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Show Conquer Bottom of Sea to RECOVER BILLIONS in Treasure Oh.lo Man Descends 361 Feet in Armor Water CANNOT CRUSH ' BILLIONS of dollars in copper, lead, Sold, silver and jewelry lay waiting for . acse v.-bo are able to defy the sea's crushing crush-ing grip. At last man has defied and conquered. con-quered. The man was B. F. Leavitt of Toledo. To-ledo. Ohio, and the test battle was waged in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. In his new diving armor, Mr. Leavitt descended to the depth of 361 feet, remained re-mained on the bottom for forty-five mln- -utes and was then hauled to the surface. He experienced no such injuries as did those who established the former world record, which was 236 feet. In the making of this former record there were three dlv- crg two of whom were physical wrecks r after being raised to the surface and the r third was killed by the extreme pressure. Mr. Leavitt came up feeling as well as when he descended. The Leavitt Diving Armor Company, a corporation having B. F. Leavitt, the inventor, in-ventor, as president, is going to salvage the ' Pewabic, a steamer sunk in Lake Huron Cfty years ago, and containing 250 tons of copper, as soon as the lakes are cleared of ice. After completing operations on the Pewabic Pe-wabic the company will turn its attention to the salvage of the many other treasures which lay on the bottom waiting for this successful armor to recover. A few of the most choice are the following: THE LTJSITANIA. sunk in 1015, with more than $2,500,000 worth of gold, jewelry and' other valuables, besides millions of dollars worth of securities.' The Lusi-tauia Lusi-tauia and her cargo have been estimated , to be worth over $10,000,000. THE JAPANESE steamer Yasaka Maru, sunk in the Mediterranean last December with $12,500,000 in gold on board. THE GEELONG, also sunk iu the Mediterranean, Mediter-ranean, with $4,000,000 worth of jewels belonging to the Maharajah of Kapar-thala. Kapar-thala. THE ITALIAN steamship Ancona, vnieh was worth, with its cargo, more than $2,000,000. i THE OCEANA, sunk off Beachy Head in 1912, with $5,000,000 in gold and silver " as part of her cargo. I THE GENERAL GKANT, wrecked off the coast of the Auckland Islands in 1866, part of its cargo being $15,000,000 worth i of gold bars and bullion. KYBO, sunk off Cape Finisterre, with a cargo of $500,000 in silver bars. THE LIZARD, near Cromwell, containing gold valued at $70,000,000. ALFHONSE, sunk off Porte Gando, with $100,000 in Spanish coin. THE MERIDA, a Ward liner, sunk off Cape Hatteras in 1911, with a cargo of silver bars valued at $1,300,000 and $100,-000 $100,-000 in jewelry and cash in her safe. THE ISLANDER, sunk off the Alaskan" ! coast with $2,000,000 worth of Klondike gold. 1 The construction of the new Leavitt armor is different from any diving apparatus ap-paratus previously invented. The metal is ! manganese bronze, an alloy which will not rust, but which has the tensile strength of the steol. Most joints would leak under water if mode loose enough to allow mo- ' tinn and if made tight enough to prevent leakage they would jam under the pressure. Mr. Leavitt therefore uses ball bearing joints at the shoulders, wrists and ankles. Ball bearings could not be used at elbows 1 - and knees and any other joint would either leak or jam, so flexible, hard-rolled, inter- locked tubing, wrapped with pure rubber, I is used for arms and legs. . Inventors who have tried to make a I practical diving armor and have failed have killed several animals by lowering I them In their armors of steel or aluminum A. and have pumped air to them at great fw depths. The pressure necessary to force 1 air such a distance killed the animals just Ss it would have killed a man bad there j been one in the suit, and the poor creatures were pulled to the surface dead. Knowing this. Mr. Leavitt built, on the kick of his armor, a specially constructed 1 sc. " x i "3?v.t 1 H J I' - U e-vd ' "? Is 1 I if f f ' ' r f- . rx 4 - i y 1 I 4 . - t y r;: - irirr ! 1 C4? v s . t i"l I ff" x' f n4 --s x-t . ? The nev manganese bronze diving suit with ball-bearing joints. There is an air chamber in the back, doing away with a hose to the surface. apparatus which furnishes the diver with air for four hours, thus making it possible to work uninterrupted for this length of time. So, with flexible arms and legs, easily movable shoulder, wrist and ankle joints, a supply of pure air, all incorpor ated in an armor which is pressure-resisting and rust-proof, one has all the qualities demanded of a diving armor. For grips there is a pincher contrivance, manipulated from within, which enbles the diver to grasp an object witb much Bringing up sunken cargoes. How the divers work with electric light tar below the sea's surface. They have telephones in their suits, the wire being woven into the hoisting cable. greater strength than, could be obtained by grasping with armored fingers or with hooks. In the helmet, which has four five-eighth-inch glasses for windows, is a telephone, which enables the diver to be in constant communication with the ship and, as there is no noise from escaping air, the use of the telephone is practical. The telephone wire is built right into the raising line, thereby obliterating the chances of communication with the ship being cut off. This cable Is the only line connecting the diver with thi ship, so there is nothing to tangle. The armor is lowered on this specially woven, strong wire cable, by a winch, aa fast as the windlass will work. This is the NEW Principle in Suit Allows Him to Stay UNDER SURFACE For HOURS only diving apparatus with which this can be done, owing to the fact that water pressure pres-sure has no effect upon the diver within. Cooper-Hewitt mercury vapor submarine lights, such as were used by the Williamsons William-sons in their undersea photography, are employed. Just let us compare this new armor with the regulation diving suit now in use. In so doing, however, one must bear iu mind that the present suit is for comparatively shallow water, while the Leavitt armor is designed expressly for deep sea work. First In the canvas diving dress the diver is subjected to the pressure of the water, therefore' its most efficient depth is less than fifty feet, its practical working limit, seventy-five feet. The efficiency of the Leavitt armor does not commence until a depth of seventy-five feet Is attained, and can be made to go down 1.000 feet. The diver is always under atmospheric pressure, consequently he feels no ill effects from pressure at whatever depth he may be. Second Iu the regulation suit the diver must be raised and lowered very slowly. In fact for a depth of say 150 feet It would take fifteen minutes to lower the diver and one hour and forty-five minutes to raise him, due to the fact that sudden change of pressure on the human body causes the formation of nitrogen gas bubbles in the blood. These bubbles, propelled around the heart, stop its action, as will air iu an ordinary ordi-nary pump. Raising and lowering of the Leavitt armor, as stated above, is accomplished accom-plished as fast as the hoist can be worked. Third For the same reason, i. e. pres- sure, a diver in the present suit is unable to remain submerged for more than flfteeD or thirty minutes at a depth of over seventy-five feet, while a man in the new armor can work for eight hours at a stretch if ,necessary. ' Fourth Regular suit Is supplied with air from a pump above through an air line, which is a constant source of danger and trouble. The Leavitt armor, as explained above, is entirely self-contained. |
