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(Continued From Page One)
That remark is typical of Curtis’
whole unique career. He started
out as a house-mover, but his insat
iable desire to keep trying some
thing harder has brought him a
long and spectacular way since then.
When a Florida hurricane blew a
fleet of ships up on land, Curtis was
the man who moved them back to
sea; he was sent to Nome, Alaska,
to take charge of the shifting of a
giant gold dredge for the Hammon
Company, for a distance of a mile
and a half, and he has dozens of
other equally unusual performances
to his credit.
“It’s just a question of figuring out
how to do a thing,” Curtis explain
ed. “I’ve always been a practical
man. House-moving isn’t taught in
books. You’ve got to figure out a
system for each job you get—and
that’s all I do.”
Lots of other men have also tried
to “figure out a system” for raising
the Islander since the ship went
down in Stevens Passage, 9 miles
out of Juneau, on August 5, 1901,
carrying seventy-two persons to
their end. But Curtis alone was
successful.
The wreck was first located in
1904 and a buoy was attached to
her, but- nothing further was at
tempted until 1909, when it was re
located by the Wiley Brothers, who
succeeded in taking out about four
thousand dollars worth of gold by
using a diving bell.
Curtis was first approached on
the question in 1931. He agreed to
try to raise the wreck, but it was
June 13, 1933, before he actually
left Seattle to begin operations.
He had decided to make the ship
lift herself by fastening her to an
other vessel on the surface and let
ting the tide carry her gradually
up and in, each time it rose.
For this purpose he got the tow
barge Griffson, equipped with forty
heavy duty winches, and towed her
to Alaska with the original diving
bell. First he surveyed the situa
tion with the diving bell and then
he went to work passing lines be
neath the wreck every ten feet or
so and making them fast to the
winches on the barge above. By
the time all the lines were in place
it was possible to lift the wreck
just off the floor of the sea by sim
ply taking all the slack out, and
then the next high tide would carry
both barge and bulk shoreward.
“We had a good tide to work
with,” Curtis explained. “Some
times it was as much as nineteen
feet six inches. But jufet the same
it was a long, hard job. As the bot
tom is anything but even our pro
gress wasn’t steady. Sometimes a
tide would move us no more than
100 feet. The next day we might
go 2,000. But we got the hulk as
far as she would go by the time the
winter storms began to set in. The
wreck was actually touching the
bottom of the barge then>.and there
was nothing to do until we got a
second barge, so we could lift the
hulk between the two.
“As the weather wouldn’t permit
any further operations for the time,
we let the wreck down in seventy
five feet of water and returned to
Seattle. Last April I went back
with the barge Forest Pride, and
streteheji big logs between the two
vessels to carry the wreck.
“We discovered that the hulk had
slipped back during the winter and
was now in ninety feet of water,
but we got to work right away, us
ing the same process as before, and
on July 27, we beached her.”
Then came the big disappoint
ment—the fortune in gold thata had
been expected failed to materialize,
even though every inch of the hulk
was prospected.
_
* NOTICE
The Nome Common Council, sitt
ing as a board of Equalization, will
meet in the office of Dr. Swartz, on
Friday, Dec. 14th, at 8 o'clock p.m.
M. J. Walsh
City Cleric
SHAMROCK CAFE
(Next Door to Board of Trade)
Lunches And
Dinners
Open 9 a.m. To 10 pan.
TONIGHT
TWO SHOWS 7:15 AND 9 P.M.
Dream Theatre
MR. AND MRS. MARTIN JOHNSON’S
“CONGORILLA”
The Only Talking Picture That Was
Made In Africa
ALSO
BING CROSBY
IN .
“The Billboard Girl”
AND
“BURLESQUE” A Comedy
ADULTS .55 Cents—CHILDREN .25 Cents
TWO SHOWS 7:15 AND 9 P.M.
LARGEST EXCLUSIVE HARDWARE
STORE ON SEWARD PENINSULA
Mining and Dredging Supplies
Agents For Lang Stoves and Ranges
Paints, Oils, Glass, Wall Paper, Etc.
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9
Shopping Days . Until Christmas
CHRISTMAS
WILL SOON BE HERE
GIFTS FOR EVERYONE
ON DISPLAY
SATURDAY DEC 8th
TOYS, STATIONERY, FANCY6
WRAPPINGS, TREE ORNAMENTS
AND TREE LIGHTS
A
LINGERIE, HOSIERY, BOOKS
CHRISTMAS CARDS MUST BE IN FAIRBANKS
BY DEC. 13th, IN ORDER TO REACH THE
STATES BY CHRISTMAS.
Orders For Christmas Trees Now Being Taken
A.POLET