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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1938-08-04, Page 7'11H'URSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1938 THE SEAFORTH NEWS a i....yV..•Y9......Y11......dar I up l'eate Monthly Statements We can save you money on Bill and Charge Forms, standard sizes to fir {edgers, white or colors. It will ,pay you to see our samples. Also 'best quality Metal Hinged See- tional Post Binders and Index. t Ememola The Seaforth News Phone 84 i l 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 a •-�w�'ns-�e.s.--mon---'au.'-Nw--.ru-cru-.�eu�rw—�O SALVAGE The pilot of the daily plane which' links 'the Scottish mainland with the Orkney Its'lands, playfully :p•ushed the joystick forward and seat the little DeHavilland hurtling down towards the froth -capped waters of the 'Pent- land Firth. "Hold your hat ont" he shouted. 'I'm going in 'for a landing." A quarter 'c{ a mile ahead the first island .of the 'Orkneys, its grey cliffs awash with foam as they breasted an eltlb-tide racing at' ten knots from 'the Atlantic to the North Sea, dappled in the 'bright Spring sunshine. Aad be- hind it 'Orkney's "mainland," barely twenty miles in length, 'curved like a 'boomerang to form that inland sea. known to.all students of naval history as Scapa Flow. Scapa Flow. Base of the British. Navy during the great war. The base to 'which the German high seas ,fleet sailed in surrender after rhe 'conclu- sion of hostilities. And the base where, one .afternoon six months ,lat- eer, those mighty fighting ships slowly sank to the sandy shore twenty-fou'r fathoms 'below, after their officers had scuttled them sooner than burn 'them over to the enemy. We could see them as the plane banked towards the landing field at Stromness> stodgy (black 'patches, mottling the 'broad sweep 'of 'calm green sea. "Twenty-five ,thousand tons -some of those battleships down there," shouted Smith. "You wouldn't think it'•d be possible to raise hulks as big as that, would you? The Ger- mans certainly didn't when they sent them down. Thought they'd 'gone for- ever." But a British •firm with headquar- ters on the little island of ,Hoy has already rescued a dozen of those huge ironclad monsters 'front their watery graves, It has 'rescued thein even though they lay 111410 feet below bhe surface of Scapa Flow, upside down. And upside down, it has towed them 400 miles south to be 'bro'ken up at Rosyth, in the Firth of Forth, to provide steel +for Britain's rearma- ment programme, r.. PAGE SEVEN Hoy has a normal population of '11510 -farmers and 'fishermen, most of them. Since the sal'vage firm set op headquarters on the island the :popul- ninon has trebled. 'Tyro 'h'und'red and fifty engineers, welders, divers and metal experts, drafted from Glasgow, Birmingham and London, have set up house in the tin huts which were used by naval officers as messes during the great war. • Winter and summer :for the past five years those 7190 men have been achieving some of ,bhe most miracul- ous feats of salvage known in modern engineering -history. Working in good weather and in Abad -during weeks of storms which have cut .Orkney off completely from the mainland -,they Nave literally; blown -up from the 'bot- tom of Scapa Flow a 'qua'rter of a million tons of iron and steel vitally needed by Britain to make guns, shells and fighting ships. One of those resurrected 'battle- ships, the B6,000 -ton Friedrich der Grosse, was lying in Lyness Harbour as our launch rounded the point. !Up- side down site 'floated in the calm wat- ers of the fitting -out 'basin, her rusty keel coated with barnacles and growths acquired during her nineteen years' sleep ibeneath the sea. Only three months before the Friedrich der Grosse was a black 'hulk buried in the mud of Scapa Flow, four miles out front land. She was 1140 feet down from the surface of the sea. To orditvary people like you and me, the mere idea of raising 216,000 tons of iron and steel from the bed of the sea seems crazy. To taciturn ijohn Mackenzie,' Glasgow salvage engineer in charge of operations at Scapa Flow, it was a hazardous task, but quite feasible. At any rate, they had done it 'eleven times 'before, in shallower water, and they saw no reason why they ehou•ldn'b complete the round dozen. The Friedrich der Grosse, like most of the scuttled 'battleships, turned tur- tle as she sank. She was located four miles out from Lyness, lying upside down, with a slight list. Mackenzie's method of raising her was similar to one he had used on eight of the other 'battleships. He was going to seal up every 'hole and aperture in the 'wreck- ed ship, and 'then, through pipes welded. to the Friedrich's keel, he was going to pump compressed air into her so that, "just like a 'balloon, she would lb terst clear of bhe mod and rush to •the surface. In his workshops on the quay at Lyness men had 'been working for tnonths to manufa•c'ture the long pieces of piping 'that would be neces- sary. One hundred feet long, four feet in diameter, these thick iron tubes are known as "air -locks." Four miles out to sea the salvage company's tender was securely 'anch- ored over the wreck, while divers asy tiO 091 HERE'S THE OFFER What could be more complete than a combina, tion offer that gives you