Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-23
CAPITAL DIVERS
AT WRECK SCENE
Five Sent From Here-One
Is Expert in Curing Men
of "Bends."

Five naval men from Washington
are at the scene Of the S.4 disaster
dispatches from that point revealing
that two Of them. Chief TorpedOmen
Raymond Charles cTug) Wilson a nd
Joseph Elben. went down late yester
day to help attach the air line to the
listening apparatus Of the wreck
One of the Washingtonians at the
| scene. chief Gunner &. l.. Tibbals, Is
one Of the Nays foremost salvage
experts, Another capital man. Chief
Gunner William r. L0ughman. holds
the world record for deep sea diving.
which he tablishcd when he went
down SOC feet in connection with the
salVaging Of the submarine F-4 in
Honolulu. Chief Boatswain's Mate
Roy Harrison Syphax. the fifth man
of the Washington quintette aiding in
81 operations. Is on hand to give the
value OF his knowledge in getting
divers out of the bends" incident to
high pressures.
The three chief petty officers from
Washington have each had 16 years
of service and the chief warrant Off.
GERS have about 10 years each added
service All were awarded Navy
crosses for their work i'm assisting i'm
salvaging the submarine S-51.
Chief Gunner Tibbals was born in
Indiana. July 20. 1884. and is consider
ed one of the foremost experts in the
world in bringing divers out Of 1.-The
bends" Chief GuNncr 1.oughman
was born in New York. April u. 1884,
Chief TorpedOman Eibcn was born
N Hungary and his home IL In Brook.
lyn, \. y. Chief Torpedoman Wilson
was born in Dubuque. Iowa. and his
home Is in Portsmouth, Va. Chief
Boatswain's Mate SyphaX was born in
Putnam. Conn, and there he makes
his home
John William LHeureux. first
class torpedoman. who is an expert
diver and was given Navy cross
for his work on the Sol. was left
behind at the navy yard to render
assistance In sending his colleagues
such apparatus az they may need.
Chief Pharmacist f.. r. Noyes. who
IL chemical and physiological OBJ
server of experiments that are being
carried forward at the navy yard in
pointed oAt today that the divers
working on the S-4 i'm 102 feet OF
water are under approximately three
atmospheres above normal and for
that reason their body tissues and
fluids contain this added amount of
gas. He made 1t plain that every
diver that goes down does not get
the bends"
Christmas Outlook Dim.
The Christmas outlook for the fami.
lies of the Washington divers on tenn
porary duty at the scene Of the So
disaster In less rosy because OF the
absence OF their loved ones and they
ere thinking Of the sad Yuletide that
survivors Of the men who went down
TO death of Cape Cod are facing. The
families OF these deep sea divers. who
are attached TO the receiving station
at Washington In connection with the
experiments I'm deep sea diving. feel
kinship with tho bereaved. knowing
the dangers that their own face when
they go into the depths.
Chief Gunner Tibbals lives at 2l2l
New York avenue. Chief Gunner
Loughmans wife and four children
are al their home. 1416 s street south.
east. waiting for his return. Chief Tor
street southeast. and Mrs. Wilson Is
awaiting word from him. Chief Tor
pedoman Eiben resides at 5O4 r street
northeast. and Mrs. Eiben Is prepar
ing for Yuletide. expecting relatives
to spend the holidays with her. Chief
Boatswains Mate Syphas lives at
1856 w street southeast.
The special unit OF experienced divers
has been In Washington since MAY.
having come here from Pittsburgh.
where experiments were conducted in
connection with the Bureau of Mines,