RECOVERING THE OCEAN'S TREASURES.

Taihape Daily Times, 11 October 1918, Page 2

RECOVERING THE OCEAN'S TREASURES.

A NEW DEVICE, Ever since the day -when wind ana sea swallov.-ed up the first frail vessels in which our most remote ancestors put out from the shore, billions of dollars in gold, diamonds, and precious metals have been accumulating on the ocean's bottom, says tEfe "NewYork Tribune." Especially to-day, since the launching of Germany's submarine campaign, fortunes incalculably great have disappeared into the depths of the sea. The question was how to recover this fabulous wealth, so easily located, yet so difficult to secure. But now comes the announcement of the Efiinger non-collapsible buoyancy tank, of which a writer In "The Marine Age" says:— The device is a tank made of sheet steel only three-eighths of an inch thick. This tank absolutely will noe collapse under any pressure, no matter how far below the surface it may be sunk The water pressure on t!ii* outside of the tank is equalised by the air pressure within. When attached to a sunken ship the Ehinger tank?, will positively raise the wreck to the surface and support it while bein~ towed to the port or until everything of value is removed and transferrer to another ship. "It is planned to manufacture no>collapsible buoyancy tanks, and to begin bringing back these sunken treasures. Competent authorities in maritime disasters state the averagdetph of sunken ships to be but 200 ft Ehinger tanKß operate to a depth c: over 300 feet."