The Nome daily nugget., 1910-09-16
O'ROURKE ABOUT READY
To RAISE THE MAINE
Nuggets Special Service.

Nuggets Special Service.
HAVANA. Sept 15.-John 0'Rourke
who is considered one Of the greatest
engineers for raising sunken vessels
from the bottom Of the ocean. has
about completed his work of survey
ing the wreck of the Maine here In
The harbor which prccipitated the war
between the United States aud Spain
In 1898.
At the last session Of Congress an
appropriation was made for raising
the wreck and extracting many of the
bodies who are still imprisoned in the
hull as it lies on the soft sandy bo;
tom Of the harbor.
The following is taken from the
Scientific American Of August %
which describes in fun the method tn
he employed:
The appropriation by Congress OF
100000 for the raising the wreck Of
the Maine in Havana harbor. and the
opinion rendered by the acting attor-
ney general that il is the duty of the
secretary Of war To undertake the
work. make It certain that. If the task
is within the compass of modern en-
gineering. the wreck of the ship will
be raised and the entombed bodies of
the sailors. who We're lost over a dozen
years ago. will be given honorable
burial in the national cemetery at Ar
lington.
on the front page Of this issue we
illustrate practical method by which
1t Is proposed tn do this work The
plan was worked out by John F.
o'Rourkc president Of the oRourke
Engineering Construction Company.
Who has submitted the proposal to
Acting Secretary Of War Oliver in a
letter which describes fully the meth
Oh by which the work would he done.
briefly stated. the plan contemplates
the building Of heavy pile Wharves
along each side of the wreck and the
sinking between the wharves and the
ship Of pneumatic caissons. Heavy
steel cables would be slung underneath
the ships bottom and. by means 81
powerful Jacks carried upon the cais-
sons the wreck would be lifted clear
of the water
If the o'Rourke method he adopted
the first operation will be to construct.
parallel with the sides of the ship and
about twenty feet therefrom. two ordi-
nary pile wharves Then. I'm the space
between the wharves and the ship.
twelve pneumatic caissons. of which
there will he six on each side. will be
sunk by the ordinary methods to a
depth of about ten feet below the bot
tom of the Maine. At every four feet
along the caissons will be erected a
stout A-frame, strongly braced and
guyed, with double columns. which will
he built up about thirty. feet and will
be finished at the top with a massive
casting carrying a screw jack Of at
least one hundred tons capacity. At
each pair of opposite frames will be
pair Of steel cables of different sizes,
the cables on one side being of about
two hundred tons capacity. and the
other on the opposite framework, be-
ing a small three quarter inch hauling
cable. These cables will be carried
down outside the caissons and under
meath their cutting edges. the ends be
ing coiled i'm the air chambers before
the sinking is begun
After the caissons have been sunk
to the required depth, a small pipe
will be pushed horizontally through
the mud from one air chamber to the
one on the opposite side of the wreck
Through this pipe the end of the small
cable will be passed to the opposite
air chamber; after which the pipe will
be pulled back into that air chamber
over the end of the cable. leaving II