East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1916-07-10
TREASURE IS FOUND
BY DIVERS WHO GO
TO BOTTOM OF SEA
RECENT IMPROVEMENTS MAXI
POSSIBLE RECOVERY or
SUNKEN SHIPS.
Millions of valuable Cargo Now Can
BE Lifted; Project of saving Yes.
Acls Wiz, = Have Been Sunk fnr
Years Is Now More Feasible Than
II Was n j Years Ago.

WASHINGTON, July 1O.-Must all
the millions of dollars that now lie at
the bottom of the sea in the form OF
ships and their sunKen treasure he
forever lost to the world? Most Of
the vessels that have been sunk,
whether by accident or in the course
of the present war, lie in compare
lively shallow waters, many of them
at a depth of less tnan 500 feet and
the problem of their recovery does not
seem entirely hopeless in the light
of recent improvements in deep-sea
diving and the feats accomplished by
the expert divers of the L. s navy.
The matter is the subject of an ar
tcle in the current number Of the Bur
letin of the Pan American Union,
Washington d, c. IN discussing the
organization of companies now lying
in the oceans depth, the writer states;
Certain it is that the project of re-
covering sunken ships, or the most
valuable of the treasures that have
gone down with them, is more feasible
now than it was only four or five
Years ago Such great improvements
in diving apparatus have recently
been made that it is now possible for
diver to operate for a limited time
even to the great depth of 500 feet be-
low the surface These improvements
are largely due to the remarkable ex-
periments in deep sea diving conduct
ed under the auspices of the bureau
OF construction and repair of the navy
dearment of the United states in 1914
Prior to this time the greatest depth
reached by divers was 210 feet. two
that feet during a series of tests car
red on by the British admiralty in
1900. For the / neflt Of those who 10
not appreciate the difficulty of diving
TO such depths it may be stated that
at depth of 10 feet below the sur
square inch of surface of the body sub
merged. This pressure increases pro-
portionately and at a depth of 100
feet it has increased to 343.3 pounds
and at a depth of 300 feet to 1898
pounds
Notwithstanding this tremendous
pressure, the g.Iert divers Of th5 T..
:. navy have succeeded in not only
reaching a depth of 500 to sos feet
but in remaining at that depth for
from to 20 minutes at a time. max
ing examtlsuuns and observations IN
"A d.
it's subsequent salvage possible This
work was done in connection with the
raising of the L. :. submarine F.4
which. it will be remembered, plung-
ed to the bottom or the sea Just Oft
the harbor of Honolulu on March 20,
1915. Not only did the divers estab-
lish a new worlds record for deep-sea-
diving upon that occasion, but the
subsequent raising and recovery of the
F-4 is the only instance in history
where a sunken vessel vas recovered
from a depth Of 300 feet"
The writer thereupon gives brief
sketch of the history of diving as Il
useful art from the time Of Aristotle
down to the present, and after describ-
ing a modern diving outfit and ex-
planning in some detail the matter Of
the divers being subjected TO two
pressures, viz, the pressure of the air
inside the helmet and suit and the eX-
ternal pressure of the water, contin-
ues as follows:
( The necessity of having the air
pressure within the diving dress com
pensate the external water pressure
thus subjecting the diver TO pressure
directly apportioned to the depth to
which he descends, is the dangerous
clement in deep-sea diving. At a
depth. for instance. OF 100 feet, div
er must be subjeced to a pressure Of
four atmospheres. or so pounds per
square inch, in order to compensate
the external atmospheres, or 60
pounds per square inch, in order to
compensate the external water pres
sure. Exposures to such pressure Is
apt to be followed by dangerous
physiological effects. commonly known
as "caison disease" rhe symptoms oi
which include pains in the muscles
and joints commonly called bends,
deafnes, embarrassed breathing, vom-
iting. fainting etc, sometimes result
ing in death. They do not appear