The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-09-19

came greater each month. The reason why tht
British authorities were not fully equipped to
raise every ship that was sunk from the very
start of the war is purely commercial Salvina
ships costs money Building new ones costs
money So long us the cost of salving was equal
or even slightly in excess of the cost of building
so long 1t was not worth the while of owners to
order salvage operations-just so long were IN
yention and progress in the art of salvage de-
Iayed. Wlrn the s;ilvng of ships became urgent
I'm the course of 1916 inventors of new appli-
auces and methods salvage experts or many
years standing. their brains to wcr-. and the
result is that today ships can be raised and re-
paired from positions that two years ago would
have been abandoned ms hopeless.
As showing how need stimulates invention
may instance discovery in chemistry which
has proved be of the utmost value in salvage
work. writes ii. c. Ferr,by in Country Life. 1t
Is obvious that when II ship. laden with grain.
beef. other perishable stufs. gets wnter-logged
with seawater. something very unpleasant is GO
ing 10 happen to her cargo. In point of fact. 1t
turns INTO miniature Eoison-gas factory. Grain
produces supuretted hydrogen, and the salvage
men who stumble pocket of that In n
beacled ship would be seized with violent sick
ness. would be partially blinded for some time.
and would turn dull leaden color in the face.
Experiment brought antidote to this trouble.
and now the cargo of ship that is to be s,lved
he sprayed with special solution soon
rs there is any reason to suspect poison gas
This spraying removes all danger.
Salvage work before the war was purely II
private enterprise. The admiralty had no salv
age branch. and when warshps went ashore or
bcached after collision the private firms
like the Liverpool Salvage association We're
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 since the men manning that depart
lent are. without exception the former heads
of the salvage business. the difference is mainly
In titles and not in methods.
Warship salving is confidential. and the work
done by the department in this direction cannot
hc described. Ns share in keeping the allies
supplied with merchant ships however is not
secret. and the record of work done since Octo-
Der, 1918. 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
was growing. New material being built for
ihe work, new ideas were being put into prnc
Teal shape. and the result is that the year 1918
has so fnr seen " remarkable increase in the
number of ships saved The figures for the
early part of this year January, IA; Febru-
AIRY. Al March, 81; April. 36; May. 10; giving a
total OF 14I Thus in u months 4O7 ships have
been restored 10 the worlds mercantile tonnnge.
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 will tell you that the only
thing certain about 1t is that you never know
what is going to happen. ship may be ashore
In the simplest position. with just big hole
in her to be patched up. and 1t looks like n lob
that Will take few days. In the end you are.
perhaps, six months hanging around with that
one ship before you can get her to float. Wealth.
er. tides and the condition of the cargo all play
leading part In the work. The only thing the
salvage man has got to do all the time is to be
patient. That, perhaps. is why they all look so
tired. Waiting is weary business.
The weather Is the enemy of salvage
men. 1t is very nice fine summers day to
stand ON 'the cliffs and look down at the busy
hunming workshops that we call salvage steam.
erS clustered round wreck that shines red with
rust In the sunlight. The motors of the pumps
drone incessantly. and the great Pinch pipes
send OUT cascades of gray water whose stale
scent tr'fvels far before 1t is lost. The metal
helneted Divers Chamber up and down, sitting
for Il while in the sun to make report of their
progress below, receiving orders for the next
stage, or just resting. 1t is different when the
southwesterly gales blow. when rollers pour In
from the Atlantic and pound down like Nansmytb
lGlmmers on the decks of the wreck. The sal
wage boats and tugs all have to run for shelter
work has to be abandoned, and only the still
silent hulk is left to weather the storm. So long
as she is firmly imbedded in the sand or shingle
however, and there is plenty of water inside her
as well as outside. it takes good many months
uf storms to knock ship to pieces Ii is often
necessary. in order to save n wreck from the
effects of weather. to flood compartments in her
that had remained watertght
The problem of dealing with the water I'm
wrecks and In ships that have been holed but
are still afoat has been advanced very far toward
solution during the war by the general adoption
of new British invention, which has been do
scribed as n miracle of modern electrical enpi
neerins. Described simply. II is AN .lectricniIv
driven pump which can he entirely submerged
and will stir pump efficiently as II 1T were
above W. :" The submersible pump, as II Is
called things that ever believed
n pump could do. in the hold of n
wreck recently. covered with black evil-smen