Submarine Appliances And Their Uses
Deep Sea Diving, &c., &c.

shaft, in which the water had risen about 40ft. Equipped in his diving dress, the brave fellow crept through the narrow passage, full of water and floating débris, and succeeded in closing the door. This daring act enabled the pumps to overcome the volume of water, and the work of completing the tunnel proceeded. worth of Another notable case was the salvage of about ^?io,ooo worth, of silver bars from fromStheer the wreck of the s.s. Skyro. This vessel sailed from Cartagena for London with a "Skyro.” valuable cargo, including bar silver. Approaching Cape Finisterre in foggy weather, the vessel struck on the Mexiddo Reef, but passed over and went down in deep water within twenty minutes, about two miles off the coast. An expedition went out in the same year (1891), but was unable to secure the treasure, and in ^95 Mr. J. K. Moffat, of Bilbao, entered into negotiations with Lloyd’s under- writers, and spent some time in further operations, which had to be suspended owing to bad weather setting in. In 1896 another effort was made with more powerful diving apparatus, and resulted in fifty-nine bars being recovered. The working depth for the Diver was never less than 28J fathoms, or 171ft., and it frequently exceeded this. To Copyright. Photo No. 105. Erostarbe and two of the silver bars which he recovered from the “Skyro.” obtain these bars it was found necessary to blow away the deck with dynamite, which the Diver—A. Erostarbe—did only after great difficulty, owing to the boisterous state of the weather. Work had to be suspended in October, but was again resumed in 1897, with the result above reported. When one takes into consideration the wild and ex- posed position of the wreck, which lies about nine miles south from Cape Finisterre, the strong currents that prevail in the locality, the rough weather that had to be contended with, the fact that the Diver had to use dy- namite to effect an entrance into the cabin where the silver bars were stowed, and that the deck was collapsed to within i8in. of the cabin floor, on the starboard side of the silver, some idea of the dangerous nature of the undertaking may be realised. The Diver reported that when he had finished there was no part of the wreck, fore and aft, standing higher than himself, excepting the engines and main boilers ; it was just a heap of old iron. To Diver Angel Erostarbe was due the greatest praise for the indomitable pluck he displayed in carrying out this most diffi- cult submarine undertaking. rH