The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-03-06
Ingenious Mechanisms Devised
\ to Recover Some of Wrecks
Beneath Waves.
RMORED SUIT IS DESCRIBED
inventor Explains Device Which En-
ables Him to Work Freely Under
7,000.Pound Pressure - Two
Claim Deep-Sea Record.

New York.-Before the Germans
sank single vessel in the late war
1T was estimated that there were
strewn upon the floors Of the, Seven
Seas, $1,000, 100000 worth Of ships and
cargoes, and records indicated that O
large part Of these were recoverable
Since the war the sum Of the oceans
buried treasure is practically meal
culable.
Naturally nations now vie with one
another for the recovery of choice
morsels of this treasure trove, and
Individual inventors are devoting ge-
MUS and energy to the evolution of
salving devices ranging In size from
the one-man diving suit to complicat-
ed mechanisms SO large that they
dwarf the seagoing vessels Of which
they are integral parts.
Benjamin Franklin Leavitt of
Brooklyn, inventor OF a diving suit,
who claims the deep-sea record, talk
ed enthusiastically yesterday about
what can be accomplished In recov-
ering the shimmering treasures Of
gold and silver and precious stones
with which old oceans floor is car
peted.
Incidentally, Mr.. Leavitt protests
most emphatically against the assump-
ton Of world-record honors for any
other diving armor than his own. He
backs his protest in these statements:
" not only hold the record for deep
sea diving, but for deep-sea salvage.
I went down 361 feet in Grand Ira
verse Bay, Michigan, and remained
down for As minutes the first time,
and at another time nearly two hours.
This is the worlds record descent.
Capt. John Morgan of the Morgan
Transportation company. cousin OF
the late ]. p. Morgan, did the sound
ing. He took three soundings, using
q wire sounder, and there Is no posi-
bility Of error. Twenty-six persons
witnessed the descent. This was in
1915.
Two Claim Deep-sea Record.
II see by some Of the newspapers
that a Mr.. Turner claims the world
record. The statement is made that
Mr.. Turner went down 300 feet 10
miles off Graves Light, Massachusetts,.
Look at this chart. Conceding that
Turner went down and did everything
he said he did, II you can find a 800
foot depth anywhere Is miles on
Graves Light I'll eat the map. Here's
40 fathoms-294 feet-the deepest wa
ter Is miles of the light"
Coming now to the question OF his
diving suit, Mr.. Leavitt said that Its
principal point Of advantage Is In the
air-supply arrangement.
"My suit" said he. sis self-contain-
ed, carrying enough air for TOUR
hour submergence. The oxygen tank
Is connected with reducing valve
which reduces the pressure from l,ooo
pounds to pounds to the square
inch, and, spraying through a nozzle
sucks nitrogen through caustic SOFA
cartridge. It mixes with the nitrogen
and is discharged over the shoulder
Of the diver from tube. The caustlc
soda absorbs the poisonous carbon
dioxide and moisture. To protect the
man from the caustic soda, / use an
automatic valve that closes IN three
seconds after the water reaches It.
sThe suit itself weighs 800 POUNDS
and With me in It weighed just oOV
rounds The suits buoyancy, how
ever. counteracts 425 pounds OF tnat,
leaving a balance of IS pounds tnat
I hear on the bottom Of the sea. .
Mr.. Leavitt regretted that ne coulo
NOT show the armor Just as Il was
when he went down In Grand ira,
verse Bay, but he explained ne n',o
made several important improvements
since that descent.