Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1897-09-19

PEELED by electricity Attached to 1t
at the rear are several small cars, into
which can be loaded the treasure that
is found.
The boat when getting ready for
action lies on the surface of the sea
Inside it are six people, captain and
engineer and four divers. When the
location of the treasure is known the
boat is lowered directly upon the spot.
This is done by means of large tanks
of water which are taken aboard.
Very heavy weights are then dropped
to the bed of the ocean, after which
the ropes attached to the weights are
wound into the boat and the boat is
thus drawn downward, slowly but
surely. When it reaches the bed Of
the ocean the weights can be taken
on board, and in case of a miscalcula-
ton the boat can be set going like a
locomotive until it reaches the scene
of the wreck.
A very novel feature in the boat is
the door by which the divers go back
and forth. 1t is in the middle cham
Der and it opens downward. By piece
of mechanism the door cannot be OPP
ened until the air in the room is of the
same pressure as the water outside.
This is shown by a gauge. The door
is then opened and no water falls into
the boat.
To illustrate this very simply, in
vert tumber and press it downward
in a pan of water. No water will en-
ter the glass, no matter how deep it
may be placed under the surface.
The divers can go back and forth
into this room at their convenience,
working all day and coming in to rest
as they please, they suffering no incon-
venience. When they have finished,
the outside door is closed and the air in
the room is changed.
The arrangement for air is also a
very ingenious one. In the engine
room there are storage tanks in which
| the air is compressed seventy times
natural density. This compressed air
| is let out to the living rooms in the
boat and the foul air, as it sinks. is
pumped out. This keeps the atmos-
| phere perfectly fresh, and the divers
| can remain in water for weeks at a
time. One of the features of the ArgO-
naut is that she can descend to a depth
| OF 300 feet and can sink and rise rapid
| ly and perfectly This takes her down
| beyond the depth to which any diver
has yet been able to go. Seventy-fiVe
| feet is very deep for diver, and below
that the pressure of the water is so
| great that it brushes him. but the Ar
gonaut will experience no difficulty at
| depth of 300 feet, for her hull is built
of steel and so strongly rugged that ii
Wlthstands a pressure of 100 pounds
to the square inch, which is the weight
at the depth of 300 feet below the sur
! face.
When running on the bottom of the
| ocean the spiked wheels in the front sink
into the sand and go rapidly along. pro-
| PEELED by the electric motor The wheel
at the back is to support the larger
weight of the craft aft On each side
there are windows out of which the div
ers can watch, and in the top there is a
turret, from which the searchlight can he
directed and a lookout kept for obstacles
In the bow of the strange vessel there
I will be a powerful searchlight. which will
| send its rays through the Water long
distance ahead. BY means of this the
treasure can be located and wrecks avoid
| ed
When near the land. such as in the wor,-
at Asbury Park, the vessel, instead of ris-
ing to the surface, will run up on the
! beach, bringing its little train of cars
! behind it. In going down it will return
in the same Way, which is less expensive
! than the other way of sinking itself.
When all the sunken treasure has been
| recovered, it is expected that the Argo-
naut will busy itself searching for coral
ivory and beds of sponges. She will, of
course, take down scientific parties, too
! but her most favorable work will be the
/ bringing up Of ocean growths, for which
| there is always a demand
After she has found her treasure. her
way of loading it up is quite as unique as
| anything connected with her. This is
| done by means of a derrick. which is can