WOMAN DIVER’S ESCAPE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17351, 25 July 1924, Page 8

WOMAN DIVER’S ESCAPE.

SUNKEN SPANISH TREASURE ; SHIP. . LONDON, June 10. j Searching for the treasure lost d 36 j years ago, when the Spanish pay ship ; Almiraiite de .Florence was sunk olf • Tobermory, Miss Margaret Naylor, the | Woman -diver in charge of the oper- j ations, has had. another narrow escape j from death. Operations were only restarted re- j cently, and Miss Naylor went down to j see to what extent the vessel had been • covered by silt since the last dredging j operations. She had not been long in the water j when she found that her diving suij, I was leaking. She signalled u> her i helpers, and was drawn to the sur- j face, but by the time her helmet had i been removed she was in a very ex- i huusted condition, and her suit was i nearly full of water. Miss Naylor, who, although only J about twenty-six, has the distinction of being Britain’s first woman diver, has this year been granted the charter under which the syndicate conducting the operations works by tho Duke of Argyll. A strong, attractive girl, Miss Naylor was specially trained for theseoperations by, Colonel K. M. Ross, who, in 1919, after a search lasting several years, located the wrecked treasure ship, which is reputed to have on board millions of pieces of eight and numerous relics. She has had previous narrow escapes, and once told the “ Daily Sketch •” that after descending she found her telephone was out of order, and there was a misunderstanding about tTio signalling.. Unexpectedly her helpers began to haul her up, with the result tha l b when her foot caught in the bottom rung of the ladder she felt herself getting lower and lower in her diving dress. She thought she would die, but in the nick of time grabbed the lifeline and gave it a jerk. At the same) time she managed to get her foot free and then gradually got herself back into the right position in her diving dress. "When she reached the surface her nose and mouth were bleeding, but, despite protests, she went down again, and then had another thrill. Overbalancing on the sea floor, she fell full length, and was unable to rise. ‘•J.t was just awful.” she said afterwards. “ I shouted to be hauled up, forgetting that the people on top could not answer. However, 1 managed to sliuffie along to the ladder and pull myself up.” She is being* assisted in this season’s operations by Commander Young, an experienced naval diver.