The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-09-27

~ losses Is not the only way 10 ueleut
= 4 . {. ! !. !. /: |. !. J: : !. !
the German submarine campaign
- Va Saving ships that have been dam
-A|# aged lifting those, even, that have
E\/N been sunk, and restoring them to
II II Scagomg condition, are among the
ES@At.Sl methods which have gradually been
HAkS#sJ improved in England as the strin-
gency of the shipping shortage be-
came greater each month. The reason why the
British authorities were not fully equipped To
rnise every ship that was sunk from the very
start of the war is purely commercial Saving
ships costs money. Building new ones costs
money So long as the cost of salving was eauhl
or even slightly in excess of the cost oi building
so long ii was not worth the while ot owners 10
order salvage operatons-just so long We're IN
ventiOn and progress In the art ol saNaSe ue-
layed When the Salving of ships became urgent
in the course of 1916 inventors of new appi-
apces and new methods, salvage experts of many
wears standing, set their brains to work. ana the
result is that today ships can be raised ana re-
paired from positions that two years ago would
have been abandoned rs hopeless.
As showing how need stimulates invention
may instance II discovery in chemistry which
has proved to be of the utmost value in salvage
work. writes H. {. Ferraby in Country Life 1t
is obvious that when Il ship, laden with grain,
beef or other periShable stufs, gets water-lOgged
with scawatcr something very unpleasant Is CO.
ing to happen To her cargo In point of fact, II
turns INTO miniature posongaS factory. Grain
produces sulphurctted hydrogen, and the salvage
men who stumble Il pocket of that IN
5cached ship would he seized with violent sick
ness, would be partially blinded for some time,
and would turn duh leaden color in the lace
Experiment brought an antidote to this trouble
and now the cargo of Il ship that is to be SAWED
can be sprayed with special solution as soon
rs there is any reason 10 suspect poison gas
This spraying removes all danger.
bpforp Tlp UllTply q
private enterprise. The admiralty had no salv-
age branch, and when Warships went ashore or
were beached after collision the private firms,
like the Liverpool Salvage association were
called in. War altered that, like many other
things in the maritime world, and today the
whole of the salvage work around the United
Kingdom is carried out by an admiralty depart
ment. But sine the men manning that depart
nent are, without exception, the former heads
of the salvage business, the difference is mainly
in titles and not in methods.
Warshp saving is confidential, and the work
done by the department i'll this direction cannot
be described. Its share in keeping the allies
supplied with merchant ships however, is not
secret, and the record OF work done since Octo-
Der, 1915, is an excellent one. Down TO the end
of 1917 the admiralty salvage section, under the
guidance Of Capt. f. W. Young had rescued 2GO
wrecked, mined or torpedoed ships and sent them
in for repairs. All that time their experience
the work. new ideas were being put into prac-
tical shape, and the result is that the year 1918
has so far seen remarkable increase in the
number of ships saved. The figures for the
early part of this year January, IA Febru-
ary Al March 81; April, 36 May, 10; giving a
total Of 147. Thus in 81 months 407 ships have
been restored TO the worlds mercantile tonnage.
The Germans count all these and some of them
twice over, in their calculations of the tonnage
loss inflicted on the allies by the submarine
campaign.
Every salvage man VIII tell you that the only
thing certain about it is that you never know
what is going TO happen \ ship may be ashore
in the simplest position, with just one big hole
in her to be patched up and it looks like job
that viii take few days. In the END you are,
perhaps, SIX months hanging around with that
one snip before you can get her 10 lloat wealth
er, udes ana the cohdltloh OF the cargo all play
Il leading part III the work. Inc only thlnS the
salvage man mas got to DO all the tlme IS to be
patient Ihat perhaps IS why they all look so
tired. waiting Is weary business
The weather is the worst enemy Of salvage
men. 1t is very nice on Il fine summers day to
stand the cliffs and look down at the busy
humming workshops that we call salvage steam
ers clustered round wreck that shines red with
tu'I Al ''e '"I,lSii'' iie i'"'o'S VI liie pumps