THE NORTHUMBERLAND

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 January 1927, Page 7

THE NORTHUMBERLAND

fight with water. PATCHING THE HOLES. A BIG TASK. AoooClAl’iO.S—COl? X KiUiii GISBORNE, Jan. 28, Salvage opeiKUUons aboard tbs Jmei ■S art bll mbs rlan cl progress ed tlirougliout> the night. A bnei official »«uelueii.t matte by the salve.ns to-day. in tli rated .an improvement in the. general condition of the vessel, the thud collision mat w&s -adjusted early tins morning and efforts aie. being made to apply an overall sheet which is calculated to consolidate outside repairs, The further programme has not yet been settled, -as it will depend upon the success of the patching. Minor details in connection with salvage hate gone amiss fat times, but. these, difficulties were overcome as they arose, and in general the immediate programme of patching the holes.jn the bull and clearing water from the affected holds lias proceeded steadily and yielded good results. r There are aspects of the vessel s situation,, which have greatly increased the difficulty of repairs, one oi the factors being the position oi holes- These tire just above the turn of the bilge and the mats have to be adjusted with one end under the bottom, of the vessel. Until the pumping has. substantially reduced the level of the water in the holds and increased the ship’s buoyancy, 1 lie tul! . effect of the suction will not he exfercised upon the patches, and. in the meantime, the mats are not drawn close enough to the hull to.prevent the ingress of more v-.ater. It is appaiout. however, that the pumps .are gaining slowly on the incoming water and the. hows of the Northumberland were standing further out of water this morning than at 'any time since she entered port. The powerful pulsator pump from the Calliope dock. Auckland, was put aboard this morning, and with this reinforcement, it is expected the pumping gear will be able to put the water over the side much faster than it can. find its way in through the- patching. It was decided last night to tip a big overall patch of sheepskins sewn on to a canvas support. The Gisborne Sheep fanners’ wool .store staff was engaged all flight .ini making this latter collision mat and the first section was sent to the ship in the early hours'. oi the morning and the .second half of the mai was dispatched later, the intention being to connect the two sections •aboard the vessel, back it with strong canvas and to otherwise reinforce it and, ip.djilst it this, laftefiioon over all three holes. The whole patch will be 4,0 feet square and will comprise from 200 to 300 .-sheepskins. The object of using the skins is to place against the vessel a substance sufficiently yielding to fill all the interstices under the’effect of water pressure from the outside and yet strong enough, with the canvas reinforcement, to resist- the tendency to bulge inward through the gashes. All operations on the outside of the vessel -involve the employment of divers and' the Harbour Board’s expert. Mi 4 , S. Richardson, has -spent nearly as much time below as above the water since the vessel entered port. The physical' strain of this work is marked.