Popular Science Monthly 



94 



bronze, which is as strong as steel but not so 

 likely to rust, has enabled the inventor to 

 descend to one hundred and twenty feet 

 below the depth attained in the former 

 world's record of three hundred and sixty- 

 one feet. The great strength of this bronze 

 was found capable of withstanding a 

 crushing pressure of some eleven tons per 

 square foot. In marked contrast to the ex- 

 perience of the three divers who made the 

 former world's record — one died shortly 

 after — Levitt experienced no hardships 

 whatever. The air was supplied from an 

 oxygen apparatus attached directly to the 

 back of the diving suit. 



The body and the head-piece of Levitt's 

 suit are of cast metal and are riveted 

 together. The legs and arms, however, are 

 of canvas so that they can be bent while the 

 diver is working. These are prevented 

 from collapsing under the water pressure by 

 closely wound coils of strong bronze tubing. 

 The water-tight joints at the shoulders, 

 ankles and wrists run in ball-bearings so the 

 pressure cannot cause them to jam. 

 Obviously, the suit must be very heavy. 

 This fact is by no means a drawback, how- 

 ever, since every bit of the armor's weight 

 is required to make the suit sink down 

 straight. After the suit has been assembled 

 on the diver, he is lowered into the water by 

 a steel cable unwinding from a derrick on 

 the salvaging boat. This cable also serves 



the purpose of hauling the diver up after- 

 wards. Small telephone wires form the 

 core of the cable and connect the telephone 

 apparatus strapped to the diver's head with 

 similar apparatus on the salvaging barge. 

 Powerful electric lights and carriers for the 

 loads are lowered with the diving corps. 

 This method will be used in an attempt 

 to salvage the Pewabic, which went down 

 in Lake Huron nearly fifty years ago. 



Dummy Guns and Turrets Train 

 England's Gunners for the Sea 



WHEN England trains her gunners for 

 the sea, she sends them to Whale 

 Island in Portsmouth Harbor. Here the 

 entire island is given over to steel sheds 

 which are built like gun turrets on a battle- 

 ship. The great guns projecting from these 

 sheds are dummies, though they are exact 

 counterparts of those on a battleship. The 

 prospective officers and men are made to go 

 through the exercise of range-finding, 

 loading, aiming and "firing" these guns as 

 rigidly as if they were in a real battle at 

 sea. The heavy steel projectiles are hauled 

 from the magazine by hydraulic and 

 electric cranes just as in an actual ship. A 

 real breech mechanism locks the projectile 

 and its powder charge in the gun while an 

 intricate swivel mounting of steel swings 

 the gun into the firing position. 



The great guns projecting from these sheds are dummies, though they are the exact counterparts 

 of those on a battleship and can be loaded, aimed and "fired" by the recruits in training 



