Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-03-29

i
/ Lets drop the drag and sweep
| while we're falling back" suggested
Fred Buss, who occupies the position
of executive officer on the, rescue
dredse.
i The suggestion was a good one and
/ was at once carried out. Hardly had
the chain been lowered and the dredge
begun to move astern when the wire
cables were seen to. laughter. A turn
of the drum showed a big strain, and
everyone woke to the fact that the
fish had been hooked. ''>. 80.
1t was surmised that the chain had
caught under either the bow or the
! stern of the F-4, and orders were given
to hold everything, and not slack up
on the cables, the danger being that
the chain might slip off the oblong
body of the vessel The problem was
| to get another bride round the catch
from the other end, bow or stern
whichever It happened TO be.
AS a matter Of fact, even after the
ancient anchor was discovered yester-
day morning by Agraz, some OF the
officers and men engaged In the work
were by no means sure that they
didn't actually have the F74 on the
drag at first 1t is pointed out that
the strain at first was very much
greater than when 1t was finally raised
and that at least twice during the IL
hours Of jockeying that followed the
strike, the cables ran slack for min
ute or so. It Is Just possible that
by a freak Of chance and the fact that
the vanished submarine and the old
ship hook lay close together, the Cali.
fornia's drag lost one and caught the
other e e f'fes' sssss $50 - -
All night the big working party
fought with unruly wire and bucking
hRwser, TO get another chain sling
round the prize. Saturday was a night
Of oily sea and dazzling moonlight, and
the operations were carried on with.
out let or hindrance from sunset to
sunrise. High noon and midnight were
the same 70 the workers, and, improb-
able as 1t sounds, It was almost as
easy to work in the middle of the
night as In the middle OF the day.
Even for Hawaii the moon was I'm.
usually brilliant, and hardly a cloud
masked # from one side of the heaE.
ems to the other. Not is days IN the
entire year would conditions for such
work be found as favorable.
Watertown Raided.
The night was a succession of ex-
citements Dredge, tugs, launch and
speed boats cut circles and figure
eights; backed and pulled and pushed
New tackle was rugged, supplies we're
brought from far-off bases, drags were
made, and a half a dozen experiments
of one sort and another were tried out.
Once the Intrepid, which was keeping
steady pull ON the CALIFORNIA; stern,
parted her tow line, but outside or q
slackening on the hoists no damage
was done
And all this. without the slightest
confusion. The maritime salvage of
fiction, with whistles blowing. sirens
footing and hoarse-Eoiced shippers
yelling at each other through mega
phones was entirely ont of last nights
picture. True, hoarse voices spoke
through mega phones, but the latter
we're used merely as aids to ordinary
conversation, both Capt. Smith and
Exec" Bnss having lost their voices,
but rather through lack of sleep and
hard work, than from bawling COM
mands. ~. -...s -. ~
Ensign Wills on the Helen, with a
crew Of Hawaiian Dredging Company
employees, had wlliriwind trip to Wa
tertown after more gear. When the
Hawaiian sailormen reached Water
town they were on their home stamp
ing grounds, and they simply tore
things loose to establish a record for
quick work. Locomotives were fired
to shunt cars Of heavy stuff round
the rickety tracks, dredges were board
ed with piratical intent, steam winehes
were pressed into service, and things
made to mum generally. AS a result
the Helen returned with the extra
gear in short order. -. ~
I. my, but that was q strenuous trip
said Ensign Wills. when he set foot
on the California again. Those
dredge men can sure cut loose when
they want to-" 9 ''','S.
During the forepart of the night
many -soundings were taken with the
microphone apparatus, the results of
which add to the belief that the Cali,
fornia did at one time actually have
the submarine hooked. This arrange
ment consisted of an induction coll on.I
the end of several hundred feet of con-
ductor, lowered into the water much
the same as a sounding lead, Con-
tact with metal completed the circuit, 1
and registered in a receiving appar-
atus held by the observer above. BY
sound, the outline of the F-4 could
be traced below the surface, or at.
least the officers thought so last night
;, Naval Constructor J. A. ,Furer, who