Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1901 — NEARLY SUNK BY A RIVET. [ARTICLE]

NEARLY SUNK BY A RIVET.

A tittle Tiling That Omne Near Cousins the I.orh of a Steamship. The strangest story I ever hoard of the sea relates to a copper rivet which was accidentally left In the bilge on the bottom of a ship by the builders, between two ribs, which It rolled back and forth with the motion of the vessel until it had worn a hole through the plates. This remarkable event took place off the coast of Peru. Some years ago" a vessel loaded with guano worth several thousand dollars enught Are in the South pacific and was abandoned by the captain nnd crew, who came ashore In the small boats and reported the disnstcr. “.Tack” Eyre, of the firm of W. R, Grace & Co., New York, to whom the guano was consigned, is a daring fellow, nnd determined to save that cargo If possible. He knew that guano would not burn, nnd it was his Idea that the hulk of the ship might be found floating somewhero at Rea, nnd the vnluable cargo recovered. He, therefore, chartered a small English tramp that happened to be at Callao and started out to search for the derelict. After cruising for two or three weeks he found her, just as he had expected, the woodwork burned to the water’s edge, but the hull sound ns a dollar nnd the cargo all right. They towed her Into Callao, but the day before reaching that harbor the tramp they had fchnrtered began to fill very rapidly, nnd the pumps could scarcely keep her afloat. They narrowly escaped sinking with all on board. The leak was a mystery. They had met with no accident, and thero was no reason to suspect anything wrong with the plates, for the ship had been in the dry dock shortly before she left Liverpool and was rated Al, being only between two and three years old. They managed to get her to Callao only by the greatest exertion, and many a time they feared they could not keep her afloat so long. When the ship went Into the dock and was examined It was found that one of the plates about the centre had worn through. Further Investigation demonstrated that the damago had been done by a little copper rivet which had been accidentally left In the bottom and had rolled back and forth over the samo spot so often and so long that the Iron plate had been worn thin, nnd the pressure of tho water had broken through. Tho mischievous rivet was there and was taken out and preserved ns a curiosity. Shipbuilders tell me that this Is not an uncommon thing. It Is always customary as a precaution to Jnake„a thorough search of the bottom of a new ship for rivets nnd copper filings and other loose metal. Copper filings are especially dangerous, because under certain conditions they are apt to set up a little galvanic battery and do an Immense amount of damage.—Chicago Record-Herald. .