Evening star., 1935-06-09


~ the $4,000, 100000 hoard in
n the oceans bosom, Ralph S.
Fleming, owner of the Ro-
mano undersea equipment, and
Lieut. Harry E. Rieseberg, formerly
with the Bureau of Navigation and
Steamboat Inspection and authority
on hidden treasure, will soon embark
on a six months expedition aboard
the schooner Constellation. Equipped
with a diving robot" having claw
like arms of steel almost human in
their grasping search and capable of
fathoming depth equivalent to the
mile high Mount Mitchell. these ad
venturers may compel the fanciful
Treasure Islands" of Robert Louis
Stevensons era to yield up their
riches.
Approximately one eighth of the
worlds gold and silver in treasure is
lying at the bottom of the sea, where
buccaneers, pirates and war have left
1t. In this magic underwater world
lie rotting hulks and rusted ships
comparable to the legend of the
Sargasso Sea. Until recently recov-
ery of the contents of those ships now
living in the greater depths was
perilous challenge to salvors. Mans
inability to cope with the great pres
sure at such depths and his meager
diving equipment of the past century
made 1t appear that their treasures
were to remain forever beyond the
reach of human skill and resources.
In the past millions of dollars in
treasure -trove have been retrieved by
various methods from hundreds of
wrecks sunk in less than 800 feet Of
water. but the really valuable OBJ
jectives still lie far below this depth.
Nov, however, the hope OF salvag-
ing the bulk of the billions in
treasure lying in these sunken wrecks
invention of the late Eugene j. Ro-
mano. This equipment is capable of
dropping full 800 fathoms-5.000 feet.
or practically a mile-below the muir
Ky waters of the oceans depth. This
robot, or diving bell, is equipped with
air purifiers, oxygen tanks and tele-
phone 1t is Theoretically sealed and
the air pressure within the bell re-
mains, the same at all times. Since
the operator may remain submerged
in the bell for period of Is hours
at time in any depth. there is ample
time for study and observation.
The robot has hyoropneumatic
arms, each feet in length. and capa-
Bile of being narrowed or widened
between the nimble fingers to seize
an object as small as half. dollar
coin, or spread until they are foot
apart and of such strength that they
are capable Of lifting weight OF 1000
pounds. With astonishing f1exilibity
1t is also capable of tying up with
rope or steel cable the objects to be
brought to the surface, and is so
sensitively controlled that man in
side has successfully played a game
of bridge and driven small nail into
a board by operating the mechanical
fingers of the robot.
Equally important as the diving
sphere are the salvage buoys, each
of which is capable Of lifting 100
tons. These buoys make 1t possible to
raise ships any size. 1t only being nee
essary to add another buoy for each
hundred tons to be raised. Heretofore
the lifting of a vessel out of very deep
water has been real problem. The
new equipment has accomplished this
feat by fixing air tanks to the wrecks.
lowering them and then forcing the
water out with compressed air.
IN ADDITION to this device being |
= a deep-sea fortune hunter. it may
rid the world for all time of the hor-
ror of standing by helplessly while the |
crews Of disabled submarines are
trapped and drowned or suffocated |
deep under water. The robot and
salvage bUoys may be able to raise a
submarine within five hours after |
reaching the scene. Since submarines |
are eQulppeu Will phyeoh' Chc VIC"
can live tor several hours after being |
wrecked. This new equipment there
fore, has some life-savine possibilities.
The robots appearance can be Wis
ualized in the words of Ralph S.
Fleming, son-in-law of the dead in
ventor:
ION board the salvage vessel is a
large steel robot or sphere that looks
like some strange man from Mars
1t is almost pear shaped with 9-foot |
be-clawed arms of Steel strange lid
less eyes which seem 10 regard you
balefully.