Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1916-06-23

Must al 1.-The millions of dollars that
now lie at the bottom of the sea in the
fern of ships and their sunken treas
lure be 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 COM
parativeIy shallow waters, many OF
them at depth of less than 800 feet,
and the problem Of their recovery
does not seem entirely hopeless in the
light of recent improvements in deeb-
sea diving and the feats accomplish
ed by eyrert divers of the U. S. Navy.
The matter is the subject of an article
in the current number of the Bull
letin of the Pan American Union,
Washington, D. C. In discussing the
organization of companies in the
United States whose purpose is the
recovery of some of the wealth now
lying in the oceans depth, the writer
states
Certain it is that the project of
recovering sunken ships, or the most
valuable of the treasurers 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 a
diver 10 operate for a limited time
below the surface. These improve
ments are largely due to the remark
allie experiments in deep-sea diving
conducted under the auspices of the
Bureau of Construction and Repair of
the Navy Department of the United
States in 1914 Prior to this time the
greatest depth reached by divers was
z10 feet, two English officers having
accomplished that feat during a series
Of tests carried on by the British Ad
miralty in 1907. For the benefit of
those who do not appreciate the diff
Guilty of diving to such depths it may
be stated that at a depth Of 10 feet
below the surface the pressure is 4.33
pounds per square inch of surface Of
the body submerged This pressure
Increases proportionately, and at a
depth of 100 feet it has increased to
43.3 pounds and at depth of 300
feet to 1898 pounds.
Notwithstanding this tremendous
pressure, the expert divers of the u.
S. Navy have succeeded in not only
Preaching a depth of 300 to 305 feet,
but in remaining at that depth for
from to 20 minutes at time, maxi
ing examinations and observations in
regard to a sunken vessel that made
its subsequent salvage possible. This
work was done in connection with the
raising of the U. S. submarine FL
which, it will be remembered, plunged
| to the bottom of the sea just off the
harbor of Honolulu on March 25, 1915.
Not only did the divers establish a
new worlds record for deep-sea div
lis upon that occasion, but the sub
sequent raising and recovery of the
F-4 is the only instance in history
where sunken vessel was recovered
from a depth of 800 feet"
The writer thereupon gives a brief
sketch of the history of diving as "a
useful art form the time of Aristotle
down to the present, and after de-
Iscribing a modern diving outfit and
explaining in some detail the matter
of the divers being subjected to two
pressures, viz, the pressure of teh air
inside the helmet and suit and the
external pressure of the water, con-
tinues as follows:
The necessity of having the air
pressure within the diving dress com-
pcnsate the external water pressure,
thus subjecting the diver to pressure
directly proportional to the depth to
which he descends, is the dangerous
element in deep-sea diving. At a
depth, for instance. of 100 feet, div
er must be subjected to pressure of