Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-08-03

Washington, D. c., Aug. /. "A deep
sea salvage expedition backed by Wall
street millionaires and directed by
Americas leading experts In that line
left New York few days ago, and is
now at work trying to raise the ward
liner Merida, which was rammed and
went down off the Virginia capes four
years ago. The Merida is said to con.
tain silver bullion worth over half q
million, while the purser's safe also
contains money and jewe!ry Of great
value. IT.. O.,
This particular expedition consists
Of five vessels, and Is commanded by
George D. Stillson, one of the foremost
experts on deep sea diving In the Unit.
ed States. Among his recent feats
have been the raising of the submarine
F-4 and the making Of a moving pic
ture of Jules Verne's Twenty Thous-
and Leagues Under the Sea-" The ex.
petition has all the latest appliances
for raising sunken vessels and 1t GER
tainly had an immense field Of en-.
deavor.
In fact salving promises to become
a large and important business within
the next few years. The seas of the
world are literally strewn with wrecks.
Icebergs and storms have united with
submarine and naval warfare in send
ing merchantmen and liners to the
bottom. There is scarcely day that
the newspapers do not record the sink.
ing of one or more ships. IL.
Many Of these, of course, are lost
forever; but with modern methods OF
salvage great many will be recovered
to the immense profit of the salvors.
For in salvage, the reward Is not In
proportion to the work done; but to
the helplessness of the vessel rescued.
Thus tug got eight thousand dollars
for towing into port schooner which
had lost her masts in storm and was
drifting helpless. The work would
have ordinarily been worth about a
hundred dollars. "
In most cases, however, the salvor
goes to immense expense and risk,
without any certainty that he will re-
cover the vessel; while if he succeeds,
he is restoring to usefulness property
which would otherwise have been a
dead loss For this reason the rights
Of the salvor are respected and defined
by all governments. Congress passed
bill a couple of years ago, setting
forth the rights of salvors in the ports
of the United States. In Great Britain
officers Of the royal navy are agents
for the great salvage associations. So
the profession Is one of high standing.
1t is also one of the most adventurous
in the modern world.
One Of the most striking feats Of sal.
wage in recent years was the recover.
ing of the cargo of the Oceania, whiah
sank with three and half million dol
lars worth of bullion on board. 1t was
all recovered by the divers except one
bar of silver. These men got bonuses
of 81 900 apiece, the salvage associa
ton got 100000 and small amounts
were received by the owners Of vari.
Gus tugs and steamers that helped to
get the vessel into shallow water be
fore she sank. <-5 .-. > ..',- - 49,
Sometimes vessel will defy the in
genuity of salvors for long time, and
cause the loss Of much time and
money. This was the case with the
German steamer Scsostris, which went
ashore on the Pacific coast Of Guate
mala, and was half buried in the sand
| there. Salvage companies came and
looked at the wreck, and several at
tennis were made to move her, but
without avail
The people Of the little town of Ocos
nearby, decided that if the ship could
not be moved, she could be made use
full where she lay. They converted
her upper decks into cofee ware
house. and her machinery into pow