OCEAN TREASURES

Hokitika Guardian, 11 October 1933, Page 8

OCEAN TREASURES

MEXICAN CROWN JEWELS SALVAGE OF £1,000,000 LONDON, October 4. Treasure trove worth more than £1,000;000, comprising priceless rubies and the regalia of Mexico’s ill-fated Emperor M aximilian, together with gold bars and silver, is reported to have been recovered from the ocean bed where it has iain for more that 20 years.

This glittering hoard has been retrieved by Captain Harry L. Bowdo’.n commander of the Salvor treasure hurting craft, who, after many disappointments, located the steamer Merida . which sunk off the coast of Virginia ’n collision with the American vessel Admiral Farragut in 1911. The Merida had been dispatched to the United States by the then President of .Me”’co, President Diaz, following Senior Madero’s revolution.

The crown jewels and bullion in the Merida s strong-room are known to have .included large blood-red rubies from the crowns 'of Maximilian and Car lot ta, the ill-starred last emperor and empress of Mexico, together with necklaces, earrings and bracelets belonging to the empress.

The task of salv'ng the treasure lias been one of unusual danger for the divers, as the scene of the wreck is infested with sharks. Captain Bowdoin, however is an experienced salvage expert, and is the inventor of a diving su/t which lias caterpillar tractor feet gird mechanical arms, which move in lour directions.

The treasure was located in a safe, and when it was hauled to the surface Oaptajn Tknytloin immediately mounted an armed guard over it, as he feared that he would he raided by ‘hijackers.’ A London fishmonger, Mr William Brightweli, has claimed to -be the son and heir of the late Emperor Maximilian, who was shot more than 40 years before the treasure was lost. When Captain Bowdion announced that he was attempting to recover the treasure Mr Bright well’s solicitors in London w r rote him :

Our client, wdio claims to be the son and heir of the late Emperor Maximilian, hereby formally gives you not 7 ice that he claims and will cl a!’m all or any of the estate as may be found in the wreck. . . Our client is prepared to prove his title when the occasion arises.

Captain Bowclo'n, on legal advice, has refused to disclose details of his find.