New-York tribune., 1908-03-22

for instance Here was d fighting monster
mounting s1xtV-Seven-tOn guns tore and ait
She ran on the Perero Rect of the Spanish
coast and was pierced through with great
limestone rocks These were inspected crItl-
cally bV the surgeons and with marvellous
adroitness small charges of dynamite were ex-
ploded under them without lnJurlng the vessel
Four hundred cubic feet OF rock was puiverlzed
by blasting inside the hull and then great
shields were fitted over gaping wounds IN the
battlc-hip'S flank Next. the pTOdIgouS pumps
were set a-throbbing. and her Savior~ beheIi
with triumph the floating fortress rising again
on the crest Of the waves as though She had
never been injured.
The ram Of her towering sister. the An5On.
tore a great hole in the Italian enIgrauJ snip
Utopia Genoa to New York. and she sank IN
Sixtv-seven feet of water IN the dead ot the
night dragging down with her Il great number
of unfortunates Who were looking forward 70
the Land OF Liberty. Her position was serious
menace to navigation IN Gibraltar Bay, So she
had to be killed or cured. The latter Was
thought impossible Not only was the rent
enormous, but racing currents threatened any
salvage work Undeterred by all difficulties,
however, the tree lanCes OF the sea came tor
ward with their armies of heimeted divers. and
built monstrouS cotferdam. the full length ot
the stricken ship. This meant practically the
extension Of the Utopla's hull upward from the
deck to the water level
When this was dOne.-aS It was, IN spite OF
Swirling tides and dangerous currentS.-down
went the divers TO patch the gaping holes
and then q dozen twelve-Inch centrifugal
pumps went to work In less than an hour
four thousand tons of water was literally pulled
out of the COtterdam. which instantly began
to exert an enormous upward hit. As the
Utopia rose. she was towed shOrewdrd, beaChed
at length. and temporarily overhauled to be
towed later to Glasgow and handed over 10 her
owners, with all the pomp and circumstance
of Il real triumph In maritime surgery
But there are many cases where the stricken
ship is past all hope. and her huge. inert car
CaSS lies a sinister menanCe 10 all traffic on the
high seas. In such event the surgeons are To
the fore also: for the task of ending grey
hound or tramp Is often actually more delicate
and perilous than nendlng one. In the fair
way of the Thames they Will not soon forget
the famous Triple wreck-aS strange 4 chapter
of accidents as ever that highway saw First
of all the huge steamer Newburn ran INTO the
Winston at ThameS Haven during a dense
fog The latter sank at once. Guard boats
fused around both wrecks wheeling and
blowing their sirens. Vet IN spite OF all pre-
cautions. along came the stately Erasmus Vii
son. and within twenty minutes of the first
catastrophe drove her towering steel bows
right through the wounded New burn. cutting
her clean in two. Here, surely the ship doc
tors could do little save gather up the pieces.
One-hdlt of the twice smItten Ncwburn was
hastily sold for seVcntV-tive dollars, and the
other for three hundred and Seventv-tIve dol
lars four hundred and fifty dollars for the lot
Il cheap price for an ocean going ship The
sunken Winston brought forty-tve hundred
dollars; and 1t cost twice that 10 dock
and repair the third actor in this curious trag-
edY.
The Wick Bay too, needed only the c1np ie
grace from the surgeon of ships. For four Years
she lay in thirty feet of mud and defed all
attempts to shift her and when at last She