Page 55 - Eddie Barrington: Early Diving Years

ISSUE : Issue 59

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1992/1/1

w-'''S around the island, on wreck? age, all mixed together. There's one cove there, for instance, where we estab? lished that there's 32 dif? ferent wrecks in one little cove. From one point of the cove to the next is about, no more than a quarter of a mile. Thirty-odd wrecks wrecked within that cove. There's everything there imaginable: diesel engines, steam en? gines, remnants of sailing vessels, old ships, warships, cannons, cannonballs, coins, brass and copper nails. We've identified some of the copper nails: they were manufactured in Birmingham in England in 1796. Wreck of the Adalla on St. Paul's Island (note tents on shore): the steamship Pictou res? cuing the passengers and crew (from a sketch by an officer of the 55 Pictou, 1873). St. Paul's is a wonderful spot. But you'd probably find an older wreck in deeper wa? ter- -150, 200 feet of water--because you have such water very close to the shore. On the north side of the island we were dealing with one steamship there that was wrecked in 1919, called the Chelston. (Ed' die reads from the book.) "She was owned by the Waverly Shipping Co., built by the A. Roger & Co. in 1904. 3687 tons; 357.4 by 51 by 24.2 deep. 343-nautical- horsepower triple-expansion engines.... The British cargo ship Chelston was wrecked on September 12th, 1919, near St. Paul's Island. She was on a voyage to the United Kingdom with a cargo of lumber." She was loaded with spool wood. And the wood is pretty well still there. It's all white birch, 4-foot lengths, and it meas? ures from, square, an inch and 5/8 up to 3 inches. It was going to Glasgow. (That wood) would be put on a lathe, I suppose, and then turned into spools for thread. But that's in about 120 (feet of water)-- well, it starts at 90 and goes down to about 130 feet of water--it's laying on a bit of an incline. The bottom of the ship is there; the sides have fallen outward like so, you know, and the deck down. But the deck was steel beams with wood. So that the wood is pretty well gone, but the cargo is still there. Now, it's a humble- jumbled mess on top. You know, there's sticks stacked like pickup sticks. But as On the Bras d'Or Lakes MacAskiirs Funeral Home Ltd. C. D. Dunlop & Sons Personalized service for over 80 years We encourage inquiries about prearranged funeral service Our office is located in Telegraph House & Motel Chebucto St., Baddeck 295-9988 Yellow Cello Cafe Bakery Pizza >6* ''"' .''' 295-2303 c'' ??>' .'<' .''' Outdoor J Terrace l JFacing the! < Wharf in > [baddeck) l'Vc BADDECK, N.S. 75 km. west of Sydney on Route 105 ALEXANDER GRAHAIVI BELL NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK No Admission Charge Winter Schedule: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Beautiful, Intelligent and Peaceful 3 MAJOR EXHIBIT AREAS: Bell the Man Bell the Experimenter Hydrofoil Hall GUIDE SERVICE AVAILABLE

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