Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-28

wears corduroys or khaki. accordinE to the
sesson-sn innovation in dress that was
bitterly resented by the old-timers. and
said to Indicate that the wearer was a
pin h~ead'-snd writes NJ. f after his
name. Sometimes this cold-biooded. level
headed mining engineer comes from one
on the mining schools OF New York or
Boston. and sometimes from a similar in
stitutin IN the far west. but he comes with
q technical knowledge Of the qualifications
OF he earth and reads rocks as easily as
most people read a newspaper. Originally,
however. all mining engineers came from
Missouri. When King Luck sees a mining
engineer approaching he takes TO the tall
timber. The mining engineer is not in
fslllble. He makes mistakes. but most OF
his errors are on the side OF safety. II
his judgment at times has kept his capital
istic sponsor from making money through
the purchase and OPERATION Of properties
that prove later to be Of great value. II
more often prevents loss through the pur-
chase OF Improbable or worthless prop
critics.
This a%utocrat OF the modern mining world
has rendered valuable service to the public
by lessenlng the opportunities OF the wild
cat mining promoter. who flourished sue
cessfully in the old DAYS Of boom mining
camps. The wildcatter would have few
victims II the intended victim had the
common-sense foresight to appeal to the
mining engineer Of established reputation
and character.
The great feat which is the ambition cf
every diver to perform IL the recovery OF
treasure from the sunken ships The work
is we'll remunerated. and is a feather in
the cap OF any diver who carries It out
successfully.
Divers Great Risk. ,
Diver smetton. for instance. earned no
less than $4,000 by n plucky piece Of sal
wage work. He was the man chosen to
explore the wreck OF the Esmeralda,
which sank with $50. 900 aboard It. off
Gibraltar in 1875 feet Of water. Eight divers
had tried the job, but the depth was toe
great. smetton was accordingly offered IT,
and as an extra incentive was promised Il
per cent Of what ne could recover.
The intrepid diver found the vessel lylns
across a ~sandbank. He was obliged to use
a blasting charge to get at the hold, which
was choked by wreckage. Getting down
again after the explosion. ne reached the
hold. when the vessel suddenly broke IN
wv oAAh tAAltAAb FfNlA " II bCANiAAA "
40 feet of water. a depth at which a diver
can ordinarily work for only six minute
at a time. owing to the pressure.
As smetton fell a piece of timber fel
upon him. broke his life line and rendered
him unconscious. He lay for over an houI
at the bottom before his comrades man
aged to rescue him. Yet. not in the leas
daunted by his awful experience, he wen
down again the very next day and event
ually recovered 100000. When paid hi
share he abandoned his work and is nov
living happily in Palermo.
Another great achievement In this con
nection was the recovery OF $SO,O0 from
the Alphonso II by the famous diver
Alexander Lambert. perhaps the mos
courageous diver who ever lived. TIT
Alphonso lay off Port Gando, Grand Ca
nary. in nearly thirty fathoms Of water
and about a mile off shore. The treasur
lay in a room about 100 feet below tn
surface. Lambert had to work long an,
hard before he got both scuttles open, an,
so was able TO reach the magazine.
This task, performed at the incredible
depth Of 100 feet below the surface, 1
generally regarded as something unprec
edented in the history OF salvage. TIL
operations were persevered in for al.
months in the face OF Unforeseen Difficult
ties and complications. and box after bo
OF specie was safely sent up by the dsunt
less diver. Lambert gave value for ever
cent OF the $40 ono which ne received 70
his fine Observation-Disclosures Sun.