New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-09

years. and the scrap books Of the various COM
panies are veritable curiosity volumes. They
show ships in all kinds Of positions and c01di-
lions, with the surf beating over them or lying
partly sunk beside piers. with their tall spaTs
angling in the idle air. Wrecking tugs with
their powerful derricks. are shown singly COM
b!ned on either side of the sunken vessel. From
these derricks great chains carried down
Ger the null Of the wreck. bow and stern. by
divers and securely fastened under the keel Then
the engines are put t. work and the wreck Is
llfted bodily, the work OF pumping out the hull
proceeding she rises. once within reach. the
openings in the side or bottom are stopped up by
the divers working under the water or close TO
the line. and in the majority of instances when
the work is accomplished the wreck can go 10
the pier under her steam. at least Is
capable Of being towed. This has been the
repes teddy and with vessels which had seemed
beyond hope Of rescue from stOrm-swept beaches
THE PURITAN AND THE OREGON
A notable case coming close home. because Of
the local character of her voyaging, was that
Of tire Puritan. whose experience last fall in
the Sound Is fresh in memory She was sue
cessfully drawn off. and the amount involved
for salvage something like 1000. 600. The
worst instance with which tho wrockors had to
do was perhaps the lost Oregon The Merritt
Company had the task Of recoN erng or OF try
ing to .ecure her cargo. and in this il only
partly successful. Where the waters are not
too deep for the divers. or rot over forty
fathoms, 1t is possible TO accomplish a great
deal, providing the workmen are favored with
even weather Inside work. a harbor effort is
called. and outside work. as work outside har
Dor limits is designated. totally different
in character the former being fraught with
much less difficulty, owing largely 10 the less
chanEeahle conditions Of the water. The com
pany hoping to perform successful work must
have al its disposal a large fleet OF heavy wreck
ing steamers. each one equipped with large
steam pumps. having capacity OF anywhere
from thirty to sixty barrels OF water a
second There are also a feet Of well-cquippcd
sailing vessels and a number of heavy pom
toons. All the vessels are constructed with
deep draught, and are cmincntly seaWorthy
being capable of riding out a blow or breasting
a lee shore surf.
Modern tugs, like the Hustler for instance.
the giant of the Chapman Company. are
equipped with every modern device. The llus-
tier Is lighted throughout with electricity. and
the arrangements are so complete thst light
can be let down with a diver to the bottom OF
the ocean or river. thus aiding him materially
in the performance of an exceedingly difiicult
task He must inspect the interiors Of sunkcn
craft examine the hulls for openings to be
stopped before the work of raising can he com
pleted. and must arrange To patch these open
ings as the vessel is pumped out and rises
toward tho surface For use on the lofty der
ricks which tower above tho deck are immense
hawsers some OF them OF the lO-inch class. ana
steel hawsers for heavy resistance. such as
were needed in the case of the st Paul the
heavy steamers carry big crew of wreckers
and divers and supplies for three months If II
should be necessary to remain out so long.
Ordinarily. however. the men are cared for by
supply boats which visit them with timed
frequency. 1t is significant of the seriousness
Of the work that no intoxicating liquors are
permitted on board the wrecking boats
USE OF THE PONTOONS.
The pontoons are called into play where der
rcks and ordinary methods of lifting fail. A
series Of them IS run alongside or rather, along
the side lines Of a sunken wreck. Immense chains
are run down under the keel OF the recumbent
body and the ends fastened across the pontoons.
which have been sunk almost TO the water lever
by filing them with water, much on the pTin-
ciple followed in floating docks The chains
are made taut. and then the ponioons are
pumped out. the wreck rising as they regain their
buoyancy The limit reached they are filed once
more and the process is repeated until the null
is anOat between them. The most troublesome
case Of pontoon employment. possibly as po,n'ed
TO by experienced wreckers. was mat OF me NcIIs
City, which sunk In this harbor In February.
1881 She lay very deep, and the cargo was finally
removed, but in the mean time r 4na-ooa' SUNK
and lodged across her stern. This boat was nitt
raised Then the pOntoons were brought lh'o
play The ship was at the surface when the
chains were cut through by the sharp Keel ana
down went the whole affair to the bottom again
so that the work had to be begun all over Ia inc
end the wreckers successful SIX J. .1t'''"
were used in this instance. three Oh side.
To multiply instances H. simply - iep"dl mr. 'S
tory for the process Is pretty much IN" SAM. an
IL is 10 the creIi. - the companies hcle clEat'i
in the business that SO few losses have u be set
against them. The history Of II all runs back -
|
OF Underwriters, and the need Of improved iAciI-
tiles was emphasized by the loss on Eocka"ay
Beach OF the eniggant ships Bristol and Mexico
in 1896 To prevent loss or life was the M ~
serious consideration at that time nov, now
ever the iife-saving service has solved that
problem 70 nicely that disarms criticism.
The veteran Captain Israel 7. Merritt mas Dren
actively engaged in the work = rescue over since
and through the n:tics. II You ask The ON r!aIs
Of any of the wreckin2 companies Il they nave
ever lost a case. they will not hesitate foI an IN
slant Yes, they have lost cases ana some Oh
them under what appeared t. be peculiarly VeHa-
tious circumstances from the wTeokcrs point OF
view In every instance their reputation ana
pardonable pride are at stake. and they find de- +
light In absruse problems while il must be re-
membered that they gather no m0dlcum oi pleas
ure from the sad fact OF a wreck. II wrecks coud
be prevented. ii is certain they would rttlre 10 i
some other phase OF marine business. ana never /
enter complaint for the loss which means so
much suffering and loss 10 others OF iheir kind
The storm of Thursday recalled 10 the minus 81
the veteran wreckers the great blizzard 81 1879 |
At that time the basin Of the wreckerS OF Stape- /
ton was literally damned with shipwrecked yes
selS Ii was a harvest never to be forgotten /
Ships were tossed one against the othcr IKE 50 /
many cOrks and the fact that this last gaze was /
attended by warm air and rain instead OF cola !
and snow prevented a repetition or the disasters +
IF that memOra bic year.
KEEP THE STREETS CLEAN.