A SEARCH FOR GOLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 152, 14 November 1912, Page 7

A SEARCH FOR GOLD.

THE GENERAL CUNT'S TREASUKEI. - - -'Mother expedition, ; • > : Auckland, November 11. •'.. The ship General Grant was wrecked in -'a;;cave:in.: the Auckland' Islands on Mav 14, 1860.' The remarkable story ■of he'j loss still-ranks amongthe strange tales of. the sea, but'the fact that lingers still in the memory is that she-.carried/ and I still contains, a.huge' araoiint of bullion. .The;-treasure' is; believed "to be worth j£300;0fl0.. Five salvage expeditions have I gone to the Auckland Islands to recover I the treasure, but all have 'failed. : Now \- another^expedition is afoot ready'to attack the problem, not front the water, but from the air. It'is lio matter of aeronautics, but an ingenious device that has "originated in the mind of a man who 1 follows two 'strangely opposed, yet 'strangely similar callings.' Mr. Victor Berge is by profession a deep-sea diver. Deep-sea divirig as "a continuous occupation is'a deadly trade, and for relief from its,;exaetions he has become also a member of the,tiny band of steeple-jacks who spires and smoke-stocks for the rest. of. .humanity. .He proposes to _di,ve "to, the General Grant, but until he reaches the water he will, be a Steepler Jack, And jn this unique .method, of attacking a. great salvage problem he has a continuous faith that admits, no fear of failure beyond the risk of ill-fortune: The' strange.adventure to be undertaken by about a dozen men is to begin very soon.'.'.ln. a few days Mr. Berge will leave Auckland for Wellington to equip his: expedition for the trip. The work ,at the island, given reasonably good conditions, is expected to take about three . mont'hs. " The cave in which the wreck' lies is a narrow cleft,' roofed soundly' with rock, and very narrow for'its, otherwise large dimensions, and it is in the face, of a perpendicnlar wall of rock . about 400 feet high. The operations wilj commence,at the top of the cliff, where, an air compressor for working pneumatic drills will be set up. The descent ol the cliff will be done by ordinary steeplejack methods by fastening a sectional ladder to its face, and: haying reached, the lip of the cave, Mr. Berge "will commence ~to build a hanging track under tire-roof. Fixtures known as lewises. .will 'be fastened one after another into holes drilled in the rock, and ever-ex-tending platform will be suspended below them. When it reaches a position above the wreck the building of a big ■hanging platform about twenty foot above the water level will be begun. This platform will be the actual centre of the diving operations, and will carry the air i pumps, telephone, and other apparatus. One of the difficulties which have prevented divers from reaching the wreck in .previous attempts is the surging of the water, which washes the air pipe and lifeline back and forth, straining at them and making it impossible for the diver to do his work or even approach it. This Mr. Berge proposes to overcome in a very scientific way. A hole will be made in the platform, and through it will bo lowered a strong steel tube, three feet in diameter, made up of sections, each twelve feet long. The tube will be stayed by adjustable guys, fastened to the sides and roof of the cave. Not only will the guys be made so as to support the tube as it lengthens, but they will also enable the workers to pull its lower end in all directions and fix it above any desired part of the wreck. Through this tube the diver will decend, first to the stern of the vessel, and so into the captain's' cabin, and the bullion room directly beneath it, and afterwards into as many other parts of the ship as he can visit.