LAURENTIC’S GOLD.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 October 1923, Page 3

LAURENTIC’S GOLD.

THREE YEARS’ WORK. NEARLY £-1,000,000 FROM A WRECK. LONDON, August 30. Twenty fathoms down, among gravel, sea slime, and weird marine forms oi animal and vegetable life, naval divers, during the past three years, have been extracting nearly lour millions sterling in gold ingots and silver specie from the twisted steel wreckage representing the onec-proud Lj,OOU-um White Star vessel. Laurentic, which a German submarine torpedoed off Lough Swilly in January. 101". When the salving til* the vast treasure on 1 onrd —variously estimated at £8,01,0.000 to £ll).COO.OdO is complete, the formal official story of the diving operations v. ill surpass m romantic interest the wildest imagination of fiction. Ihe gold and silver recovered in the past tluec years is of the following value:

1021 0(10,000 1022 1.2T0.GL0 1023 (up to Aug. 1) 1,0-T7.(i23 Total ... ...£3.817.223 I'll,, salving should be finished next year, but work will be in abeyance until March. 'Twelve Admiralty divers an- engaged in the work, and above them sixty merchant, seamen man the Racer, the salvage ship. This great salvage feat, details of which have been shrouded in secrecy is without equal in the historv of diving.

The Racer steams nut every day L) the buoys which mark the wreck, and at any early hour the first diver descends into tlte depths. Within a minute his heavily-weighted dress takes him to the ocean bed. and then the difficult and slow search begins. Each diver is in telephonic communication with the directors of o| erations in the ship, and immediately reports his find', lie carries the silver specie cu gold liars - each of which weighs between one and two stone- to the special receptacle in which the bullion is raised and when a full load has been obtained the treasure is hoisted on hoard.

I’weiit.v fathoms is a fair depth for salvage work, and with a presstilt of over o3lh to the square inch the diver can safely remain below lor not more than thirty minutes. At such depths the great pressure dissolves nitrogen in the blond and if this is released hv too sudden a reduction cf } russule during the ascent, there is a danger ol bubbles forming in the heart region and causing death. 33 MINUTES TO RAISE A DIVER. line diver’s emergence from ill,, sea. therefore', is as slow as his descent is rapid, and thirty-three minutes should he occupied in raising the man. 'Three times at stated depths there must he pauses, fpst of live, tin'll ten. and lastly of fifteen minutes. Should a diver through loss ol weighted equipment. or through untoward circumstances, Ire brought out. of the water too quickly, the best remedy lies in his quick l.rniisference to a compression chamber, in which the balance ol p:essure is re-torecL II such all apparatus is lacking, fresh weights must Ire attached, and the man thrown hack into the sea. Tlie gieate-ef ca> has been taken lo prevent mishaps to the divers searching the I.niireutic.

Lieut. G. Williams, who is on leave in London, Irvin the Racer, has given an interesting story for publication.

“When I first saw a bar of solid hut iMiburnis!icci gold brought, up iront the wreck," be declared, "I was grcatly surprised. But. lor its weight oi about 1 lib. rote would hardly notice the difference between it and an ordinary red 1 c.l ick —in trie t. I should say lliaL ll it

we;e lying on the roadside you would not trouble to | ick it uj . "As to the usual day's work on board the Pacer, the salvage operations start (weather permitting) at 7 a.m., and continue till 7 p.m. every day. including Sundaes. Although eight clivers are on laiaicl. only one man goes down at a lime. ai;,J he remains below ju-t

an hour. While it lakes only a minute to get to ihe sen-huLtom, forty minutes aie required to draw up the diver in safety to the surface, as tin* water pressure must not lie removed too suddenly. While, the experts think nothing of going below . it is quite a different, matter witli non-divers invited to enjoy the novel experience oi a close pe>-;i al the wreckage. Two of the officer- decided to accept the invitation, but one of them changed his mind when about to Jon the diving suit. The other was somewhat bolder, and not only got ready, hut insisted upon being photographed in diving garb, lie was then hoisted over the side, and had just been immersed up to the neck when lie repented an l yelled that he was being siili’ocal od ; so he w as hauled on dak again. So elided his diving feat amidst tho , beers and laughter cl the others. A GOLD-DIVINING ROD. "One of my interesting experiences was meeting I ’refe-sur Rrooks. the gentleman, who brought on hoard a ] eeeliar ‘divining-ro 1’ designed to show whether die was in the vicinity ol gold or of tile baser metal. It consisted nl an instrument like a spear which tile diver took down with him and plunged into the mud or sand amidst the wreckage. To the spear was attached a wire which connected with a dial oil deck ni! a moveable hand which deflected io td’e right or left, as the ease might ho. t i indicate whether gold or only some Ollier metal was in the immediate vicinity.

‘‘Professor Brooks gave an interesting demonstration to us on deck by having us pine,, our gold-rings in a bath-tub. and the dial of the instrument certainly showed which rings were made of the liner gold, as proved by the carat marks. The lest of the instrument amid, the wreckage caused quite a lot of excitiment at the outset until the sight of gold bricks being hauled up in the bucket lest all its novelty. In Lough Swilly. the chief trouble was the minder ol dogfish that used to float round and obscure the diver's view while on work, lire dogfish is vety hold, ami is the only fish that doe, not fear the diver. Tt repeately comes hack after being slasher, at with a knife. WATER DENSE WITH FISH. "On another occasion toe water wnsi swarming with shoals ol small fish that the divers could not see properly to get on with their wink. A test was made in harbour at another time with a submarine lump, and. although u lighted lip the water and showed ar. enormous number of hsh swiinmi".g about, it was not utili.-ed during actual diving operations. The salvage work has not always been carried on amidst the most favourable weather conditions Sometimes it has been so stormy that „o progress could be made. The work was somewhat risky in rough weather especially- when there was a stiff nor'wester blowing, and there were often very bad seas at the entrance of Lough Swilly. There was rivalry among the divers as to which one made the biggest- total of findings during the week. Tip, luckv mall was always specially complimented by the chief salvage officer. and it went to his record of excellent service.”