New Britain herald., 1922-05-20
DARING DIVER ID
 SEEK LOST WEALTH
Plans to Visit Wreck Of Liner /, LuSitania
BY EDWARD NJ. THIERRY.

Philadelphia, May 2o,-Between June and September Benjamin Frank lin Leavitt expects to dig s1l 000,0 out of the bed Of the Atlantic ocean,
 The great treasure hunt--sa salvaging of the gold sunk with the Lusitania and Arabic-begins when the steam slnp Blakeley sails from here May 2b, stops at New York few days, and on June su.rts for the spot eight miles off Kipsale Point, Ireland, where the Lusitana went down in 1915.
 The expedition is costing $250,o00 and some 600 stockholders are back ing Leavitt.
 Divers will have to 20 down os5 feet to reach the Lusitania and S15 for the Arabic-twice as far, Leavitt says, as any diver has ever been able to go in an ordinary rubber diving suit.
 But Leavitt has spent six years in- venting his own diving armor. In his first test in 1916 he made the worlds record descent of 361 feet in Lake Michigan.
 Eight diving suits have been built in Leavitt's own factory here at a cost of $2,500 each. The Leavitt suit is made of manganese bronze, a quarter inch thick, the torso and headpiece solid and the arms and legs made of ribbons of bronze en- cased in rubber, with ball bearings at the shoulders.
 Hopes to Find Millions.
 Millions in treasure at the bottom of the ocean never has been salvaged beyond depth of 150 feet says Leavitt, because the pressure is too great. Air lines get tangled and no diver can work at that depth more than 20 minutes, with an hour and a quarter to lower and pull up"
 Leavitt says novice can go down in his suit from 300 to 500 feet and remain four hours.
 Air is manufactured within the suit from tube containing cubic feet of oxygen and nitrogen drawn from four-pound cylinder of caustic soda. A valve outlet discharges the air, keeping pure air circulating at least four hours.
 The only line that connects the diver with the ship above will be half-inch non-twisting cable that costs s1,120. Inside this will be a telephone wire connecting with a | transmitter and receivers within the headpiece.
 The diving suit weighs $50 pounds | but the enormous pressure of deep water reduces the weight on the ocean floor to 75 pounds.
 Another Leavitt invention is a deep sea light, a glass globe half an inch thick containing 300-cande- | power bulb. A series of these will be dropped on weights enabling the div l CT to see over radius of seven feet. ,
 The salvage ship will be held di- rectly over the sunken ship by six 5-ton anchors. Aboard will be two tons of dynamite. By electrical de- l tonation dynamite will be set off un- der water to blow open the strong | rooms of the Iusitania and Arabic. |
 Each ship has s5,oo0,o0o in gold bars in her strong room according to insurance records. Leavitt plans to lift the gold to the surface with a 20-ton boom.
 He plans to lift intact the Lusitania pU1Ser Sdl6 WHICH IS eSllllldltu lO contain s1,o0o,ooo in money and jewelry. Very little is believed to be in the purser's safe of the Arabic, which lies 40 miles from the Lusitania wreck.
 Leavitt Is a small stock man, with scant hair and blue eyes. He is 51 and has been diver 25 years. In that time he never had an accident under water-but a few years ago broke an ankle in an automobile ac cident. #.....
 T will make the first trip down to ! the Lusitania," he said.
 After that four divers C. E. Wilson, Madison Marcus. Raymond Moore and | Harold Ericson. will go down two at time in two-hour shifts.
 Commanding the Blakeley will be Captain Charles $. Richards. The ships crew will comprise 34 men and the salvage crew 20.
 Three weeks pleasant weather will | do both jobs,'' said Leavitt We | ought to get through before Sept IS.