This marvel was worked by combining electricity and gas. The end of the torch was shaped like a cup, and the gas, driven at a high pressure through the pipe from the surface, reduced all the water within this cup to steam. Set in the centre of the cup was the electric terminal, and by holding it close to the metal plate to be cut an electric arc was formed with the terrific temperature of 6700 degrees! Under it the metal flowed like wax, and the divers were able to cut a dozen round drainage holes through the bulkheads. So blinding was the glare from the torch that even the muddy water was insufficient to stop it, and the divers were compelled to fit masks over their helmets in order to protect their eyes. Meantime the men had been busy outside the ship, and there arose a long line of twenty-one legs, built of steel girders, all along the overturned hull. Shaped like the letter “A,” 30 feet high, they presented a remarkable spectacle, and to gaze under their whole length was like staring at the under-framing of some mighty bridge. Dredging a deep trench at the bottom of the next quay, the salvors sank twenty-one giant blocks of concrete, burying them with 15 feet of clay to make them immovable, and from these blocks they carried strong steel cables over the tops of the legs, and back to twenty-one steam winches set on the quay. When the time was ripe all the winches started to haul on the great legs, which began to lever the liner over. Powerful pontoons and wonderful floating derricks lent their aid, and after a ding-dong struggle lasting a week the liner came over sufficiently for the salvors to put in hand the final phase of the operations. Just as the _Gladiator_ was floated at last by building a large coffer-dam over the deck, so the _St. Paul_ was encased in a coffer-dam from end to end. Came a day when the pumps were set going, and the liner floated once more. [Illustration: _By courtesy of the Merritt & Chapman Wrecking Company_ THE WONDERFUL MAZE OF STEEL LEVERS OR LEGS, SHAPED LIKE THE LETTER “A,” 30 FEET HIGH, ERECTED ON THE OVERTURNED HULL OF THE LINER. BY HAULING ON THESE LEGS WITH STEEL CABLES THE SALVORS MANAGED TO DRAG THE ST. PAUL UPRIGHT] [Illustration: _By courtesy of the Merritt & Chapman Wrecking Company_ AN EXCELLENT VIEW OF THE ST. PAUL AFTER SHE WAS RAISED, SURROUNDED BY THE MAMMOTH FLOATING DERRICKS WHICH PLAYED SO IMPORTANT A PART IN THE SALVAGE OPERATIONS] Salvage men are used to so much that they will tackle almost anything; but even salvage men would not tackle the 200 tons of decayed meat in one of the refrigerators of the liner. So horrible was the stench that they positively refused to go anywhere near. Money would not tempt them to the task. Eventually the trouble was overcome by a diver, who went into the refrigerating chamber fully equipped and was thus able to remove the carcasses without suffering from the offensive smell. It was a happy way out of the difficulty.