DEEP-SEA DIVING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 162, 10 July 1937, Page 12

DEEP-SEA DIVING.

LUSITANIA'S TREASURES. PREPARATORY TESTS MADE. ,(From Our; Own Correspondent.) _SAN FRANCISCO, June 25. Two deep-sea divers spurred preparations for recovery of the Lusitania's treasures from the ocean depths, confident that the use of helium will conquer the greatest obstacle—"caisson bends." For almost an hour the; divers, Max-E. Ndhl, 6t Milwaukee, Jand Captain John D. Craig, of Long Beach, California, remained in a chamber under a pressure of 421b. to the square inch—equal to the pressure 100 feet under the ocean's surface. .Instead of' breathing mixture 1 of" bx^g«tt ! %nd* nitrogen, they. used almost pure helium. Within the space of two minutes they were "decompressed" to normal atmospheric pressure. The divers said the use of oxygen and nitrogen would, have neqessitated gradual diminution of.pressure over a period of 47 minutes to escape "caisson bends" —crippling, sometimes fatal cramp caused by solution of nitrogen in the blood stream when the change in pressure is sudden. 1 Dr. Edgar Ende, of Marquette University medical school, who participated in the test in Milwaukee, said it was the , first time helium had been used by a ' human being under pressure. I Nohl and Craig said they planned to dive to the Lusitania next August. The liner, which rests approximately 312 feet under the surface near the Irish coast, is reputed to hold gold-and gems valued at 5.000,000 to 15,000,000 dollars.