a choke of your favourite magazines—Sends you your local newspaper— and gives yourself and family enjoyment and entertainment throughou+ the whole year — Why not take advantage of this remarkable offer that means a real saving in money to you? This Offer Fully Guaranteed All Rertewals Will Be Extended MAB. HOS COUPON TODAY Please clip dist of Magazines after checking Publications desired. Sill out coupon carefully. Gentlemen: I enclose $ Please send the the three magazines checked with a year's subscription to your newspaper, NAME... ............. STREET OR RR TOWN AND PROVINCE : acR WGtH t,i, THIS iIEWSPAPE ALL'' FOR nag PR/CCF THE SEAFORTH NEWS SEAFORTH, ONTARIO. moved over the 'battleship's keel, ease- folly testing the 'thickness of the armour -,plating. The air -locks ready, they were .Ping one by one on to a giant floating pontoon and towed out to the wreck, 'Once there, the precari- ous task of lowering them on 'to the 'bottom of the Friedrich began. The manoeuvring of a 100 -'foot lengbh of thick iron, which swings like a pendu- lum with each wave, is difficult en- ough under ordinary conditions, but is stupendously difficult in Orkney, where the wind can blow and the waves can lash with a fury equalled in few other places in ,the British Isles. Though the stout, .cheerful divers and engineers out there on Scapa Flow were harried many tunes by storms, forced to take shelter for days at a time, the giant air -locks were lowered, one by one, until they touched 'the keel of the wrecked ship. Once there, divers waiting ;below moved (forward and welded then to the armour .plating. 'Then ropey came to the surface and the .first process with the compressed air began. A giant machine aboard the 'tender began to whine. Air was slowly :push- ed into the length of piping until, gallon by gallon, it drove the sea- water out. Immediately the last drop of water had been pushed hack an air= tight door was 'fixed to the top of the air -lock, to 'keep the pressure up in- side; and workmen, armed with pneu- matic 'drills, then scrambled down the Ladders inside each length of pip- ing and began the long and tedious job of cutting through the outer hull of the battleship. This job done, more air was pumped through the air- locks. This drove the water out .of the tanks which separated the outer and inner 'bottom of the Friedrich. The workmen climbed inside them and continued drilling their way towards the interior of the ship. All this work was being done, re- member, more than hundred feet be- low the surface of the sea, Yet, thanks to the genius of modern en- gineering, which had evolved this method of pumping out the water, the men could work down there in the depths clad ,only in their ordinary clothes. When the inner 'hull, or tank - top, of the Friedrich was pierced, divers took the place of drillers and made their way into the twisted in- terior of the ship, closing up 'bulk- heads, sealing doors, and striving in every way to make the boat airtight. And then :pressure was .gradually increased again. (Thousands of cubic 'feet of air were pushed into the inter- ior of the Friedrich, and foot by foot the water was driven out. The ord- inary workmen advanced with the re- ceding of the water. That is no easy job, this labor in the depths. For the pressure down there was between a5 to VS pounds to the square inch. At 'such a high pressure it was impos- sible for anyone to be down there for more than 1ld hours, followed by two 'hours in the "de -compressing chatn- •ber" 'fitted into the air -locks, where the men waited until the pressure was gradually reduced to normal. The work went on. The amount of labor necessary in the ship was enor- mous. Every bulkhead had to be made completely airtight, and some of them were badly distorted by the enormous rush of water against them when the ship turned aver and sank nineteen years ago. The Last workers came out of the interior of the ship and climbed up the long air -locks to the surface of the sea. The pressure of air was gradually increased once more. And one day a couple of weeks later the German battleship Friedrich der Grosse, which everyone 'had thought dead, 'began to stir in the stud at .the bottom of Scapa Flow. To watch 2+6, - dock tons of iron and steel 'burst to the surface• amid clouds of water, oil and stud is a sight well worth a journey of '800 miles to see, First the bows of the Friedrich burst into view, attd then, after the pumping of store air, the stern cante up -and the Friedrich, though she was seeing it bottomside up, was looking once more on the outside world which she had left on that dramatic afternoon In 111019. Tugs came fussily forward, after the cascade of thud had settled: lines were thrown out; and the 'following day the 'battleship was grounded in shallow water, There, divers went down, placed charges of -dynamite, aril blew off the 'funnels and super. structure. Then the Friedrich was towed to Lyness and work was begun to prepare her for her journey to the Firth of Forth. The air -locks ,had been shortened, and the Friedrich, still upside down, wallowing in the water like a great sea monster, was being kept gloat by the continual pumping of air into her interior. The ifollowing day she was going on her journey to the South, The Zwarte Zee, front