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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New Rotor Ship Sails in Lightest Wind

LOOKING like whirling surfboards, strange new rotors will furnish the power on a boat now nearing completion at Chicago. Laurence J. Lesh, pioneer aeronautical engineer, is designer of the craft.

Unlike the Flettner rotor ship, which attracted wide attention a few years ago, his boat will depend entirely upon the wind for propulsion. No engines will be required to keep the rotors turning, as was the case with the high “chimneys” of the German craft. Once the pointed, vertical wings of the Lesh boat begin spinning, they keep on until the wind dies down or the brakes are applied. The lightest of breezes, tests have shown, will start them whirling and move the ship.

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Kayak Near Disaster in Bout with Whale

TO PROVE that his unsinkable kayak will be a satisfactory lifeboat for trans-ocean flights, Kai Pless-Schmidt recently made a nine-day ocean trip from Faroe Islands to Bergen, Norway. The trip almost ended in disaster only a few miles from its destination when it encountered a school of eight-ton whales.

The object of the trip was accomplished, however, for the mariner proved that an airman, after a crash at sea, might reach safety in this boat. The craft carries three persons and inside there is room for folding rubber boats which it could tow, and thus 32 persons could be accommodated in an emergency.

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CALIFORNIA FISHERMEN WEAR DIVING HELMET
Fishing in a diving suit is the latest sport innovation at Catalina Island, Calif. Equipped with a diving helmet, and weighted down with a lead belt and shoes of the same heavy metal, the submarine fisherman walks out from shore as shown below. His trailing air hose is attached to a compressor on shore, behind him. He carries a long-handled, three-pronged spear with which to kill his catch—if he can. As fish usually are attracted by the escaping air bubbles, the sport is exciting.

Chinese Junk Docks in New York after Two-Year Journey

What is believed to be the first real Chinese junk seen in New York, sailed into the harbor recently, manned only by the captain, his wife and their young son. Built by the captain himself, the strange craft carried its crew safely through all sorts of weather during the two years that were required to make the trip from China. Tied among the smart yachts, powerful tugs and steamers, the small vessel presented an odd sight.

Inflated Trunks for Safe Swimming

AN inventor from Vienna has figured out a way whereby non-swimmers who like to go swimming in deep water may do so with perfect safety. He has perfected a water wing device, shown in the photo at the left, which amounts to a pair of inflated, airtight shorts or trunks. They are blown up by the small air pump when the swimmer is about to take to the water.

Inventor Gets Thrill in Homemade Submarine

His own invention, a one-man submarine, provides thrills for twenty-four-year-old James Bolar, Jr., of Oakland, Calif. He built the ten-foot craft in the basement of his home at a total cost of fifteen dollars for materials, and demonstrated it recently to astonished spectators in San Francisco Bay. Bolar enters a hinged conning tower, which is then sealed watertight by a rubber flap, and lies flat on the floor. A speedboat takes him in tow.

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