The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-08-06

LuSltanla hunting himself. He Is
the locksmith Of them all. president
Of the American Association of
Master LOcksmlths, president of the
International Association of Master
LOCksmlthS the lOcksmith whom the
last great European Lusitania-
hunting expedition engaged to go
along IN the hope-should the ship
be found-he would go down and
open safes. strong rooms and the
doors barring grisly sights and may
be a few diamond rings.
After % years. if the hardies OF
the Orphlr lay graphing hook
finally upon the lost ana mighty
vessel. Mr. Courtney said, new trou-
bles Will begin.
Sinking i'm Sand
Somewhere out there in the chan
mel she has lain. sinking deeper in
the sand each day since the after
noon of May 7. 1915. when the
German submarine U-20 torpedoed
her and sent her with 1893 passen-
gers 240 feet to the seas bottom.
Just where nobody knows" Mr..
Courtney explained She was hit
in the stern. She kept going full
speed ahead until the engines were
flooded. Then she drifted. Whered
she COZ Ask the wind and the
tide"
on the Orphir. day in and day
out. now, they are asking the wind
and the tide-but depending more
upon the most modern of scientific
maritime instruments.
Then a day comes Mr.. Court
ney said. Then a day comes. say.
when they find her Then what?
I'll tell you what We had in mind.
and maybe they have. too. Ill tell
you. anyway, what would be good
science on the job
Urges Use of Dynamite
First, he said. a man in steel
srmor over the side OF the salvage
ship. A man sinking through the
green depths to the black depths.
A man with a waterproof bag of
dynamite.
When they're down $50 or 300
feet you cant 60 in from the top.
I mean you'd only wreck things and
lose yourself. You go in through
the side
So a man over the side and down
the depths and at dim portfolio of
the tabled treasure ship. A man
putting his dynamite inside the
portfolio and going up through the
blackneSs and the greenness. back
to the Orphir. back TO the end of a
line. back to a place where with the
pressure of a thumb that dynamite
might be made to rend the depths.
Fear Hidden Munitions
Our company was afraid. even
if we'd found the ship. to do it. We
were afraid to blow out the SIDE OF
il like that because We thought she
really did carry munitions. Any
way. If it's done that way-a hole
blown out of the side of the ship
the salvage ship must move of 2
thousand Yards. No danger then to
the SalvorS."
So it might come to pass. he
thinks. The n2en over the side The
pressure Of the thumb. The electric
impulse into the dynamite. And
vast. Jagged doorway through the
side of the structure now entombing
the brined b,neS OF 1196 men. wom-
en- and children who were drowned
on that Nav day and S5O00,000 in
gold. Sl0O0,OO0 in jewels.
How TO get the treasure?
Il would say, do this q" MI.
Courtney said. 1t was what 1 was
going to DO if we'd been able to find
her"
Use three lines. he said. One for
oxygen. One OF aScetylene gas. One
for air. On another line the steel
incased diver descendS.
Easy as Daylight
He releases the air valve. Two
hundred and fifty feet-perhaps
three hundred feet-below the chop
py surface Of the Irish Channel, the
OH NAdAlL4tl puoAAOS AAAS NotS4 away
from its vent 1t punches a hole IN
the water The diver can work
wherever that valve carves a way
for him
He releases the vent OF his as
Cetylene line. He releases the oXy-
gen vent. He has an aScetylene
torch working as effectively as if it
were daylight on Broadway
so we could slice out the door of
a safe"
Not easily. Not without the con-
slant peril of a line twisting or a
Steel-incaSsd foct slipping TO some
unpredictcI doom. But Scientidcal-
". in a hard thought plan.