The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-21 00:00:00

rived at. Mr. Day made.* daring experiment in Plymouth
Sound in 1774, when he prepared a submarine vessel, in
whose qualities he hail such reliance that he did not heai-
tate to sink with it in the deepest part, lent never was
heard of again. Benjamin Martin, originally a ploughboy
in Surrey but afterwar,.s a celebrated optician in London,
introduced in 1778 several modifications, bringing the
dress more towards the present form, and enabling it to
contain a supply of air : his apparatus was used with con-
sidorable success in exploring wrecks.
In 1779 Smeaton first used diving-bells for civil engineer-
ing operations, and one of his apparatus was stated to be
still in existence at Ramsgate harbour. Rennie employed
them very extensively, and introduced great modifications
in their construotion, having them made of cast iron, with
lenses in the top, and using powerfal air-pumps. Very
extensive submarine works are thus constructed, and diffi-
cult repairs were made. Telford also used the diving-bell
somewhat extensively, aad up to the present day Sir John
Rennie, at Plymouth, and Mr. Walker, at Alderney and
Dover, and other places, had, in common with almost all
the other marine civil engineers, employed the diving-bell
for their works. Indeed, the contractors for such works
now found them so useful, and the men managed them so
skilfully, that works heretofore considered almost imprac-
ticable, were undertaken without hesitation.
About 1798 Kleingert, of Breslau, had a somewhat see-
cessful diving dress ' • and soon after Robert Fulton tried
experiments on a submarine boat, or diving chest, both in
France and in America. At the commencement of the pre-
sent century, Mr. Braithwaite' well known as a manufac-
turer of machinery, introduced several improvements in
the construction of the diving-bell and pumps, and used
thorn and the diving dress in submarine researches, reco-
vering much property from wrecks, more especially from
that of the Abergavenny, East India ship, lest off Wey-
mouth in 1801, in a depth of 10 fathoms.
The wreak of the Royal George, which occurred iu 1782,
afforded an attractive field for practical divers. Imme-
diately after the occurrence, numerous prepositions were
made for attempts to weigh the ship. That of Mr. Tracey
was selected, and although considerable expense was in-
curred, and every aid was afforded by the Government, the
attempts all resulted in failure, and the project was aban-
doned. The remains of the vessel having created a shoal
in the anchorage, it was eventually determined to remove
them ; meanwhile Mr. Deane, who had for some years suc-
cessfully practised diving, and had made many improve-
ments in the dress and apparatus, having, among other ex-
ploits, succeeded, inlB2B, in clearing the wreck of the Cern-
braes East Indiamai, lost off the back of the Isle of Wight,
and that of her Majesty's ship Boyne, off Sonthsea Castle,
obtained permission to attempt operations upon the Royal

George. His labours in 1834, 1835 and 1535, were suecessful,
so far as recovering many guns and stores, both from that
vessel and from the Mary Rose, which had been submerged
for nearly 300 years ; but the final destraotion of the wreck
and the removal of the shoal were effected ender the direc-
tions of Colonel (now Gen. Sir Chas. W.) Pasley, between
1839 and 1843. This was done by pacing cylinders heavily
charged with gunpowder alongside portions of the vessel,
and tiring them by means of the voltaic battery, the practi-
cability of which had been previou.ly demonstrated at the
Institution of Civil Engineers on the 24th April, 1338, by
Mr. J. Bethel', who also introduced in 1835 many valuable
improvements in diving dresses and apparatus. Mr. G. Hall
was employed by Col. Pasley, having with him a number of
Sappers and other men, several of whom became ex-
pert divers. In these works the dresses and pumps em-
ployed were principally made by Siebe, who, under the in-
structions of Deane, had made great improvements
in the diving-dress, and in other parts of the apparatus.
