The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1914-09-04
Empress Of Ireland May
Give Up Dead.
Diving Bell May Be Used To Has.
ten Huge And Diff.
cult Task.

Stad in the st. Lawrence, VIII neNe
float again. The owners of the shit
have abandoned her to the under
writer's. and the best the latter hop,
to do is to recover certain particu
larry valuable parts of her cargo
After that the li.000-ton liner viii
probably be dynamited. The Yanke,
Salvage Association has been award
/ ed contracts for retaining tbs
bullion aboard, saving the mail.
and recovering as many as possible
OF the bodies held within the hull.
The work will be extremely diff.
ficult. Where the Empress of Ireland
lies in the outer reach of the St
Lawrence river the water has a min
imum depth of 1875 feet. At high
tide the stream is sixteen feet deep
er and the current is very strong
when the tide is in full swing, max
ing toward the flood or the ebb. At
best. with weather conditions favor
ing, diving operations can be carried
on only during the hour of slack
water between the shifting tides.
After the diver has reached the
upturned hull of the Empress OF
Ireland only the lesser part of his
Ireland only the lesser part of his
undertaking is accomplished. Pa
tiently, hole by hole, he must drill
perforations around a circle big
enough for him to pass through
freely and large enough likewise for
the bags of mail and the boxes OF
bullion to be hoisted out afterward.
With the opening cut in the skin
of the ship, then this operation
must be repeated at each of the in
tervening bulkheads, of which there
are four, While there is now availa-
BILE an electrically driven subma-
rine drill, still the driver cannot
bore many holes at each submer-
gence, for the longest time available
is a scant hour at the most during
the slack between tides. At this rate
the salyors estimate that il will take
anywhere from five to six weeks to
complete the work planned.
Difficult as the recovery of the
mail and the bullion is likely to
prove, there is harder work ahead OF
the salvors in retaining the bodies.
Therefore it is possible the salvors
will employ an apparatus but little
known commercially over here.
This is the diving bell. In principle
it is counterpart of an inverted tum.
bier submerged and filled with COM
pressed air, the air pressure exact
ly balancing that of the enveloped
water. Diving bells made of steel
and big enough tohold several work.
men really submarine caissons-
make it possible to do quickly tasks
that would be dragged along for
weeks where divers alone are en-
ployed.
The difference of procedure is
easily explained. The diving bell is
a structure of heavy steel and has
ballast tanks into which water can
be let in order to make it certain
that the bell will sink when COM
pletely filled with air under suitable
pressure. Into this bottomless cham
Der go the workmen, standing or
sitting upon narrow platforms, and
thus they reach the bottom with
out recourse TO diving dress and, ac-
cordingly have the utmost freedom
of movement. They are not hamp-
cred by life lines and air hose, nor
weighted down by great leaden SOL
ed shoes.
The diving bell is lighted by cleo
tricity and connected by telephone
with the people at the surface. The
steel compartment has shelves for
AOihlA5 a 'diltlg VI tOOlS, anu 81
equipped the worker would take but
a short while to cut right through
the Empress of Ireland.
But the diving bell would also
help the divers because instead of
using the boats at the surface for
tenders they could use the diving
bell as base Corporations, and from
that point, sheltered from the
sweep of the tide, with short lengths
Of air hose and life line. could reach
into the body of the liner with a
minimum of danger and under con-
ditions promising a far quicker ac-
OF their duties.
The largest type of diving bell is
a very different submarine apparatus
from that employed some years ago.
To-day. thanks to the Investigations
Of DR.. Leonard Hill. F. II. s.. the
peculiar peril OF the diving bell has
been eliminated. In years gone by
when men finished their work or
when their shift was ended the hell