Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1920-02-06
A Boom in Salvage

Washington, ID. C.. Feb. 3.-Salvape
OF sunken ships ts a proposition which r
attracting widespread interest. Numer.
o'is companies have been formed 70 raise
htuis and recover cargoeg. Britain has
reclaimed over 500 Of her 6,0OO wrecked
ships, and United States salvage conpa-
mes plan to raI.e such Of orr craft A. are in
shallow water or can be most easily
found and lifted
New inventions in diving and salvage
apparatus, removal of nincr from the
sen, and the demand for tonnage all com
btne TO stimulate the wrecking business,
and make it probable that operations will
be extended To mid ocean and To localities
hitherto inaccessible to divers.
FAMOUS BURIED TREAsuHHs
All the famous treasures buried in the
earth by medieval mtsers and pirates are
ins ignihcant compared with the incalcii-
liable fortunes sunk in the sea Stven bill
lion dollars rs a conservative estimate OF
value Of the seas hoard before the war,
and it Is believed that after four years Of
war this figure is doubled.
Davy Jones locker has 80 far been az
good rs locked TO ambitious plunderers Of
the deep. Divers are willing 20 take the
chance of meeting sharks and other
monsters. They will brave the danger Of
being trapped in rotted ship, or of their
apparatus becoming faulty. But they
cannot by sheer courage overcome their
physical limitations, especially the effect
of heavy pressure on the body, and this
has protected the sea treasures better
than their shark policemen, the darkness
and the enveloping sands.
-. l. FL
$50 feet were as safe from treasure-seekers
as if they had been encased IN Inbreakable
glass Divers could see them, and oc-
casiondly a wrecking company would
snatch bit of the cargo from a hold, but
the great mass OF Dsvy Jones property
remained intact.
Many Of the sunken treasures famous by
tradition, are now declared 70 be the prod
uct Of various story-tellers imagination.
Pirates, for instance are popularity regard
ed as a millionaire class, whereas reailsts
maintain that most OF Captain Kids
fellow buccaneers would never have had
to pay an income tax had their govern
ment levied one Thus is another illusion
craeked-but not shattered, for enough
buried and sunken treasure is now and
again brought 10 light TO keep the faith of
the ronanticists from wayering.
The fascinating tales OF the pirates
treasure ships may be dlscredited, but Il
Is a matter OF history that fortunes In
gold. silver, and precious stones have for
been carried over the seas
wherever ships could travel, and many
craft have been sucked under by storms.
and strong currents.
Staid British historians tell for eX-
ample OF Sir Francis Drake capturi : s.
feet of ships in the harbor of the Azores
and reckiessly ordering them sunk, laden
as they were This command sent down
four or five million dollars worth of preci-
Gus metals, which have never been dis
tIbed.
sHsa WITH sS5,o0o,00o GOLD.
Another famed example of a treasure
ship that sank, was a Spanish galleon. lost
lff the English coast in 1874 with load of
gold estimated at SIS, 0o0,0O Then
here are the uncovered cargoes of the
Spanish Armada, exaggerated perhaps as
o value, but undoubtedly worth reclaim
ng:
The L,lsitania, laden with seven million
dollars worth of gold and other metals
md FIVE million in securities. as well as
ewTels and other private property, is one
If the great prizes to be angled for. E&-
,erts agree that the Lusitania viii never
,e raised from its position, 2S5 feet below !
he surface, but q company Is now await
ng favorable weather to go after the IN !
lestrucuble part Oh its cargo.
The Merida, which sank of Cape |
1harles, is another untapped source of |
' ealth, which is to be tackled next sum |
ner by New York diver. The storms and |
reacherous currents that wreck so many |
hips In certain places endanger equally .
he company that attempts their salvage !
n rough weather. For this reason, salvage I
ompanies are now continng themselves /
o plans and study, so that when spring |
ONES they can launch their ofiensives |
Without loss Of time.
With all of our boosted ingenuity and /
'rogress IN tie art OF salvage, ne still !
eean bed OF all its booty Systematic /
'alvage dates back only century OF two. !,
Before that, divers wore no special cos /
tunes, ar d stayed III der water only so
ong as they could hold their breath--at
he most two or three minutes AT time.
hen in the seventeenth century came
Gather diving suit, and after that the rub
er and canvas suit with its steel helmet
nd tubes to supply air, This rubber slut is
till worn by river and shallow water
ivers, as it is easy to work in, and allowed
he wearer considerable use OF hands and
eet. The main disadvantage is that the
liver must be let down and raised very
lowly because Ut the changes IN pressure.
he pressure of the atmosphere at sea
svel Is Is pounds to the square inch
It 100 feet below the sea the pressure Of
he water is so pounds to square inch,
While at two hundred feet it is So pounds
diver wearing rubber suit cannot
escend far below 100 feet, as the suit is