The operations were successfully concluded in 1813, after
exploding nerly 53,0001 b. of powder, the obstructions in the
anchorageground being entirely cleared away, and 86 guns-
-1582 cwt. of metal—and 59,000 cubic feet of timber, having
been recovered. The experience acquired during these
operations had demonstrated the necessity for several
improvements, which were subsequently introduced by
Siebe, and other makers ; the dress was made of better
material and form, was joined on to the helmet, which was
made to go on with one-eighth of a revolution of the screw
at!the neck, the weights were better adjusted, and the eye
pieces and air tubes were more conveniently arranged,
whilst the pumps were so improved as to give ample 'apply
of air to the men, at considerably greater depths.
The paper then proceeded to describe the modifications
introduced by Mr. Reinke, the author's brother, and
combined in the diving-dresses contributed to the Exhibi-
tion in Hyde Park in 1851, and at Paris in 1855. Among
the most important of these were the eye-frame, which
had a slide so adapted to it that, in case of accidental frac-
ture of the glass, the diver could immediately close it, and
prevent the influx of water : a double valve fixed in the
front of the gorget, by which the efflux of air could be so
regulated as to enable the diver to ascend and descend at
will ; it had also been found that in case of the fracture of
the eye-glass, by closing this valve the air issued through
the glass, and the diver was onabledto come to the surface
without risk. The connecting joints in the air tubes were
made with double caps ; and the tubes themselves were
made sounder, more flexible, and much more durable. A
signal-dial was also introduced, by which the diver could
make known his wants with certainty and rapidity ; in
fact, the dress, with the large improved pimps, was
adapted to the most difficult undertakings; as had been
shown not only in the various submarine researches, but
in the numerous works of civil engineering, in the execu-
tion of which the dress with those improvements was em-
ployed, and also in the comparative trials in the Seine, at
Paris, in 1855, when, as an experiment, the diver wearing
Mr. Heinke's dress descended with a helmet, the front
glass of which had been accidentally fractured ; at the
works by managing the double valve, the driver was en-
abled to remain under water fully half an hour, and, as was
proved by examination, without admitting any water, as
the inside of the dress was quite dry. The advantages of
these arrangements were admitted by all the competitors
at Paris, and a first-class medal was awarded to Mr. E.
Heinle° and also to Mr. Siebe for the several improvements
they had introduced into divine apparatus generally.
In the discussion, after exhibitieg and describing the
various modifications suggested by Deane, who generally
used the open helmet, fulthough under certain circum-
stances it had os found dangerous, the improvements in-
troduced by Siebe and by Heinko were fully described.
Both apparatus were spoken of as having been employed
with complete success, although each system had, of course,
its partisans. It was argued, for instance, with respect to
the double valve in the front, that it might cause a diver
to'ascond too rapidly through the water, and incur the
risk of bursting the dress, or of striking the man's body
against the bottom of the boat; but, on the other hand, it
was shown that, by a judicious use of the valve, the
diver could ascend as gradually as he wished to do, and
in the case of a front glass being broken under water, at
the Westminstcr-bridge works, the man, by closing the
valve, kept the water out of the dress, and came safely to
the surface ; whereas, when in a submarine duel between
two divers at Spithead, the glass of one of their helmets
was fractured, there was considerable difficulty in hauling
him to the surface sufficiently quickly to save his lite.
Diving apparatus, when made like those exhibited, were
spoken of as being now used with such facility that no
dock, nor even any screw steam-vessel, should he without
them. They were now to be found on board almost all the
arge ships in the Royal navy.
It was contended that the pressure, stated to be felt at
considerable depths, could net exist, as the air being
pumped in under a corresponding pressure, preserved the
equilibrium. The ordinary outlet valve at the back of the
helmet was a measure of precaution, but, in conjunction
with the front valve under the command of the diver, was
admitted to be valuable.
An account was given of the procesdiegs in destroying
the remains of the Royal George, in which Siebe's appara-
tus was chiefly used. It was argued that the modifications
mentioned were net improvements ; but, on the other
hand, it was contended that everything must be an im-
Immanent whereby the safety, the comfort, or.the efacienoy