The sun., 1919-09-21

some Oh THESE courageous men. BY
the narrowest of margins, sacrifice
Of life was avoided during these sub
aqueous operations, and in salvage
circles II was realized that the refioat-
ing of the F-4 did not establish prec-
cdent that could be counted upon as
guide in dealing with future craft
of larger displacement In short
what the United States navy's experts
did in that instance was not of a
nature to lend itself readily to com
mercial adaptation.
The fact remains, however that the
recovery Of the IA did demonstrate
the wide range of physical endur-
anee OF deep water divers when
equipped with improved diving gear
That Is to say, II was made plain that
an underwater worker, sound In body
and thoroughly familiar with his call
ing could penetrate more than 300
feet into the depths of the ocean with
out suffering physical harm by reason
of the great pressure exerted by the
enveloping sea. But none of the men
was sent down except when the Pacific
was calm. In short, their jobs were
halted or made possible according to
the degree of motion of the floating
base from which they got their supply
of compressed air. Finally, despite
the fact that tine divers could drop to
the desired depth rapidly, still 1t was
essential to their welfare that they
be brought up slowly and by stages
covering periods of many minutes
in order that they might be decom-
pressed and safeguarded against the
"bends" paralysis and the obstruc-
ton Of the circulatory system by
means Of menacing bubbles Of nitro
gen).
simon Lakes Diving Bell.
The one great stumbling block to the
utilization of the expert diver at the
greatest practicable submergence now
| has been removed through the In
genuity of Simon Lake, He recently
exhibited salvaging submarine
plant that may be described properly
as the climax of quite a quarter of
century Of gradual evolution and care
full progress. His present equipment
is a part way naturalization of plans
prepared in 1906 for the recovery Of
the reputed treasure in the form Of
specie and gold and silver bullion car
ried to the bottom when the British
frigate La Lutine was wrecked at the
er trance to the zuyder Zee in 1899.
The primary idea Of the design was
to furnish a floating salvage craft
supporting a submersible tube at the
lower end of which there was to be-
In effect, diving bell which would
constitute q subaqueous base for
divers. This base. of course. was to
rest immobile upon the ocean floor so
that the divers passing out from It
could reach their detectives by means
of short lengths of air hose and life
lines radiating from the diving bell
In other words, their vital links would
not have to extend the much longer
distance to the surface; and no mat
ter how the craft on the sea rolled
about, still the underwater base
would be unaffected and the divers
therefore capable of doing their work
under the most favorable of conditions
Because they would not draw after
them considerable lengths of hose and
life line, and would be largely free
from the force of those currents which
are felt higher above the waterbed,
the men would have less to tax their
strength and, to that measure would
be able to stick to their tasks for mors
protracted periods,
How the Argosy Works.
u Mr.. Lakes present salvage plant
the Argosy and Argonaut, while Of
comparatively modest dimensions, u
nevertheless big enough to establish
beyond question the correctness Of the
principles involved. A Tteel tube, ~
feet In diameter and rs feet long, In
linked to the surface vessel by means
of a universal Joint. At the other end
of this tube, which serves the purpose
of passageway filled with air at at
mospheric pressure Is attached small
submarine through the medium Of
watertight sleeve or cylindrical hinge,
which, ip its turn, permits ingress and
egress from the subaqueous structure.
The purpose OF the hinge is to allow
the connecting tube and submarine 10
assume varying angles in relation TO
one another, according to the relative
yertical!ty of the tube and the uneven
nature of the sea floor as the under
water base is showed forward upon IL
supporting wheel by the self-propellSd
surface tender
Tho subsurface craft contains
compression chamber or air lock- an
operating chamber fitted with suo-
ton dredge connection and diving
chamber which is provided with
bottom hatch which can be dropped
so that divers can pass in and out IN
going to and from wrecks, Sc A
stout steel pin or shaft, which can
be moved vertically from within the
submarine, serves as an anchor when
forced into the underlying mud or
sand. and the suhaQucOuS base can
thus be held stationary even though
the vessel at the upper end Of the
tube be rolling and pitching freely
upon n somewhat troubled sea, Inc
suction tube intake can be extended
right into a cargo of coal or similar
bulk freight which can he pumped
surfaceward at the rate OF hundreds
of tons hourly. In the case Of mas
sive forms of freight salvage would
he effected by having the divers hook
tackle from the surface vessel 10
slings passed around the submerged
materials, after which they would o'
raised by holsting apparatus ahoara
the wreckiaS steamer, For certain
sorts OF salvage electro magnets would
be called into play; and in that case
they would he lowered into position
and brought in contact by vocal d.
] t,la ,Igr ,f,.sa1l Ia