The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-10-26

NA<AZJ 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
raise every ship that was sunk from the very
start Of the is purely commercial Saving
ships costs money. Building costs
money. So long as the cost Of salving was equal
or slightly in Of the cost Of building,
50 long 1t was not worth the while of owners to
order salvage operations-just SO long were in
vention and progress In the art of salvage de-
aayed. When the salving Of ships became urgent
In the course Of 1916 inventors Of new appli-
ances and new methods, salvage experts of many
years standing, set their brains to work. and the
result is that today ships can be raised and re-
paired from positions that two years ago would
have been abandoned as hopeless.
AS showing how need stimulates invention, !
may instance a discovery In chemistry which
has proved to be Of the utmost value In salvage
work, writes H. c. Ferraby In Country Life. It
is obvious that when ship, laden with grain
beef, or other pershable stuffs. gets waterlogged
with seawater, something very unpleasant is go
dng to happen to her cargo. In point of fact, It
turns into miniature poison-gas factory. Grain
produces sulphuretted hydrogen, and the salvage
men who stumble on q pocket Of that In a
beached ship would be seized with violent sick
ness. would be partially blinded for some time
and would turn duh leaden color In the face
Experiment brought antidote to this trouble.
and now the cargo Of ship that is to be salved
can be sprayed with a special solution as soon
as there Is any reason to suspect poison gas.
This spraying removes all danger.
Salvage work before the war was purely
private enterprise. The admiralty had no saly.
age branch and when warships went ashore or
were beached after collision the private firms,
Ike the Liverpool Salvage association were
called In War altered that like many other
things In the maritime world, and today the
Wnoie OF the salvage work around the United
0insoom Is carried out By an admiralty depart
"enL But since the men manning that depart
Lent are. without exception. the former heads
~ me salvage business. the difference is mainly
sn titles and not In methods
Warship salvfng is confidential and the work
zone Dy the department In this direction cannot
oe described It's share In keeping the allies
supplied with merchant ships however is not
secret and the record Of work done since Octo-
Ger, 1elo. Is an excellent one. Down to the end
Va .oAa tne admiralty salvage section, under the
guidance OF Capt +. w. Young had rescued 26O
wrecked mined or torpedoed ships and sent them
an Tor repairs All that time their experience
was growing New material was being built for
tne WORK, new ideas were being put into prac-
ucai shape, and the result Ia that the year 1918
.iaS ~ Ar seen remarkable increase In the
number OF ships saved. The figures for the
early part Of this year are: January. ID ~.Fehrn-
ary, Al March, 81; April, SO; May 10: giving
totai OF lat. Thus In 80 months 4O7 sbns have
Oeeu restored to the worlds mercantile tonnage
Inc Germans count all these and some of them
TWICE over, In their calculations of the tonnage
Every salvage man win tell you that the onlv
Lnlng certain about 1t Is that you never know
Wnat Is going to happen. ship may be ashore
q tne simplest position. with just one big hole
= ner to De patched up. and 1t looks like lob
Ia. "ii take rev days. In the end you are
he harc
'ne ship before you can get her to float. Weath.
y. uoes ana the condition of the cargo all plav
Leading part In the work. The only thing the
aivage man has got 10 do all the time is to he
,auenI That perhaps. 10 why they all look so
ired. Waiting is a weary business
Inc weatner Is the worst enemy of salvage
nen- 1t is very nice on fine summers dav 70
tand on the cliffs and look down ar The 49,
cumming workshops that we call salvage staar.
- clustered round wreck that shines red with
ust In the sunlight The motors Of the n,nons
rome necessarily and the great pinch mines
end out cascades OF gray water whose stala
cent travels Tar before 1t is lost The metal
eimeted divers Chamber up and down s,t+,n.
,r while In the sun to make renort 20 &c
rogress below. receiving orders for the mort
age. or just resting II Is different whan tna
'uthwesterly gales blow. when rollers pour IN
ON the Atlantic and pound down like Naasmvth
ammers on the decks Of the wreck. The sal
3Se DOdLs auQ tugs Ill nave 70 f0r ~ho
ork has to be abandoned, and only rho .,sl,
lent hulk is left to weather the storm. So lone
she is firmly imbedded In the sand or sh,ro,s
,wever, and there La plenty OF water inside bar
well Rs outside. IL takes q good many month.
storms to knock ship to piecea II n Offer
,cessary In order To save wreck from n.
Eects Of weather. 70 Hood compartments IN her
at had remained watertight.
The problem of dealing with the water In
recks and in ships that have been holed hint
. still aloat has been advanced very far toward
luton during thu war By the general adoption
q new British invention. which has been d.
rfbed as a miracle Of modern electrical enrs- j
ering Described smply. Il Is an electricallv i
wen pump which can be entirely submerged I.
d win stilr pump as efficiently as II IL were I
owe water. The gubmersible pump, as Il IA
He'd. does things that no one ever believed /
pump could do saw one In the hold OF
lec.A- ecentiy. covered with black evfl-smaIi- q