The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-17
Plan TO Raise and Repair the
Wrecked WarShip.
WHAT IT WOULD COST
QUARTER OF A. MILLION IN
CASH.
And one-third of the Appraised
Value OF the vessel-Plan Is to
Use Pneumatic Caissons, Attached
to Chains, Which VIII Lift the
Vessel Out of the Mud.

New York, Dec. ia dispatch to the
Tribune from Washington says: The
navy department has. not abandoned
the hope of rescuing the Maine from
Havana harbor and bringing the wreck
back to this country for rehabilitation,
nor does it seem likely, from the inter-
est taken by responsible wrecking ex-
pertS, that the Cristobal Colon will be
permitted to pound to pieces on the
shore west of Santiago. The board of
construction has under consideration a
formal proposition for the salvage of
both these vessels and their delivery at
New York, or such other port in the
United States as the government might
select, but no company will be allowed
TO begin operations on the vessel until
q comparison can be made between the
offers from several trustworthy con-
Germs.
One offer under consideration comes
from some associated engineers in
New York, who have ample capital
and who easily convinced the board of
the feasibility of their project from an
engineering point of view. Their orig
1nal terms-which are, however, sub
Ject to modification-contem the
payment by the government of $25O,OOO
cash in the case of the Maine, and ST.,
their delivery at the New York or Nor
folk navy yard, in addition to one
third of the appraised value of these
vessels on their arrival, the valuation
to be made by a board of arbitrator.
The uncertainty as to the precise
amount of remuneration involved in
this proposition is not attractive to the
naval officials, who will insist on stipu-
lating the exact sum to be paid by the
n a Xya ora hAfArh a
tract is signed.
The method of raising the vessels to
be used by the engineers who appeared
before the board, is extremely simple.
Pneumatic caiSSonS, attached to chains
passed underneath the vessels, through
channels of alternating jets of water
and compressed air, constitute the lift
ing power. These channels will be of
sufficient size to enable a diver to pass
under the vessel with messenger lines.
AS soon as the chains are hauled
through and made fast to the sides or
deck of the vessel, the excavations will
be filed up by the process by which
they were made, to prevent the vessel
from settling. Experience has sh IN
that ten or twelve such channels will
not cause a heavily loaded vessel TO
sink more than six inches in very soft
material.
To effect the release of a vessel sit
uated like the Maine, in tenacious har-
Dor deposits jets of compressed air
viii be sent along the keel Simultan-
eously with the introduction of air into
the caissons. The caisSons are uniform
in size, having a buoying or lifting eff
fort of thirty tons each, the weight of
the vessel and its contents determin-
ing the number required to raise it.
Their size and weight admit of these
caissons being easily handled in the
water by the divers alone, and their
distribution, together with the automatic
valves with which they are provided,
make it possible to exert q uniform
force on all parts of the vessel. The
danger of rupture from undue pressure
due to depth under water or other
causes or the danger of breaking air
hose, is wholly obviated by the auto
matte valves. The caissons are ar
ranged in series and greater or less
power, as circumstances require, may
be exerted at any point. The system is
declared to afford complete control Of
the wreck and when the water is ex-
PEELED from the caissons, the vessel is
lifted to the surface in a single opera
ton It is asserted that with these
caissons the Cristobal Colon can be
raised and righted, even in a sea way.
IN the case of the Maine, it is in
tended to cut away the forward por-
ton of the hull, which was destroyed
by the explosion, and after listing the
uninjured portion of the vessel, to build
a bu.khead and false bow to fill the
opening.