Holland, the most powerful tug in the world, was, with the aid of two smaller craft, going to undertake the hazardous job or town ing 'her 400 miles down the North Sea to Rosyth, Tin !ruts had been strapped to the keel in which fourteen of us were to live during the four days which the journey would take. And after that voyage was over, the Friedrich would never see water again -except perhaps, as part of .an- other 'battleship, sailing this time under the 'Union jack, It seemed a sad end for a man o'war with such a stirring history. REMAIN LOYAL How has Spanish rule in Morocco stood up under the strain of two years of civil war in Spain. The Nationalist movement began here, and it was largely due to the loyalty of the Moors that Gen. Fran- cisco Franco was able to enjoy ini- tial successes, say reports from Span- ish Morocco. In actual 'fact the tribes are still as whole-heartedly its favor of the Nat- ionalist cause, as they were at the, beginning. a state of things largely due to the affection in which they hold the High Commissioner -Don Juan Beigbeder, Speaking Arabic flu- ently, thoroughly understanding the Moors, he has served for )113 years in Morocco having 'been in the Moorist Infantry at the time when General Franco was also in the regiment. The aim of his administration is to he both 'patriarchal and despotic. The Moors fighting in Spain are volunteers -a point that is not gen- erally realized. So many kaids have offered the services of themselves and their tribesmen that the High Com- missioner has had to persuade a num- her of them to retrain on the laud. It is no secret, moreover, that many of the Moors who volunteered to fight for Insurgent Spain actually have conte over the border from French Morocco. The Moors its Spanish Morocco seem satisfied, and there i.5 no an- nearance of the country's being hell by force, for except in Ceuta and Melilla, which are part of Spain. there are few soldiers, .Another point that impresses one is the emptiness of the .prisons. 'Noth- ing -annoys the tribesmen more than D. HQ McInnes Chiropractor 'Orifice - Commercial Hotel Hours -Mon. and Thurs. after' Electro Therapist - Massage aeons and by appointment FOOT CORRECTION by manipulation -Sun -ray treat- ment Phone 2129. to be imprisoned for lenses The atrthoritie icy of striking only crime has been con striking hard. As one would expe country, it 'has always the 'cus- tom for the kakis to receive a "rake off"• in their official dealings. In this way 'bitty formerly extorted large sums from the 'tribesmen, but now the amount has been reduced to a mini- mum -this custom cannot be sup- pressed altogether, for it is immemor- ial in the East, and officials feel that its abolition would injure the prestige of the kaids. The absence of beggars provides a new contrast to other parts of Mo- rocco. On :the feast of the Alt el Ilebir, thousands of sheep were dis- tributed, and 'when General Franco's brother lately visited the zone, money was ,given to the poorer people. One of the best Spanish ships is engaged in the transport of the pilgrims from. Mecca. Such are the evidences of the favor of the Franco regime, There are two Moroccan National- ist movements. The members consist of the fgtellectuals-tthose 'highly in- telligent descendants of the Andalus- ian Arabs who, with the assistance of the Spanish authorities are 'fitting themselves to play a 'part in the Gov- ernment of their country -while the tribesmen have little interest in such things and are probably even ignorant of the existence of these movements. Indeed, bhe High Commissioner has no desire to abolish them nor to suppress legitimate national feeling. Street names are written in Arabic, and the authorities have fqunded a university where, since it is the lang- e.age of the people, Arabic is studied its place r'Spanish. The Moors are not encouraged to go and study in Spain, for it is real- ized that many of Great Britain's troubles its India and Egypt have arisen from the activities of students trained in 'England, and the High Conunissioner considers that it is far better to revive the old Arabic culture rather than to graft anything ttzw upon it. petty of - w the ,pol- ;ome grave and then a Moslem Office Boy -"There's a salesman outside with a moustache." Executive -"Tell hind l''ve got •.t tnoustache." "Has the depression in agriculture hit you yet?" "It certainly ltas. I've sent the. elle back to iter parents, the thr, rhihi- ren to the Orphan's Home. •int i"va sold the dog." "1 say, old ratan, that's too had." "Yes, and if things get any w ,rse Im afraid I'll have to sell my car." Customer -Are you sure this parrot can talk Dealer -Talk! Why a woman's club sold 'int to me +because none of the !members ro::l•i .a e a e o -'l INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE OPENS SOON , A new link international travel and commerce. The ,vast Sarnia- Port "Enron 'border bridge q,above) is to 'be officially opened': .tate in August. Inset is a picture of A. C. !rosier of 'Fos.; r -f r„':, th "i;cod. :rill ,Ardbass !tor” slit, has ,been touring Southern Ontario acquaint- ing municipalities with the 'benefits which will remit from the new span'Beside him is the special Oshawa -built Oldsmobile donated for his tour by 'General iiotors Pro- ducts of Canada.