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MARINE REVIEHW. 13 Gold and Silver from a Depth of 28 Fathoms, Up to a few years ago it was considered impracticable to conduct diving operations at a depth of more than 100 to 120 feet, but with improvements in the ordinary diving suits the depth at which extensive operations have been carried on during the past year has been increased to 28 fathoms, or 168 feet. English shipping journals give details of two important jobs conducted at this depth during the past summer. In 1891 the steamer Skyro, carrying eighty-eight bars of silver, valued at $45,000 and stored in a spare berth in the cabin, sank in 28 fathoms of water off a reef near Cape Finisterre on the coast of Spain. Her hold contained 700 tons of pig lead, said to be worth $70,000. She was two miles off shore in an exposed position. I. K. Moffatt, an English engineer residing in Bilbao, Spain, attempted to secure the silver dur- ing the summer of 1895, but the diving apparatus which he had at hand was not of the best. One diver was severely punished by over pressure, and a second one, from the same cause, went mad, but afterward recovered his reason. Operations were suspended until July 15 of last year, when powerful diving apparatus had been re- ceived from Messrs. Siebe, Gorman & Co. of London, and a new diver named Angel Erostarbe had been engaged. In beginning operations a strong iron buoy was moored to the sunken vessel, for the double purpose of marking the wreck and as a means of giving the diver a correct line to go to and come from his work at the bottom. Between the above date and Sept. 3, the diver descended forty-four times and recovered fifty-nine bars of silver, the average time of each dive being thirteen minutes. Once he stopped down for forty min- utes, but upon coming to the surface he was taken suddenly ill and his flesh became very much discolored. His injuries were not serious, however, as he was at work again four days later. The air pressure at 28 fathoms was 72 pounds, and a man_.of great stamina was of course required to work under such pressure. While the diying opera- tions were under way there were four men at the pump handles, who were relieved every five minutes, consequently it took eight men to tend the air pump and two men to assist the diver. The air pipe was tested, before beginning, to 120 pounds per square inch. 'The diver's dress itself would probably not stand 20 pounds actual pressure. Shortly after beginning the work, and when thirty-four bars of silver had been secured, it was found necessary to blow up the quarter deck in order to get at the remainder of the treasure, as the upper deck, by pressure, had been forced down to within 18 inches of the cabin deck where the silver lay. The dynamite charge was suc- cessfully fired by electricity, upon the fifth trial. After the charge was fired, great quantities of large fish floated to the surface of the sea, many of which weighed over twenty pounds each. Nearly a ton of these stunned fish were captured and given to the villagers. Curious to relate, when the charge was fired from a small boat moored right above the wreck, no shock was felt by the men in her, whilst those on board several small steamers, which had been removed some distance away from the wreck, felt a distinct shock. Nothing further was observed, with the exception of a quantity of air bubbles that came to the surface ten minutes after the explosion. On the diver going down, he found the water so thick and disturbed that he could see nothing and was forced to suspend operations temporarily. On the next descent he found that the dynamite had removed part of the upper deck, and he succeeded, in three dives, in sending up twenty-two bars of silver valued at $11,000, a Plena day's work. Bad weather then caused operations to be pilepended for the year. All but twenty-nine bars of the silver was recovered. Next year three divers will attempt to bring up alsoa large part of the pig lead. When it is taken into consideration that this treasure has lain sunken for five and a half years on an open coast in 28 fathoms of water, with a strong current, and in face of the full force of all the great Atlantic storms, the difficulties of the undertaking will be appreciated. The current was so strong that the diver was frequently swept away from his work. In such a case he had always to come to the surface, as he could not return to the cabin against it. He always went down and came up by the buoy-line. The diver, a Spaniard, is described as a man of splendid physi- {ue--just