Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1860-05-17
MISCELLANEOUS
SUBMARINE EXPERIENCES.

Of the various methods resorted to by
men to obtain Il livelihood, one of the
most unattractive would seem to be that Of
diving, even where 'goodly pearls reward
the diver for the great exposure of his life,
vet the practice is almost as old as history,
and the art Of searching i'll deep waters for
concealed treasures has charm to it suf-
fcent to overcome, in minds of Il Lold and
adventurous nature, the aversion with
which it is generally regarded. Exciting
and novel experience characterize the life
Of the diver, and if these amphibious indi-
yduals would communicate to the world
the varied incidents Of their submarine
lives, not only would their books prove very
interesting reading, but our stock of knowl-
edge concerning life beneath the waters,
would be vastly increased. In the pur-
suit of the hazardous profession of divers,
our countrymen have obtained distin-
guishcd pre-eminence, as is evidenced by
the success Of the company now engaged
in raising the sunken Russian frgates in
the harbor Of Sebastapol, and by the ex-
poits Of Mr. j. B. Green. Mr.. Green,
who has become a cripple in consequence
OF imprudent exposure while diving on
Lake Erie, has published a narrative of his
experience as diver, which contains
many interesting facts, and is worthy the
attention Of all who would add to their
store Of information on aqueous matters.
Mr. Green's pamphlet is entitled Diving
with and without Armor,' and from it We
gather that lie early possessed a love for
water, and could swim and dive with un.
at Oswego, \. Y, one day in diving for
some trihing articles which had been lost
overheard, led him to adopt diving and
submarine wrccking as a profession, as he
found it was a very lucrative one. For
several years he followed the business with
out the use Of armor, going down to the
depth Of forty two feet, and remaining at
times three minutes under water. During
this period he had not only recovered a
large amount Of property in and about the
harbor Of Oswego, but also many bodies Of
drowned persons. On one occasion he was
successful in quickly recovering the body
Of young lady who fell overheard from a
steamboat, 50 that she was recuscitated, and
he received from the overjoyed father re-
ward Of five hundred dollars. In this con-
nectlon Mr.. Green states that in almost
every case where he went down after bod
les that did not rise, he found them cling
lng to some object at the bottom. Al
though the human body sinks readily
when the breath is first exhausted, it as
sumes another position when decompOsi-
ton begins The gasses which it contains
gFadually expand the body, and becoming
lighter than the water it begins to rise
The limbs, and especially the legs, do not
expand as much in proportion as the trunk,
and therefore incline the body in the water,
until 1t assumes an almost vertical posture.
Says Mr.. Green, 1t is a sight such as
umd souls would quake to look upon-to
see corpse standing upright deep beneath
'Ae waters surface, with its Shiny visage,
swollen CLASSY eyes, and rocking to and fro
Uy every tiny wave that moved the water.
Let Of such are some of the spectres of
the Vastly deep
:. Mr. Green first saw and used armor for
oiVlng in the year 1852, ON Lake Erie,
HSU d pdICS VI ulfSlo VIM "OAS
S;ApIorlng sunken steamer. He adopted
Ae use Of the armor, and afterwards sue
'eeded in reaching the remarkable depth
VI u one hundred and ffty-two feet below
Inc surface of the water This was on
Lake Erie, and in his endeavors tosecure the
Sale ia OF the American Express Company,
!I'' with the steamer Atlantic. He found
I sLs boat entirely clean, apparently, as if
sue We're at her dock. He experienced
much difficulty in moving about, so great
Was the pressure of the water, and as the
S&f,pump used was not powerful enough to
ae aSTP 7, his armor properly inflated, the rush
" 0iood to the head caused sparks ofvari-
Jus hues to fash before his eyes, and he
M afu a constant tendency to fall asleep
"f' Vreen attributes the inconvenience he