The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-01-06
NOVEL SCHEME OF wREcKING
1t Is Proposed to Raise Wrecks with
Pair of Huge Calipers.
New York sun

New York sun
The sinking OF the West India fruit
err Atlas off the foot of Barclay street.
right at the mouth OF the Hoboken
ferry-slip, and. therefore. IN q place
10 prove the greatest possible ohstruc-
ton 70 North river navigation, set the
inventors to work TO devise new means
for lifting ships sunk in ike situations.
The thing that IS wanted is some sort
OF floating dock that can be towsd to
tie location OF the wreck and get it
out of the way quickly.
The present method OF lifting such
a ship is simple and sure, bat very
slow. Barges are anchored over the
wreck and securely moored. Then
divers go down, and, after removing
the matches. fasten tackles to the arti-
cles that make up the cargo, and men
on the barges hoist the cargo up.
When she is empty they patch up the
as tight as may he; but when il Is
considered that the divers are work
ing in absolute darkness, and that
they can work only when the tidal
current is slack, one can imagine the
time necessary to perform such job.
However, in spite OF the obstacles, the
The big chains must be drawn under
the hulk, and the divers consider il
great luck, If, as in the case of the
Atlas of Barclay street, the masts re-
main upright. so as not to interfere
with the work of sweeping the chains
under the vessel. The chains are lei
TO the barges above and on each side
of the ship, where they are connected
with hydraulic lifts. Then the matches
of the hulk are secured again, and q
big air pump is connected with the
hull, and the water Is forced out as the
air is pumped in, the value of this part
of the work depending on the condi-
ton OF the hull and lis capacity to
hold air. OF course the air gives the
wreck buOyancy The air pump is
kept running and the hydraulic lifts
are set TO work, and link at 4 time,
the hulk is raised out of the mud and
finally clear OF the bottom. Then the
tugs tow the barges with the big hulk
suspended between them away to
some part of the harbor where they
can, without interfering with naviga-
ton, complete the patching up of the
hull SO as to float her and get her into
a drydock for permanent repairs.
The Atlas was sunk in place which
is not the worst in The harbor, though
bad enough. The company owning
the latest and best appliances in the
world for the work has hold of her.
The cargo was not OF a sort 70 inter
fere with the work much, and vet the
company would not say that she
could be got out of the way in less
than four weeks.
Among the men who applied to the
Atlas Company was one who had
bottomlesS dock scheme for lifting
ships. He meant to arrange lot of
huge timber boxes in the form of a
rectangle above the wreck, the open
space inside the rectangle being large
enough to admit the snip when the
rectangle was sunk to the bottom
around it. The big boxes were to be
almost high enough to reach the sur
face, even when sunk to the bottom,
though such a great size was not
I necessary, nor would they ordinarily
be sunk clear to the bottom. At the
interval Of p or 30 feet along the
length OF the open space he was to
place strong iron giTders. reach
ing across the open space and
resting on top of the big
I boxes. From each beam or girder
q huge pair of steel tongs or caiipers
was To be suspended, so that when the
/ big bottomless was sunk the calipers
would inclose the hun of the wreck.
Then the upper ends of the caliper>
We're to be brought together by screws
until the lower ends embraced the
( hull.
Itwould then only be. necessary to
pump the water out OF the big boxes
( composing the dock and they would
I lit the wreck As clamshell dredger
I lifts q ton of mud.
y ship looks like pretty big weight
/ 10 lift with even ten pairs of the hugest
T tongs, but, after all, the Atlas and her
cargo did not weigh 200 tons even
when weighed out Of water OF course,
under water she weighs very much
/ less. The inventor says that the
/ weight of his dock would sink the cal
ipers into the mud until they were
deep enough 10 meet beneath the
keel OF the ship, OF even cross each
other beneath it rs the screws drew
the upper ends together. Tie would
save the time required to discharge
the cargo, the time for patching the
hull and the work of pumping air
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