HAZARDOUS SALVAGE WORKS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 225, 2 March 1915, Page 7

HAZARDOUS SALVAGE WORKS.

DIVJSSS' HUGE RISKS. EMPRESS OF IRELAND- WRECK.,' 'Although lost some months ago, salvage work on the ill-fated Empress of Ireland has only recently drawn to „a close in the -St. Lawrence River. Probably no sunken wreck has presented a more difficult task for the. salvors than this ship. Originally, the Canadian Government employed a Canadian organisation which made use of facilities invented by Mr William Wallace Wotherapoon, the well-known salvage expert. The latter personally attended to the work, and was a potent factor in its success although the fullest credit must be given to others, and acknowledgment must be made of the splendid services rendered by the British navaf divers who assisted in the hazardous tasks of recovering the bodies of the dead as well, as the mails and the silver bullion stored in the specie room. At the particular point on the St. Lawrence where the Empress of Ireland went down the water is quite 138 ft deet,' to the surface of the soft mud bottom, and high tide increases this by quite 14ft. This means a very strong current, especially at ebb tide, and imposed 4 working period of but thirty minutes at each slack tide twice a day. Apart from that, the water was so cold that the divers' hands soon became numb, and to protect them it was necessary to employ rubber mits. These were of American make And thin enough to enable the diver to guide himself by his sense of touch-—something upon which he has to depend very largely in deep and dark waters.

After sinking, the Empress of Ireland partly righted herself, then heeled over at a very sharp angle, and settled deeply into the mud of the river bed. This added greatly to the perils of the work and made especially hazardous the operations incident to getting througn tlic steel side of the craft and following a devious route into the ship's strongroom. These efforts required that the divers should work at the very unusual depth of 100 ft inside the body of the foundered liner, and to make them familar with their objective, they were previously schooled by means "of a 'cardboard model of the internal structure along their route. Further, that their risks might be lessened, flanking doorways and one wide passage were bulkheaded off in order that the mem should not go astray nor their hose, lifeline, or telephone connections become entangled.

The telephone played an important part in the operation. This telephone gear was of English design, but somewhat improved by American telephone engineering practices. Because of the dangers involved, the divers worked always in pairs; and as soon as one couple came to the surface two more men were immediately ready to carp? on the work. One' of the best things done was that of drilling into the side of the ship and cutting an ample passageway. The men worked upon a piecework basis, and they pushed ahead so rapidly that their rate was but little short of that ordinarily deemed excellent at a shipyard and in the open air. The salvage craft was providc<f"with a compressed air system, and the disers received their air from storage tanks in-; stead of from pumps, as-is the ebromon custom, and there was also fa hospital ov decompression tank such igt-flsed intbe United States in foundation? work ■for skyscrapers. The diving was carried out agreeably to the practices prescribed by the British Admiralty, after certain well-known scientific tests, and while the unusual number of twelve divers were eneaged upon the. Jo7> on?y one man lost his life. He, unfortunate•lv, slipped from the side of the sunken liner and dropped into much deeper water. The sudden application of hydrostatic pressure confused him, and in his excitement, instead of opening his air valve, he screwed it closer, and actually broke of! the little hand disc! After that fatality every valve seal was notched so that air would reach a diver in distress and keep him alive until aid could be sent to him, no matter if he did iamb the valve by mistake. All of the bodies were recovered that could possibly be reached, and this was really the prime concern of the officials of the Canadian Pacific railway; also the bullion and specie in the strongroom were saved; and up to date substantially most of the mail pouches have been brought up to the surface. In addition fo this, the steel masts of the Empress of Ireland, which were a menace to navimtion. wehre cut away with air drills. This entire undertaking marks a notable advance in deep-water salvage operations, and shows that even the dangerous conditions on the St Lawrence will not daunt determined men when guided by thoroughly competent experts.