THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140505
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Know somebody who's been naughty?
Now you can follow through with those threats and give them a lump of coal for Christmas.
A company in New York is selling chunks of coal, set in a nice display case, for a mere $25.
This is no ordinary coal, however. This coal would have stoked the engines of the doomed luxury liner Titanic on its maiden voyage. But the vessel slammed into an iceberg April 14, 1912, and sank in more than 12,500 feet of water 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
The wreck was discovered in 1985 and, during three expeditions to the site involving 65 dives, the salvage company RMS Titanic Inc. has recovered more than 3,600 items. The coal was recovered during a 1994 trip.
``We are delighted to have the opportunity to share our recovery of this historic rarity with people who wish to preserve and respect the memory of the Titanic,'' said George Tulloch, RMS Titanic's president.
The coal will be the only objects from the wreck that the salvage company will sell, Tulloch said. The firm plans to keep recovered artifacts and personal possessions from the ship together as a collection for exhibition.
A year-long exhibit called ``The Wreck of the Titanic'' recently ended at the National Maritime Museum of Great Britain. MEMO: To find out more about ``becoming a conservator of Titanic coal,''
call (800) 600-3227, or write Titanic Research & Recovery Ltd., Suite
2300, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, New York, 10010. ILLUSTRATION: Photos of Titanic and coal lump
by CNB