Popular Science Monthly 



393 



pressed air. To each com- 

 partment was led a flexible 

 connection of hosepipe, and 

 through these hoses the exact 

 amount of air desired was fed. 

 When the tanker became too 

 buoyant and threatened to 

 keel over on the other side, 

 the air pressure was released 

 so that the water could re- 

 enter. In this way the ship 

 was nicely controlled. 



All of the pipes centered at 

 a pivoted platform, arranged 

 £0 as to maintain a horizontal 

 position during the righting of 

 the vessel. On the same plat- 

 form was set a standing frame 

 holding a double system of 

 gages with the usual dials. 

 One of these indicated the 

 amount of compressed air 

 available in the several reserve 

 flasks, while the other one, 

 consisting of tubular mercury 

 indicators, showed the air or 

 buoyancy in the different 

 compartments of the craft. 

 The wrecking master had a 

 visible guide of the steamer's 

 internal state and a complete 

 index of the forces he was 

 calling to his service both to 

 move the Gut Heil vertically 

 and to check or regulate her 

 motion laterally. It was as 

 easy as reading the time on a clock. 

 Literally, by a hand's turn, he could juggle 

 the air and water within the tanker so that 

 the rising and swinging of her dead 



She lay on her side in mud, making salvage difficult. 

 The water was blown out of her by compressed air 



How the raising was done. Air supplanted water in 

 the various chambers of the ship, gradually floating her 



weight of many thousands of tons could 



be managed to a nicety. 



Two months of careful preparation 



were required to get everything ready. 

 The ship was then soon raised 

 and righted. Indeed, turning 

 her vertically and bringing 

 her to the surface was but a 

 matter of minutes. Her 

 present owners, after allow- 

 ing for all expenses, have 

 netted a gain of more than 

 $800,000, and the ship is in 

 such excellent condition, in 

 spite of her long submer- 

 gence, that her engines will 

 be able to drive her after 

 they have been cleaned. 



It is such exploits as the 

 above that are making history 

 in the annals of salvage. 



