Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-15
EXPERT Divers
Speed SALVAGE
ON SUNKEk ia
Continued from page one)

Continued from page one)
after records Of depth, but records
we're made in the line OF duty. If
! the "a had been found in $50 feet Of
water Chilly would have got to her
| just the same
Chief Gunner StillsOn. who for al
| most three years last has been giving
| his entire time TO perfeCting the APP
| paratus for deep-sea diving and who
! has worked ont many inventions for
| the safety Of the underwater work
man. is himself an expert diver who
! has the practical end Of the work down
| just as fine as the theoretical. A great
| part Of the success which has attend.
ed the efforts of the navy expert is
that the factor OF safety is always kept
to the front Progress has been foot
by foot as j were and defects have
been corrected and improvements
made as they showed up.
Il believe that We could work at
400 feet just as we'll as 300 said Still
son, in commenting on the work of
the divers yesterday. "Probably the
men couldn't stay down as long at that
depth on account of the i'll effects
from the excess oxygen that they
would be breathing but the length of
time that men can work at certain
depths is still to be determined bv
experiment Yesterday morning we let
Chilly stay down only about Is min
utes. He suffered no inconvenience,
so Nelson stayed down half an hour.
1t may be that men can work for
two or three hours at time at 300
feet. We don't know and We have to
find out by EXPERIMENTING and increas.
ing the duration of stay a little at
time"
Pure Air Theory INDICATED.
According to StillsOn, it was gener;
ally believed heretofore that the pc.
Cullar condition OF intOXicatiOn expert
enced by divers working at excessive
depths under compressed air, was due
TO the excess Of oxygen. His theory
has been that impurities in the air sup
ply, such as particles of oil, gasoline,
or foreign bodies in the TASKS and
compressors accounted for this intoXi
cation, the effect being greatly inten.
sifed as the number o< atmosphereS
was increased. Elaborate precautions
are taken, therefore, to purify the air
supply, an extensive system Of strain
ers, sPparatOrs and coolers being used
SO that only absolutely pure air goes
into the helmet. The fact that with
excessive pressure neither Chilly nor
Nelson experienced even a trace of
divers intOXicatiOn yesterday vindi.
Gates this theory
The benefits of the present work
from a standpoint of scientific inves.
tigatlOn are tremendous" said Still
son. while accomplishing the prac-
tical work for which we were sent
out we are at the same time adding
Conditions here are excellent, too. !
The water is not too cold and it isl
possible for the divers to remain sub |
merged for a long time without in. |
convenience. If the water was very
cold, or the current swift, the diver
would exhaust himself by such a slow |
ascent as We make. 1t might be nee.
essary to bring him up faster and put
him in the recompressIon chamber. |
Yesterday, however, neither man suf- |
fered any Inconvenience coming upI
and it is much better to make a slow |
ascent and do away with the use of |
the air lock. The light here is also |
good, even at the great depth at which |
the submarine lies. The divers can |
see to work and can direct the placing
of the lines. We might be able to use
artificial light, providing the daylight |
10 H,,k g.
not to have to-, as it would mean
more lines, wires and gear
Nelson's Escape.
Chief .Gunner's Mate Nelson had a
narrow escape from death yesterday
when a slight defect in an air valve
cut off his supply while he was OBJ.
serving the IA. The defect was one
of those that could not be foreseen T
and that only actual experimental
work could bring to light. 1t has now
been rectffied in all the suits andI
another important lesson IN deep-sea
diving learned
But for long experience in tight I
places under water, Nelson would
probably have lost his life Yesterday,
When he felt his air supply INSULT
SIChI NoIICu ONSt lu0 10 D6
pulled up. He then told the tenders
to drop him again as he wished to
note one more point before coming
up. The air was then very low and
Nelson knew that he must be losing
a great part of it. He called for
greater pressure but even this didn't
help matters. When he was hauled
up part of the way to the surface the
supply improved and those on the
float urged Nelson to use every eff
fort to locate the trouble for himself,
as they were afraid of the effects OF
a rapid ascent. Cropping round in the
Nelson was able to &C.
tually locate the trouble and make the
delicate adjustment necessary. Had
he been unable to do so there would
have been nothing for it but to pull
him quickly to the surface and take
chances with the caissOn disease. The
chamber was ready for
this emergency. There would have
been no effort to remove the diving