The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1903-10-15
SHIPS No LONGER LOST.
SCIENCE HAS ROBBED THE SEA
OF MANY TERRoRs.

ls ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS En-
deaVors Attended by Heroic Deeds.
Saving from the sea has become al
most a science. It includes not only
the saving Of lives but the saving OF
property. The ship that goes down
and is heard of no more must sink
where 1t be beyond all human endeay-
or, or else the graphing hooks OF
salvage company will be reaching
down for it.
Ultimately, the chances are, the ship
will come to the top again, and will be
put In dry dock where repairs will
make 1t seaworthy, and II will set
forth to try the perils of the ocean
anew.
An account Of these prcperty-saving
endeavors is a relation Of all that is
heroic in sea life. A shipwreck is the
preliminary. Then come the salvage
companies, with their specially con.
structed boats, laden with all necessi-
ties, from divers to derricks.
What the salvage companies are
able to do for apparently ruined ships
is marvellous. Usually It is the salvage
company which undertakes the work
for the underwriters. The latter have
paid the insurance on the boat, and 1t
is to their interest to recover what
they can from the wreck
Ships cannot be raised from great
depths. One hundred and eighty feet
Is considered the utmost depth to
which diver can descent, on account
Of the pressure. At less distances the
work can be done without difficulty.
For that reason the reclaimed wrecks
usually are ships which have struck
on the rocks near the coast.
A typical case of raising vessel
was afforded by the Tina, which
struck a rock off the Scotch coast. The
boat settled In 80 feet of water. When
the attempt to raise it was made four
large pontoons were placed at the cor.
ners of the ship Each pair of pom.
toons was then connected by huge log
pines. Flexible steel hawsers, tested
to bear strain of 500 tons to the
| luIDt Mtlt UupGNu hiltANi Nh~S
wreck and fastened to the logs.
All necessary then was to wait for
the tide to rise and the wreck was
fioated, the work having been done at
low tide. The ship then was towed to
a shallow part Of the coat, repaired
and sent out to sea again.
At times a vessel seems too serious
ly damaged 10 be repaired after 1t has
been raised or taken from the rocks,
but this is seldom the case, The
Breckheld's entire keel was torn away
on the rocks, but the vessel was re-
paired thoroughly in dry dock, The
Aberfoyle had an enormous hole in its
bow, but was patched up and is now at
work again.
When Admiral Nelson's flagship, the
Foudroyant, stranded near Blackpool
Pier In 1897 efforts were made to save
It, but Il was found that the ship had
been damaged beyond repair, and
there was nothing to do but break 1t
up.
The Walter Bibby, powerful dredg-
er, presented a problem to the salvage
companies when. 1t sank in Leith har'
Dor. The boat settled down on rock
when the tide went out and broke its
back. For six months It lay there, an
immovable mass, on account OF the
hundreds of tons Of dredging gear.
Finally the keel was broken by dis
charge of dynamite, as the first step
toward retaining the vessel Then
the boat was broken into two sections
and the open ends we're closed with
bullSheads. The water was pumped
out and the sections came to the sur
face.
The after part, being the more
heavily laden, was the hardest with
which to deal Six times the water
was let in and the section resunk be
fore a balance sufficiently even could
be maintained to insure 1t against
turning over. The boat had been in
sured for $4,000, and 1t cost $25,OOC
to get the wreck up. .,.
Sometimes a vessel will be ground
ed in such manner that, although
the hull may be comparatively unin
iured, it will be necessary to break Il
up to recover anything. Such a YES
sell the Hosketh, was sold for $4,000
It lay to all seeming unchanged Il
any serious extent by the disaster, Blu
SO beached that 1t could not be go
OF. There was nothing to do but sci
the ship for scrap irqp, old coppe
and timber.
The story Of the Danmark is a thrill
ing illustration of the saving OF live
. at sea. In this case the property los
] was total. The accident which dis
1 abIed the Danmark took place 10
miles from land. The vessel, from