the very man for such an undertaking. He carried - with im, when diving, a large knife, and a hatchet to defend himself against sharks and octopuses, if required. Some time ago, whilst he was diving for the harbor authorities at - Bilbao, the crane chain broke, and a large stone came down on his leg, and pinned him to the bot- tom under water. There he remained fr five hours till liberated by another diver, On another occasion, in coming up, he fouled his air pipe with a cork float attached to the buoy rope, 50 feet below the surface. Having a good upward impetus, he was capsized-- turned head downwards--and his head slipped out of the helmet be- low the breast plate. He could neither right himself nor replace his head. However, working with his hands in this reversed position, he freed his air pipe and shot up to the surface feet foremost. His assistant recapsized him and he was no worse for the mishap. He never lost his presence of mind. Asa last resource, he thought of cutting his air pipe, but he found he was unable to reach his knife, being too far down in the dress. Another job, similar to the one just described, is reported from New South Wales. When the steamer Catterthun, bound from China to Sydney, struck the Seal rock and sunk in thirty fathoms, the possibility 'of recovering any of her specie seeméd very remote Still she had $50,000 on board, and the prize was a tempting one. After a long search the vessel was found and two divers, named May and Briggs, set to work. They had to work at a depth of 27 fathoms, in a current running from 1} to3 knots on the surface, and even stronger on the bottom. To preve nt themselves being washed away, they had to fasten themselves to a line attached tothe deck of the wreck. They could remain below only eleven minutes at a time, making five dives a day. They blew a hole in the treasure room with dynamite, but as the opening was too small for them to enter in safety, they improvised long grippers to drag the boxes within reach, where they were placed ina net and drawn tothe surface. After three months' work, interrupted from time to time by heavy weather, they recovered, on Aug. 17 last, the first box containing $25,000 worth of gold. On the 20th, other boxes, containing in all $15,000, were brought up, and, as the wreck showed signs of breaking up, the rest was abandoned. Of the $40,000 recovered, the two divers received $7,500 apiece for their share of the work. Stocks of Grain at Lake Ports. The following table, prepared from reports of the Chicago board of trade, shows the stocks of wheat and corn in store in regular eleva- tors at the principal points of accumulation on the lakes, Nov. 14, 1896: Wheat, bushels. Corn, bushels. Chicago je 2 ee 15,571,000 5,670,000 Duluth s socks mee ea are 4,994,000 2,000 Milwaukee ..... pao. haga 415,000 47,000 Detour = wo Le ee 430,000 37,000 Toledor25 eee ee 775,000 194,000 Buttalo, a) ee oy eee 1,902,000 1,004,000 Total 24,087,000 6,954,000 As compared with a week ago, the above figures show, at the sev- eral points named, a decrease of 1,104,000 bushels of wheat and 167,000 bushels of corn. The Buffalo Forge Co., Buffalo, N. Y., recently received an order for an apparatus to be used for what is probably the largest glue dryer in the world. It involves the use of three steel plate fans, 170 inches tall, having inlets 79 inches in diameter and outlets 634 by 70 inches wide. The wheels inside the fan casings are 120 inches diameter by 664 inches wide at periphery. Each of these fans is driven by a 12 by 14-inch horizontal self-contained center-crank engine of the Buffalo company's make. Each of the fans will deliver at its outlet 150,000 cubic feet of air per minute, at 1 ounce pressure, Each fan is to be supplied with a heater of appropriate size. When it is taken into consideration that the combined capacity of these fans is 450,000 cubic feet of air per minute, it may at once be seen that this glue dryer is the largest one ever erected. The outfit will be installed into the works of Delaney & Co., Philadelphia, under the specifications of Francis Bros. & Jellet, a well-known engineering firin of the same place. Bids for the following work will be opened in the office of the United States engineer at Milwaukee at 12 o'clock noon on Nov. 27: Kewaunee harbor, 425 feet pile pier extension; Mantiowoe harbor,500 feet crib pier extension; South Milwaukee harbor, 180 feet pile pier extension; Racine harbor, 250 feet crib pier extension; Kenosha. har- bor, 250 feet crib pier extension. The Review has excellent photographs of lake ships. a