The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-09-19
WRECKERS.
MEN WHOSE BUSINESS IS RAIS-
ING SUNKEN SHIPS.
Their Tools Are Powerful Tug Boats,
Large Pontoons, Immense Iron
Cables and a Massive
Derrick.

\N/ tance from the shore In
Y Y several fathoms of water,
and the waves conceal her,
it may seem impossible to some of our
readers that she can ever be aoated
again; but if she rests upon a firm
sandy bottom, without rocks, and the
weather is fair enough for a time to
give the wreckers an opportunity, it
is even probable that she can be
brought into port.
In Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Norfolk and New Orleans,
large firms are established whose
special business it is to send assistance
to distressed vessels and to save the
cargo if the vessels themselves cannot
be prevented from becoming total
wrecks; and these firms are known as
wreckers
When a. vessel is announced to be
ashore or sunk, the owners usually
apply to the wreckers, and make
bargain with them that they shall re-
ceive certain proportion of her value
if they save her, and the wreckers
then proceed to the scene of the acci-
dent, taking with them powerful tug
boats, large pontoons, immense iron
cables and massive derrick.
Perhaps only the topmasts of the
wreck are visible when they reach it {;
but even though she is quite out of
sight, she is not given up if the sea is
calm and the wind favorable. One Of
the men puts a diving dress over his
suit of heavy fannels. The trousers
and jacket are made of India rubber
cloth, fitting close to the ankles,
wrists and across the chest, which is
further protected by breastplate. A
copper helmet with glass face is used
for covering the head, and is screwed
on to tho breastplate. One end Of a
coil of strongrubber tubing is attached
to the back of the helmet, to the out
side of which a running cord is also
attached and continued down the side
of the dress to the Divers right hand,
where he can use it for signaling his
assistants when he is beneath the sur
face. His boots have leaden soles
weighing about twenty-eight pounds {;
and this, with the helmet, is sufficient
to allow his descent, four blocks Of
lead, weighing fifty pounds are slung
over his shoulders, and waterproof
bag containing hammer, chisel and
dirk-knife is fastened over his breast.
He is transferred from the steamer
that has brought him from the city to
small boat, which is rowed to spot
over the wreck, and short iron ladder
is put over the side, down which he
steps; and when the last rung is
reached he let's go and the water bub-
bles and sparkles over his head as he
sinks deeper and deeper.
The immersion of the diver is more
thrilling to spectator than it is to
him. The rubber coil attached to his
helmet at one end is attached at the
other to an air-pump, which sends him
all the breath he needs, and if the sup
ply is irregular, pull at the cord by
his right hand secures its adjustment.
He is not timid, and he knows that the
only thing he has to guard against is
nervousness, by which he might lose
his presence of mind. The fish dart
away from him at motion of his hand,
and even a shark is terrified by the ap-
partition of his strange globular he'll
met. he is careful not to approach
the wreck too suddenly, as the tangled
rigging and splinters might twist or
break the air pipe and signal line !;
when his feet touch the bottom he
looks behind, before and above him
before he advances an inch.
1t may be that the vessel has settled
low in the sand, that she is broken in
two, or that the hole in her bottom
cannot be repaired. But we will sup
pose that the circumstances are favor
able, that the sand is firm and the hull
in on easy position.
The diver signals to be hauled up,
makes his report, and in his next de-
scent he is accompanied by several
others, who help him to drag massive
chains of iron underneath the ship, at
the bow, at the stern and in the mid
die. This is tendious and exhaust
ing operation, which sometimes takes
many days, and when it is completed
the pontoons are towed into position
at each side of the ship.
The pontoons, simply described, are
hollow floats. They are oblong, built
of wood, and possess great buoyancy.
Some of them are over 100 feet long,
eighteen feet wide and fourteen feet
deep, but their size and the number
of them used depend on the length of
the vessel that is to be raised. Cir
cular tubes or wells extend through
them, and when the chains are Sc
cured underneath the ship the ends
are inserted in these wells by the div
ers, and drawn up through them by
hydraulic power. The chains thus form
a series of loops, like the common
swing of the playground, in which the
ship rests, and as they are shortened
by being drawn up through the wells
the ship lifts. The ship lifts if all be
well-if the chains do not part or some
other accident occur, but the wreck
ers need great patience, and some
times they see the labor of weeks un-
done in a minute.
We are presupposlng success, how
ever, and instead of sinking or cap
sizing, the vessel appears above the
bubbling water and between the pom
toons, which groan and tremble with