That Sinking Feeling

The group Raise the Gunboat spent eight years collecting $220,000 in donations to raise a Civil War gunboat from the bottom of the Tennessee River. But now that Stephen James, an archaeologist with Panamerica Maritime of Memphis, has dived to the sunken boat, the group is rethinking its plans. The wreck is a barge, built at least 10 years after the end of the Civil War, James says. “They are good guys, but not archaeologists.” The group is undeterred. “We think we know where [a gunboat] is,” says State Rep. John Tidwell, a spokesman for the group. “We’ll probably raise this boat for the structural value while we’re trying to locate the Key West. Sort of a shakedown cruise.” (AP) ...Just like a politician: if all else fails, call for a shakedown.