Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1913 — STRANGE HUNT FOR ATLANTIS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STRANGE HUNT FOR ATLANTIS

eminent astronomer recent- \ ly declared that all the mysI terious places of earth had y I been penetrated by advenfV' vj turous man. “There is left,” wLfc jhe said, “no portion of our A planet that he has not trod. fßjir I The star gazer is now the —'only true explorer. Man’s future discoveries must be

made with the telescope.” But there is still a large part of the earth’s crust that is as great and fascinating a mystery as the illimitable reaches of Bpace. Hidden there may lie the cities of a wonderful race, with vaults choked with precious metals an*d rare jewels. He who brings them to light will write his name beside those of Marco Polo, Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Livingstone, Peary and all the others who have extended our frontiers of geographical knowledge. Such a task has Bernard Meeker undertaken. This daring young Englishman is now on his way to the Caribbean sea. There he will sArch not only for a lost continent, but for a lost nation and all the treasure that it may reveal. He says he' has good reason to believe that he will find the very cradle of civilization and loot enough to enrich all those who have joined him in the* enterprise. Meeker’s expedition is the strangest treasure hunting outfit that ever left England. The chunky little steamer that was chartered at Liverpool carries the queerest cargo in its trampish career. First and foremost were two submarines. One was u t the conventional type no longer considered wonderful in spite of its great speed and carrying power. Four men could live comfortably" aboard it for weeks. Its lockers are capable of holding a large supply of compressed foods and the system of air renewal is of the most modern type. Its one unusual feature is its powerful searchlight that is set in a revolving turret, thuß enabling the men in the conning tower to distinguish objects at great depths below the surface. The second submarine is such a craft as Captain Nemo might have been proud to own It resembles some hideous crustacean of steel with tentacles to catch its prey. It is a veritable giant crab. Its claws are Ingenious metal ’ arms that can be operated by the men inside the hull. The tips are furnished with a sensitive electrical apparatus that might almost be called a man made sense of touch, for whatever comes into contact with these arms sets off a signal Inside the conning tower. Thus can this vessel feel its way along the bottom of the sea. like some huge half blind monster.

This unique Vessel has a name. Most submarines are nowadays simply numbered, but Meeker named his second submarine, and it was this name that let out the secret of the expedition. For months the explorer kept his plans strictly to himself. All that was known of them was contained in the simple announcement that he would sail for the coast of Yucatan to search for evidence of prehistoric civilization. This aroused little comment. for many others have preceded him In such a quest. In fact, the shores of Yucatan are filled with the remnants of great cities. But tho crablike submarine caused • great deal of speculation. Just

what the floor of the ocean had to do with the ancient nations of Mexico was a mystery. But when the Pinot was named Atlantis the secret could no longer be kept. Every explorer and scientist in England at once knew that Meeker was going in search of the so-called lost continent —Atlantis, whose existence has been a riddle since the days of ancient Greece. It was only when he knew that he could stave off publicity no longer that Meeker would talk about bis plans, says the New York Sun. And even this concession was obtained only on promise that nothing should be published until after he had sailed. “When this thing comes out I shall be laughted at from one end of London to the other," he said. “As a matter of fact I have always had a hard time to get even my Intimates to believe my story. . “Briefly the object of my expedition 1b the exploration of the ocean bottom at points below the surface of the Caribbean, where I have good reason to believe there lie the ruins of cities so old that the most ancient Egyptian structures are new by comparison. These cities once formed the nucleus of a great empire, which for want of a better name we have called Atlantis. Of course this is not an original idea of mine. For a great many centuries men have i thought that such a nation onee existed, meeting its fate in some awful cataclysm which caused a whole continent to sink fathoms below the surface of the Atlantic ocean.

“Hitherto the existence of such a nation has been a mere theory based on the flood legends that occur in all religions, the distribution of certain distinct human types and the strange similarity shown in the architecture of ancient Europe, Africa and America. But recently divers have discovered cups, bowls and other utensils at the bottom of the Caribbean, far from shore and of designs that absolutely baffle archaeologists. These specimens are different from anything that any of the known ancient races manufactured. They are delicately wrought, showing a high degree of aftistic taste and knowledge of„ metal working.” At this point the interviewer repeated to Mr. Meeker the rumors that hts was a treasure hunting expedition. Tho explorer was at first reticent. “Treasure hunters always get themselves laughed at," he said. It was then that he exacted the promise to delay publication until his departure. “If you will agree,” he said, “I will spin the yarn for you, otherwise not another word do > you get out of me." The promise was made and the explorer went into another room, from which he soon returned with a smal metal bowl. He smiled as he handed it to the writer. There wras nothing strgnge In the shape of the vessel, but it gleamed in the lamplight. “What would you say it was made of?" asked Meeker. “Brass,” promptly replied the interviewer. “Wrong,” said he. “It is gold.” He then went on to explain that the bowl and others like it had been brought to the surface by divers in the Caribbean. At first It was thought to be a part of the cargo of a galleon that had sailed the Spanish Main in the days of the conqulstadores. Im-

mediately it became the center of a war of antiquarians. It was soon known beyond doubt that the vessel was not of European workmanship, either ancient or modern. Nothing of Oriental or African design tallied with it. As a last resort it was thought to be a Peruvian or Mexican product, but this theory, too, was exploded. Event the gold of which it was made puzzled metallurgists. It was an alloy, but of a different tvpe from anything on record. “Then I became interested in the argument,” said Meeker. “I found out the exact spot at which the strange find was made. The few men who knew this were keeping it quiet. Thdy had visions of treasure and were then trying to interest capital in an expedition. “After a deal of bargaining they agreed to take jne into the scheme, I, on my part, promising to aid them If there possibility of- success. I studied all the charts I could find. At last I came upon a drawing made by Ignatius Donnelly, who wrote a book on ‘Atlantis’ years ago. His map showed that the place where the divers found the gold bowls was only a short distance west of what might once have been the shore of the lost continent itself.

“It was a wonderful tale those divers told. The water, they said, was comparatively shoal where the discovery had been made. The floor of the sea seemed to be covered with unusual coral formations. ‘But it was the queerest coral I ever saw,’ one of them told me. ‘lt looked more like stone walls than coral, and there was a pointed sort of arch in one of the walls. I’ve seen coral arches, but this was different from any I had ever seen before.’ ” Mr. Meeker went on to relate that he and one of the divers had made a preliminary visit to the spot, but all that he would say was that he had seen enough to satisfy him that- the strange coral was nothing less than the wall of a building pierced by an arch of the most ancient type. “Our plans are simple enough. With our first or parent submarine w»i will explore the bottom as far as possible. The Pinot will be used at depths that would be impossible for the other to navigate. From the Pinot diners in especially strengthened suits, capable of withstanding great pressure, will go out whenever the Bteel arms of the boat Indicate some large solid object in our path. Powerful lights will be lowered from the surface whenever possible, but at very great depth we will have to depend on the light mounted in the bow of the Pinot. The divers will not descend into the sea from thd steamer or a raft, but will go out from beneath the surface from one of the submarines, from which the air Bupply will be pumped to them from a series of tanks containing air under pressure. There Is an air chamber in the forward part of both subma-' rines. Here a diver can be closed in and the air pressure gradually Increased until It is enough to keep out the water. The diver can then open a hatch and step out into the sea bottom. He returns to the boat by the same hatch. As soon as he closes it the air pressure is lowered to normal and he is admitted to the main operating room with the rest of the crew.