The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-11-19
SUCCESSFUL WIND BAGS.
Two Former Wichttans on the High Road
= Handsome Fortune.

| A few years ago there lived in this city
two brothers named Grant, mostly all o.
whose time was absorbed in some inven
tive scheme which caused their friends te
shake their heads as they passed them by
and mutter to themselves. poor fellows
they have got it bad" The scheme upon
which they were working was rather
AIRY" and nobody paid much attention
it, but on every occasion when they
were asked what they were trying to &C
complish, they courteously told the ques
toner they were contriyipg a patent to
raise sunken ships from the bottom of the
sea. Why this idea should enter the heads
of two Kansans, hundreds of miles away
from any sea, looked strange, and in
variably they were put down on the
mental tablets of their questioning friends
as a pair of cranks
Well, they worked on and worked on
till they had their scheme completed, and
then left for the state of Washington,
where they would have a better opportuni-
ty to demonstrate the value and practical
bility of their new device There, it seems.
they were regarded as crsnks also, by
,naratime men, but their opportunity
came at last and the result is taken from a
Washington exchange. By the way they
are brothers of Mrs. H. p Reed of this
City. Tie exchange in question says:
The Grant brothers have had chance to
demonstrate the practicabllity OF their
process of raising sunken vessels and it
has proven ii perfect success.
Their process is very simple and so diff
ferent from any other that has ever been
used that mariners and wreckerS have
been very skeptical about it. They insert
into the hold or between the decks of the
sunken vessel collaplsble canvass cylinders
aud then pump compressed air into them
and the vessel comes to the surface.
He laughs best who laughs last" was
what the Grant Brothers were saving yes
terday, when. conveyed by the American
tugs Coils, Pioneer and Mystic, the dis
ab!ed Premier steamed into Victoria har-
Dor, and made fast her lines at Il. 2. Rithet
& Co.'S inner wharf. On board the res
cued wreck were Captain John Irving,
manager of the c. z. n. Co, to whose
fleet the Premier belongs, Captain Struve
and Captain OBrien, the Premier's old
commander, and the successful tenderer
for the contract of raising her.
Five thousand dollars was what he
asked to float the ship and deliver her
either at the Tacoma or the Esquimault
dock. just about two weeks ago he was
tod TO 90 ahead-that his Offer was &C
cepted-snd be then enlisted the services
of the Grant Brothers Of Tacoma. rs sub
contractors. They proposed to practically
demonstrate that their collapsible canvas
cylinder were all that were claimed for
them, and all that other wreckers said they
were not.
The collapsible canvas air cylinders did
the work at last, and the Premier came up
at about 2 O'Clock Tuesday morning. She
WAS 1T cnce beached and the hole in her
side looked after. Then, her compart-
ments being all right, she was timbered
for the trip, and started for Victoria at
about O'Clock The run across was made
without accident, and we got here eight
hours later The ship will be docked as
soon MS possible for survey, and presuma-
bly, repear.
During the trip over" one of the Grant
Brothers said to News reporter this
morning, I'VE experimental with the
Premier and By letting out some of the
air submerged her deck. aud then by pump
ing more into her we brought her full up
out of the water in two minutes. The ex-
pertinent was perfect success, and we are
on the high road to wealth now. If we
can raise ship of 500 tons we can raise one
OF 5000"