Washington telegraph., 1852-10-13
Di iVing e.

'JoHN GREEN, the diver, under the direction of
M. MaIietert succeeded on his second attempt in
reaching the wreck of the steamer atlantic, in
Lake Erie. The Buffalo Commercial .Adue,fiser,
describing his descent, says: ~
| "Arrayed in his marine armor he descended
without any difficulty and landed directly in the
interior OF the steamers smoke pipe, the top and
sides of which he felt with his feet and hands,
tie was then elevated again some little distance
and allghted the second time on the braces fol-
lowing down until he got up to the cross braces.
He did not, however, succeed in making firm
footing on the deck, owing to the unsteadiness of
the small steamer used upon the OCCASION which
communicated too much motion to the hose and
ropes. There much risk of the intrepid diver
getting entangled in the ropes and woodwork so
as to be able to eXtrcate himself tear the Dress
and being again elevated he descended third
time alongside and clear of the wreck. He now
went down fourteen feet below the upper deck
and even with the guards, his head being one
hundred and thirty-nine feet and his feet one hum
dred and fortyfour feet below the surface of Lake
Erie. This is the deepest dive ever made one
hundred and twenty-six feet being the greatest
depth ever before reached. The new hose was
found to be perfectly successful the diver felt quite
at ease and went down and up without the slight
est injury to dress, pipes, or man.
Ihe marine armor consists of a perfectly air
tight India rubber dress, topped by copper he'll
met with clear, thick plate of glass in 'front.'
lhe pipes which supply and exhaust the air. lead
from the top OF this helmet. The pumping re-
quires much labor; four, and sometimes six men
being employed upon it at the same time and
compelled to work hard at that A great pres
sure of air is experienced by the diver upon his
lungs, equal to IS lbs. to the inch and very few
individuals could bear it for any length of time.
When first going into the dress, the sensation of
oppression is very overcoming. but passes away
In great measure after entering the water
When depth of ten feet is reached in the descent
the dress becomes entirely emptied of air and coll
lapsed to the body causing pressure all over the
diver, equal to the hett of ten pound weight ex-
ceptlng as to the head, which is protected by the
copper helmet The difficulty in breathing now
becomes great. and painful sensation is expert
enced by the diver. the jaws becoming dstended
and the head seemingly splitting. This continues
until after descending another ten or twelve feet
when the pain is relieved, the diver feels comfort
able, and experiences no further Inconvenience
When about sixty feet below the surface hum
dreds of the legitimate inhabitants of the water
surround the diver nbblng at their strange visitor
as though he were food for the fshes.n After
reaching seventy-five feet, all is perfectly dark
black impenetrable darkness-and an electric
flame plays around the inside of the helmet
caused by the friction of the pump. At about one
hundred and sixty feet, the water is verv cold.
being in the present season within four or five
degrees of freezing.
NJ. Maileiert has returned to obtain larger
steamer, and to wait for settled and calm weather
before making another attempt. He has not the
slightest doubt that the next effort will be crown
ed with success.