away In this work, and tho
dopth of water over hor has boon increased from four
teen to fifty feet. Sho now lies on a hard clay bottom
In clear wator, and tho dlvors can opernto thero ef
ficiently. Many boxes containing coin havo boon rocovored, but
tho moBt Important discovery mado Is that tho bulk
of tho troasuro in tho form of gold and silver bars Is
rusted together with tho ammunition.
A special troasuro ship, callod tho Lyons, has beon
built for -this work. Sho is fitted with on olootrlc
magnot, capable of lifting thrco tons, with which to
draw up tho fragments of metal produced by Uio
dynnmtto explosions. In many cases it 1b expected
bars of gold will bo found comontcd to masses of iron.
Communication botwoon tho divers and tho ship is
Kept up by tolophono.
Tho captain in a lottor has told how ho hit upon tho
dlscovory thatTovoaled tho real poslUon of tho treasuro:
"Tho drodga wob working on ono odgo of a mound
of sand which persisted inholding its position near
tho -port bow of tho wreck. ' Tho man In Uio cage sig
nalled that ho had something, nnd botwoon mo and tho
glaro of hlB working lamp ho hold up a chunk of Bomo
thing dark. I hastoned nft upon getting tho signal
and found wo had pumpod up it pioco of iron rust
weighing about ten pounds. Tha cruet of oxldo had
formod about a rectangular
bar of aomo sort. When
wo scraped tho Burfaco of Hoisting Up on Old
tho impress wo uncovorod Run That Forms
bright spooks, nnd those wo Part of tho Metallic
proved to bo particles of Harrier Protecting
gold by means of the acid tho Lutlne's Treas
test." urc.
How the French Army Trains Dogs to
Search Out
the Wounded
Among the
Dead on
the Battlefield
and Convey
Them to
the Hospital
Dr. Henri Meurisse,
of the French Surgical Corps.
ON the Hth or July, at the re
view at Longchamp, after tho
brilliant marching of our spe
cial ambulance corps, when the Al
gerian sharpshooters had been ap
plauded as they passed, and the Sin
galeae had been acclaimed as they
followed the masses of infantry, the
"Porpoise" corpsjwas seen. This was
the most amusing as well as most in
structive feature of the morning for
it was the corps of sanitary dogs
commanded by Captain Tolet.
Held In leash, forty of these rough
coated beasts, wearing the Insignia of
the Red Cross, trotted along in front
of the stands where thousands of per
sons looked at them with astonish
ment. Up to that time the dogs of
the sanitary squad had never been
lined up as part of the army, and
many did not know it existed. The
official employment of there valuable
auxiliaries In the rank of our sani
tary service is a happy Innovation;
and we are to be congratulated upon
the success of this movement for
the training of dogs for sanitary service.
Training a Dog to Draw, a Wajron Carrying a Wounded
r? t. p.ij!
The Small Dog-Drawn Ambulance Designed by Captain Pusaisfor Carrying a Wounded Soldier
wnt uic iciu iu we nea wrois Hospital.
Thanks to the president of the or
ganization, M. Lepel-Colntet, nnd his
coadjutors, Captain Tolot, Messrs
Krauss, Caucurte, Drs. Granjux and
Kresser, and other aides, our army
now owus a sanitary corps of dogs.
What, then, is the sorvice which
these dogs can render on the field of
battle to the wounded? Who does not
recall the Saint Bernard dog discov
ering unfortunates buried in the
snow, and bringing help to them?
This Is exactly what our army dogs,
can do. Tltunks to his kcj!i wewt
ho finds the woundci quickly. If ho
has be- Toil trained, he helps all he
then guides the surgeons
and nurses to the sufferers by his
sharp barking.
His services arc by no means su
perfluous. Battles aro more murder
ous than ever to-day (as has been
demonstrated in the luto wars in the
Balkans). The Sanitary Corps is all
too small for the services required.
It is most difficult, especially at
night, to And the wounded among
the masses of dead. If the army has
conquered "jey may give as much
Tho surgeons and nurses are apt
to And only those wounded men who
He most exposed, but those who have
dragged themselves aside, or aro be
neath the heaps of dead, are apt to
bo overlooked. If they havo no dogs
with them they aro sure to pass by
many who might be saved.
The man with a broken leg, who
has dragged himself luto the bushes,
Is not seen and may die of thirst and
llUtlZPr. IllHt fWVIIlltn lin Iu nvni-lnnki1
iime ir uje-im, out ir it is neoing it Is reported that in the war in
in retreat, jr must hasten and of-, Manchuria 41.7 per thousand of tho
ten leave Ifapy of the wounded oi officors were mlsng and 71 per
the field Ifccause they are not dls- thousand of the private. IlusKintm
The Japanese had a record of 5.021
privates and
53 officers who
wero mlsBlng.
In the war of
1870-71 4,009
Germans woro
missing
11,914 Fronch.
On August 16
iho Fronch had
1,367 killed,
10,402 wound
ed and
Onrmans had
421 killed, 10.120 wounded, 967 miss
ing.
Many schonios have been devised
for milling the wounded on the field
of lwUlo and not having to ubundon
missing. Tho
6,472
4.-
aro not effective, especially If tho
wounded man is unconscious, as is so
often the case.
Tho dog also seems practical, and
indispensable ns nn adjunct to
sanitary corps. Has ho not proven
his value on tho battlefield? In tho
war In the Transvaal the colllo dogs
snvod the lives of hundreds of tho
wounded. During the war ih Mnn
chtirla tho Gorman dogy of tho sani
tary corps rendered great service,
specially at the battlo of Cha-Ho.
The tdon of using dogs in this way
Is not altogether new. It had Its
origin In Germany. It has advanced
so fur thero that they havo moro
than two thousand dogs trained for
this sorvice. Tho French soalety or-
wuiu ami ni imvuiK mi uunuuun mm nui nee. mo r runcn somety or
nisiiy, but none works like this of gnnlzed for this purpose) has already
covered alf oace.
so
the dug corn. It Is lmpowriblo to
light up the field of bntjle, for cvon
though the victorious army might
do so, the defeated host would cer
tainly not bo permitted to Jo it.
Nor should it be forgotton that
cvon in daylight we do not Dud all
if the wounded, The whittles which
It has been suggesip.1 to furnish to
the soldiers, to be u-d when wounded
some two hundred or more. But it
requires further development.
All kinds of dogs nre not adapted
to this work. The French dog Is Uio
bet t&f for th purjKJMi, because of
MafJttolllgpncp, keen scent and falth
fulnoH. Ho is at least equal to tho
(Jerinan Mieep dig, iihually taken for
tho rorps. Alretlale terriers are quite
nduptable, and almost uny dog from
the hunting dog to the ordinary farm
dog may be trained to serve.
Ho must be brought up especially
to search for tho wounded tho
training to pull a mart for carrying
tho wounded Is only secondary.
Thorn aro some practical objections
to tho dog carriages, but it may be
useful under special conditions.
In ancient days they used trained
dogs for fighting In Uio army, for
the bas-reliefs of Herculaneum and
some historians speak of them, Ver
clngetorix used dogs against tho
Roman troops led by Caosar. But
our modern armies would hardly de
sire dog companies to fight with
them.
The real office of tho dog in tho
army Is. to search for tho wounded,
and the Bed Cross should serve as
their protection. He will once moro
prove hlmsolf the friend of man, call
ing the nurses and surgeons to the,
side of tho sufferer, digging into the
heaps of the dead to find Uiose whom
the nurses would never discover.
Kvcry army should have thou
sands of these trained dogs, ready
for tho greatest and most merciful
service