The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-07

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where every other means has failed II
was tried n 1905 on the great 1000
ton BavArfan. which went onto the
rocks IN st. LAwrence river, and what
the saivors could not 40 with an expen-
diture Of $15o,000 the gigantic air bnb-
BILE was abs to a.. Il was next tested
on the s.ooo-ton Mount Temple. and y
Eneiisn crufssr GLADIATOR and the
american gunboat Yankee with equal
success aithopxh the Yankee went
down again owing to coliision with
one Of the tugs towing her. Now II To-
proposed to sdd tbs Republic TO the
list OF convsrtsd an bubbies In this
case II Il expected that eisctro-rnagnets
Will aid In the work.
The air bubble method Of salvage II
perhaps the cheapest vet found. The
first thing to " .lons Il for divers TO
50 down and make the hold alright,
leaving only room for the water to get
out. Then Etgantfc cir pumps are set
to work, pumps that are sonte million
times larger than bicycle pump.
There are vaives just like there are
In the bicycle tire. which will admit
the air but will not allow u to escape.
AZ the air 10 forced into the hold the.
water must get out. Through series
OF trap doors the men who are accus-
toned to working under compressed
air---corresponding To- the 'Sandhogs"
In sub-aqusous tunne1s--get DOWN into
the hold and brace the ship In every
conceivable way 80 that Il can with
stand the tremendous strain that IL to-
be put upon 1t. II the Job Il NOT dono
right It will act just Hike q defective
pneumatic tire. But Il II Is done right
there win be no trouble when ell the
water Is forced out by the air that "a
pumped In. the ship will ut once right
herself. just AZ Q hollow rubber bali
will rise to the top Of the water, and
the towing to a haven OF refuge begins.
II 10 a terrible strain on the new
type OF wrecker. He knows not the
moment storm may blow up and find
him down in the hold with q dozen
trap-doors between him and the top Of
the water There are Telephones from
the wreeking tugs to the Interior. and
. lookout IL always stationed above
watching Tor the possible storm. But
even with this precAution there IL stilI
many q race with death to the top Of
the water.
The first employment OF the COM
pressed air system OF steamship rails
ing was made many years ago. A
small schooner had run on she rocks.
After many efforts to set her off she
was abandoned--or rather sold to an
enterprising adventures. He bought d
lot OF empty coal.oil barrels ana when
the tide was low filled the hold with
them. first having taken care to have
each one closed at tina bunR. He shored
them down well so that they could not
shift. and when the tide next came
along II lifted the schooner clear of the
rocks The ingenuity Of this man net.
ted him enough to buy good farm.
The next step in the direction of
compressed anr salvage as II fs con-
ducted today was the invention of the
camel" This 10 q large iron or steel
barrel often q hundred feet In length
BIZ as much ae ten feet IN diameter.
Several Of these scameis' are fastened
% the aide Of the weasel, at low tide.
e u - on the rocks, or At any time
X Il Is below, the surface The water
10 then forced out Of them. ana their
lifting power becomes equal to the
differences between their weight ana
the weight OF the water they dispiaoe,
Whaeh 10 many ta1s.s-s.s Sex is ~ \ *
One OF the most unusual cases OF
successfnI salvage with coinpgessed air
hnppened IN the case Of the Gladiator,
which was sunk n . collision with the
iator 10 . rathsr antiquated British
cruiser, but It was desirable TO raise
her. she had sunk IN q way that
made her lay on Her side. The fsrst
problem was to right her. Heavy
apparatus IN the shape OF steam
winches and other equipment was set
Up In ccncrete beds ON the shore, and
after many o hawser had been parted
they were finally stccessfui IN getting
eier on an even keel. Then came the
work Of the divers. the sardhoRss Ana
the air pumps. II was not long be-
fore the tale was toId. ana the CLAD
iator. sadly disngured. but sfiIl in the
game, rose to the surface and waa
successfully towed into port.
The st. Paul. which ran down. the
Gladiator, has not always gone scot
Tree Some thirteen years. ago she
was on the beach herself. on the New
Jersey coast. The task OF getting her
afioat again was placed IN the handa
o. Capt. Israel Merritt, OF the great
Merrift-Chapnaan firm. 1t is said that
this was the last piece 81 work ~
which Captain Merritt ever took uers
sonai charge. He has been ore az
the most successful saivors the world
has ever produced. ana MIS- shinx san
many seas In their work OF rescuing
shipping.
Oftentimes wrecksrs are put 70 their
wits end to solve the unexpectoa prob.
sstns tnat arise Some years ago tho
milwaukee, ran onto the rocks or inc
English coast. II was soon found fhat
to set the vessel of intact was out
OF the question. The forward part
was so damaged as TO. be practically
worthless so they built heavy bulk-
heads across stha beam amidships, dy-
namited the forward part away and
lowed the after part safe to morn.
where q new forward portion was built
onto II. The same thing, almost, han
pensd with the seuvic, another Iarge
vessel In ita anRa hath ~ - -tr... - =