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Mechanical “Lobster”

Deep undersea the claws of this tank will rip to the heart of rotting treasure ships.

THERE’S gold down on the ocean floor. Vast fortunes lie hidden in sunken caches, waiting the hand bold enough to stretch down through the dark pressure-packed waters and bring them to light. Now, with the new ultramodern equipment becoming available, treasure expeditions may become big business.

Treasure salvors know the authentic accounts of divers who have recovered immense treasure from sunken galleons, and know too of numerous other sunken craft that still retain great wealth within their rotting hulks. I myself have salvaged many sunken vessels, bringing to the surface much treasure; I, too, have attempted to recover some of the Spanish treasure that remains beneath the Silver Shoals, off Haiti; and I have walked in the sunken city of Port Royal, the fabulously wealthy “Pirates’ Babylon” off Jamaica.
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Frenchman Crosses Channel With Odd Paddle Device

PROPELLING himself through the water by means of a novel paddle device known as a hydrosphere, Charles Flourons, Paris, France, successfully crossed the English Channel from Cape Griz-Nez to Dover.

Flourons’ hydrosphere consists of a ball one foot in diameter with a double-ended paddle, five feet long, passing through the center. The ball provides buoyancy and the paddles furnish necessary locomotion through the water.

Flourons operates the device by lying on his back in the water and turning the paddle with his hands. The trip was made in about 10-1/2 hours. Flourons left Cape Griz-Nez at 10:30 p.m. and landed at Dover about 8:45 the following morning.

Wind-Propeller Sails Proposed For Liners

GIANT fan blades whirling rapidly in ocean breezes are proposed by an English inventor as a substitute for both sails and engines on ocean-going vessels. Mounted high above deck, the whirling propeller would transfer the wind’s unlimited power to the marine screw propellers of the boat.

A working model of the windmill ship was on demonstration at the Inventions Exhibition sponsored by the Institute of Patentees at Westminster, England.

Since the propeller could face into the wind regardless of the direction the ship is traveling, it is believed highly probable that windmill boats could travel directly into the wind.

A generator mounted on the windmill tower could develop current for electric motors mounted on the propeller shafts, or a shaft could be used to transmit the power.

Human Sailboat Swims at Ease
A HUMAN sailboat made his appearance at the recent diving tournament in London. To take advantage of each puff of wind, this water sports enthusiast attached a small sail to his middle, as shown in the photo below, and so equipped, he swims effortlessly.

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WATER WINGS of PLASTIC

The old-fashioned water harness has been outmoded by gayly colored swimming aids.

BY DON ROMERO

A MAN, a boy, and a girl walk to the edge of a swimming pool, dive into the water, swim the full 75-foot length of the pool, climb out at the other end, and briskly follow each other off the three-foot-high springboard, each slicing into the water in a dive which cuts the surface like a knife.

What’s so remarkable about this?

Nothing except that the man is a war veteran whose entire right arm and lower left leg are missing, the girl is a tiny tot who is not quite four years old, the boy is a 10-year-old who has been a victim of severe spastic paralysis since he was a baby. And until three weeks before not one of these people had ever swum a stroke in his life.
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Diver Hunts Sea Monster
Reports of a weird aquatic monster in the waters of White River in Arkansas led to the curious event pictured at the right. Armed with an eight-foot, steel spear, a professional diver clad in rubber suit and helmet was lowered to the river bottom in an attempt to locate the strange creature. So far, however, no explanation of the rumors has been discovered.

UNUSUAL FEAT RAISES TREASURE SHIP

In one of the most remarkable salvaging operations ever undertaken, the steamer Islander, believed to contain $4,000,000 in gold, has been lifted from her resting place in 365 feet of water and placed high and dry on an Alaska beach. Divers reached the sunken steamer and attached cables from a boat on the surface. With these lines the treasure ship was lifted and towed to shallow water. There another surface ship was joined to the first by means of heavy trusses and cables were suspended from the bridge thus formed. With these cables the ship was brought to the surface and beached.

Floating Air Base Has Repair Basin
A giant, mobile seaplane base recently proposed provides a protected basin 150 feet long and eighty feet wide as a landing harbor for transoceanic planes. As shown in a model just completed, the floating base has a commodious terminal at its forward end, while a water gate at the open end of the basin would permit the latter to be emptied for use as a repair drydock.

New Machine Teaches Swimming

LEARNING to swim is easy with a machine invented by Al Kallunki, swimming coach in Oakland, Calif. The beginner lies down on the machine. The legs fit into curved extension. By turning the handles, the beginner’s arms automatically follow the movements of the crawl stroke.

The cranks also operate the leg extension. The legs are pushed upward and back in proper time to teach the pupil to associate kicking with the arm movement.

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Fifty Chances a Day to save a life!

By LEON SHLOSS

EVERY day in July and August an average of 50 persons will drown in the United States. Between May 1 and September 1, no other type of accident will take a greater toll of life, except possibly automobile mishaps, which caused more than 28,000 deaths in 1945 (See PSM, Apr. ’46). The grim race between the two destroyers will be close.

Drownings rank fourth in the annual accident rate, being outstripped by automobiles, falls, and burns, but between May Day and Labor Day they are the prime contender for Public Accident Enemy Number One. This year, a tremendous pilgrimage from the cities to water resorts is expected. Approximately 100,000,000 people will go swimming. Nearly 200,000 will be rescued from drowning. About 10,000 will drown!
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AIRPLANE DECK FOR LINER
Funnels disappear amidships and hinged masts swing downward to clear a spacious airplane-landing deck on a proposed 100.000-ton super-liner. The huge ship would be 1,250 feet long, with a cruising speed of thirty-four knots and a passenger capacity of 10,000. In war time the liner could transport 20,-000 troops and carry its own convoy of airplanes.

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RESTOCKING The OCEAN

Federal Bureau of Fisheries takes unusual measures to bal-ance inroads made by commercial fishers.

C. S. van Dresser

WHAT is probably the largest undertaking of its kind in the entire history of man has recently been completed, for, fantastic as it may sound, the ocean has been restocked by human efforts!

This gigantic task was accomplished by the Federal Bureau of Fisheries which states, in part: “If all of the fish planted by the Bureau in the past fiscal year in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in lakes and rivers were to grow to maturity and be caught, almost every man, woman and child in the United States could have approximately six pounds of fish every week for a solid year from this source alone.”
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