Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1854-09-15
From the Buffalo Democrat of August E
A Live Misunderstanding of the Steam Frig"te
Missouri Gibraltar.

From the Buffalo Democrat OF August zz'
A Live Yankee-Raising of the Steam Frigate
Missouri at Gibraltar.
The United States steam frigate Missouri was burn
ed and sank in Gibraltar harbor, on the 23d OF Aug
ust, l843. She careened she went down, and lay
ing upon her beam ends, presented one OF her shatte
upward, very near the surface OF the wafer. This
mass of iron was nineteen inches in diameter, and OF
offered dangerous obstruction to the navlga-
ton of the Bay. The existence moreover of so vast
body as the sunken frigate at the bOttom of har
Dor in which the tide ebbed and flowed, and strong
currents continually shifted the sand, not to be
tolerated in English port, important to the COM
mercial and war marine of Britain was Gibraltar
The British Government accordingly presented the
case to ours at Washington, and requested us to re-
move the obstruction. We agreed tN@ ~.
The British Secretary conceived the job TO be d
very bad one, kindly recommended to our Govern
ment very suitable engineers for the work, Messrs
Low and Marshall These gentlemen had acquired
battle ship, the Royal George, which sank sud
denly at Spithead, and carried down with her hun
dreds upon hundreds Of men and women Our navy
department employed these engineers to raise the
Missouri, They went to Gibralter, and worked and
strained faithfully, and for three long years, at the
noble hulk under water-and then reported to the
Department al Washington, that the Missouri could
not be raised by human means. They abandoned
the enterprise and returned to England
The necessities of the induced Mr.. Webster
TO take hold of the matter, and find man who would
free Gibrater of that obstruction He lighted Jno
r. Gowen, of Boston. This gentleman's documen
tary title to the character of submarine engineer of
eminence, was altogether in the certificate of his
birth as Yankee, to be found in his fathers family
Bible. He had no parchments, sheepskins, ass
skins, nor other skin dip pomas, 10 show Mr. Webster
but when asked by the great Secretary if he could
move the wreck of the frgae, she lay there, in Al
feet of water, he said that he could When asked if
he would enter into $4,000 bonds for the perform
ance of contract TO raise her. he said he would
When asked if he would bind himself 10 have every
stick of the gate out of the way within three years.
he said he would bind himself to accomplish it with
in six months Webster had found his man. A con-
tract was immediately made.
Mr.. Gowen was already equipped with his invalu
able submarine armor. The removing apparatus re-
mained for him to construct On rejecting, he dec-
ded to blow the frgate to pieces and lift and
the fragments in detail.
The case, full inquiry and investigation, proved
10 be of peculiar difficulty. The sand had accu
mulated upon the wreck II was fifteen feet over her.
Moreover, the English Engineers had hurt the job
and made it much more difficult, by using vast guam
titles of powder at random among the engines and
iron work. They had twisted and tangled up the
machinery badly. Above the Is feet of accumulated
sand was depth of 26 feet of water 10 work
through.
Mr.. Gowen devised metal cases, which, we be-
lieye he afterwards patented, in his charges
Of powder, and which, of course, had to be placed
under the frigae's bottom, and through that feet
OF sand These of cast iron, 6 feet long,
ii inches diameter, and held charge of $50 pounds
Of powder. Al the conicle end large thread
like that about post augur cast to the case, and
to be used in boring into the sand with an augur.
This lower enG was cast in chill and was so hard
and strong, that il stood in instance the test of
being bored through McAdam street in Baltimore,
six feet into the earth Mr. Gowen took out with
him "a of these iron powder cylinders He used on
IV Of thnno how do fOOf1 rIrl he If
souri's hull. His divers descended in their armor
pointed the cylinders properly-these turned by
shafts worked from above, and when arrived under
the vessels bo1tom were fired by electric battery
The great quantity Of $4,000 pounds of powder
was consumed in the work OF this full two thirds
were used in blowing off the iron centres and arms
from the shafts, She side wheel steamer, and
had upon each OF The outbOard shafts 96 iron arms
which weighed $50 pounds Il piece. To break up
this complicated mass of powerful iron work, and
get it detached, and reduced to be lifted, was
really the labor Yankee ocean engineer had to
DO. This part OF the job it Was, that the English
engineers had fooled with and injured But Mr.
Gowen knocked shafts, arms, centres, braces and
bolts, right and left down there Ill feet below his
hand, and took up and carried away the great steam
er to the uttefmost stick and the last visible spike
Nothing was left for the sand TO form bar upon, and
in five months from the day Mr.. Gowen began work
he iully completed and performed his contract
lie raised about 600 tons of iron, and some 800
tons OF oysters that had grown to the iron. 1t is in
terestng to know that the oysters that grew next to
the copper or upon "copper" were poisonous. Three
men IN Gibraltar died from having eaten them. The
iron, OF course, WAS converted into pumbago, by the
action OF the sea waller. In The heavy pieces this
action extended into the depth OF inch Many
pieces were cut out entirely by the salt, few
threads OF resisting metal, running lengthwse, and
looking like the large fbres OF cocoanut husks. The
iron Was mostly worthless
The management of MIR. Gowens submarine armor
was so perfect that not an accident happened
OF his divers in all this great work and without
any INCONVENIENCE the could remain under water
Tor the space of twelve hours
Can anything better illustrate the Yankee re-
source. the Yankee energy. the Yankee confidence,
than this hastily sketched history of the removal Of
the wreck of The Missouri! We think not The
gentleman who without dill plomas thus teach les
sons in the great ait of submarine engineering to the
graduates of the Royal Woolwich College. il now in
this city closing up his accounts with the steamer
Erie. whose remains by his agency have lately been
lifted from the bottom Of Lake ard brought into
the Buffalo harbor.
The New Remedy for Yellow Fever.
The Augusta Chronicle y Seminal of yesterday
contains communication signed r., from which we
make the follwIng extract:
The Savannah Eporgian Gf Sunday morninO cnn.