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Hi, I'm an admin for a group called NSW-WEST, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71281306# - a cropped version of this pic appeared in the Australian Town & Country Journal on 18th December, 1897 (see pic on 2nd page of link).

" The Merida is another well-known name in the treasure-salvage business. Ward Line's 6,207 ton passenger-freighter SS Merida, on May 12, 1911, enroute from Vera Cruz and Havana to New York, was carrying former aristocrats and other refugees escaping the Mexican Revolution of 1910. In a heavy fog, she was rammed amidships by the Admiral Farragut which itself became helplessly disabled. The wireless distress call was sent out and the steamship Hamilton responded. The Hamilton took on board all persons from both distressed vessels before the Merida sank in 210 feet of water approximately 80 miles east / northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The rumor of the Merida's treasure goes something like this: there was not enough time to save the $6 million worth of gold and silver from the strong room, and the Maximilian jewels from the purser's safe. There are accounts of salvors working this wreck in 1932 and in the 1980s, but without success." www.rms-republic.com/other_cargos2.html

One of the first uses of SOS. Navy Library has the correspondence as it went down. Several articles were run in the Washington Post on May 13-14, 1911, including discussion of the sunken treasure. Should be obvious, but... photo is older stock image. They've bordered it off for publication.

When Garden Island was an island... A similar viewpoint in 2005

According to this 1890 map of Sydney, those are segregated Baths on the left, where Andrew Boy Charlton Pool is now. www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.map-rm1280-s1-sd&rg... The modern looking roof at the bottom is the temporary Art Gallery - "Intended to be the foundation of a more substantial building when funds became available, Hunt's temporary building, which was nothing more than a series of thick walls with a sawtooth roof, was universally disliked. It was denounced in the press by prominent citizens as the 'Art Barn.' " www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/history/building