Evening journal., 1919-07-17
IRON CATERPILLARS
TO HUNT SEA GOLD
Plans Call for Tanks to Bur-
row Around Sunken
Merchant Ships
WINGS SET TC LIFT
EN- FROM BOTTOM

NEW YORK, July i7.-lmagination
enterprise and spirit Of adventure, once
consecrated to the search amid cora
islands for sunken Spanish salleons
and their careoes Of corrodod doub-
looms, are nos apparently being devoi-
ed 10 raising The merchant ships which
settled 10 the oceans bed IN the course
of the great war.
II even a few OF The hulks can bc re-
tr.eyed al no great cost and sent about
the worlds business again there Is a
fortune IN 1t, no doubt OF that And II
the public can be- persuaded TO buy
stock of a corporation with such "a Vi
sion there's a fortune in That too-for
somebody
Practical salyagers who have studied
the feasibility Of lifting a ship lying
more than POO feet beneath The surface
most of them lie deeper-say il can't
be done Meanwhile Inventors with
Impressive domes are rushing TO the
patent ollce With plans Of new ship
raising devices and processes and here
and there a company is being organ
ized TO prove TO The world that the
practical men are wrong.
one OF these companies is the United
States ship Salvage Participating syn
dicaie Of no. i39 Fifth avenue. An es-
senlial part OF IFS programme for
bringing back 10 sunlight ships of the
worlds sunken nayies is nothing less
than our old friend the calerp llar
tank, which in this ease will welcome
a subtcrranean creature and burr0w
beneath The keels. carrying cables 50
HAT inflated ponloons or balloons may
be anlXed on either side Of The ship
md up she comes.
To satisfy his curiosity as 10 the ma
ure Of the proposed undertaking As
,islant District Attorney klroe had in
his office yesterday. by invitation, four
nen who. he was told were the pro- |
ectors Of The synd cate They were |
Edward Raiclnfe, OF No. - West Thir- /
y-ninth street, an actor figuring In
he movie play "The Fighting Roose- I
elts." and son-in-law of the late Peter
le Lacey Of race track fame; Alois p.
aliger. OF No - Onion Square East.
INVENTOR or the salNagng process: p
arton PERTH. Of No al West i20th
lreei. described by Mr. Kilroe as the
lanager OF the New York Worlds up
own Office although the managers
rst name is Bernard and he lives at
orest Uius. according TO the city d.
ectory. and Frederick s. Mordant. OF
Isstings y y, formerly manager Tor
.rihur Upper & Co.. members OF the
,ew York Stock Exchange OF g Ex-
hange place.
They talked frankly 20 Mr.. Rlroe and
old him lust what they were trying to |
10 Niordant and Ratcliffe, he said later, |
had supplied $1,000 TO finance a demon
suAtion Of the process at the Fifth ave
nue. ofllce. 10 was TO be shown TO
friends and others. and by subscription
enough money was TO be collected TO
enable the syndicate 20 go out and
actually raise a fun size ship 10 prove
Il could be done Then. according to |
,Ir. Kilr0e. corporation was 10 he or |
,anized, with 100000 shares at 81 par /
alue each The inventor. Saliger, was
% get 100000 shares for his patents.
.hich have been applied for Nlordant
.as 10 get 100000 shares Ratcliffe
10000 ana PERTH was to get 2aQOOO FOR
Is services IN bringing The other mt1
,gethcr. The rest was 10 be reserved
'r promotion purposes. No stock had
'en offered or sold TO the public thus
They left with Mr. Kilroe sketches OF Y
ship as u would look with their rig
ne attached A small caterpillar trac-
T. was burrowing beneath the stern ,
ID rows of partly submerged inflated >,
q vessels were ranged along the sides
ch pair Of these waterwings being q
by a cable passing under v
@ keel
The idea apparently was that a trac-
n could be built 10 Withstand the &
ater pressure at much greater depth 4
an any diver could work, and oper-
ed electrically by connection with
achnery az tho surface. could carry
q cables beneath tho ship The sub
erged end Of the cable could then be
ted to The surface and the water I
ings attached (
Mr. kilroes visitors also spoke. he
I'D, OF a "subsea" yisionscope" an
her Of Saliger's conirivances. enabling :
gineers at tho surface of The ocean !
see clearly what was going on at the I
'tiom and thus direct the movements
the caterpillar borer Self-ltting
aling patches which would cover any 4