The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-06-26
From Detroit Post, of Thursday.l |


ItrOm U6Lr0u FObt, VI 4uufcuAy't
The PeriIs sfa Diver-A Man In ~ :
masine AFmsr Terribly sunseasea
r A very painful accident occurred yes
terday sft1rnoon, BIZ which Il. + Har
rington, the diver, came near losing MI
fifs and which illustrates the danger
that diver is constantly encounterint
while Under the water Some time
since, while the Canadian gun-boai
Prince Alfred was coming up the river
she came in contact witha vessel iylne
at the old government dock at Windsor
and the muEzIe of one of her brass guns
which was projecting from q port hole
becoming entangled with the yessef'
rigging, It was thrown into the rlger
Yesterday contract was made wlth
Harrington and his partner, Phillips, to
raise it, and they began their work al
l o'clock in the afternoon.
Harrington procured ayawl boat, put
the air pump that supplies him VIII
fresh air while. under the, water,g into
its stern, rowed to the spot where the
gun was lost, adjusted his arm"r, and
went down in forty feet of water. Three
men were employed to work the pump,
while Phillips and Captain Jenkins at
tended the signal rope and the paying
,out. of the air tnbe. 80 Vygl yTvn
For half an hour or more every thing
went along smoothly, and not thought
Of An accident entered the minds Of any
of the crowd who collected to witness
the operation. At length, when nearly
one hundred feet of the tube had been
payed out, it suddenly burst in two
places with q loud report, like the FIR
ing of q pistol. Those in the boat at
once knew the effect it would have up
on Harrington, who was atlthe bottom
of the river and nearly fifty feet from
the stern of the yawl, and every exer-
tioh was made to draw him up. Con-
siderable time, however, elapsed before
it could be accomplished, but at length
his head appeared above, water, and 9
part of the armOr was at once removed
and fresh air admitted.
The weight of his dress, and the neces-
sarily craInped and inconvenient place
in which the men worked, rendered
them unable to lift him out or give any
further assistance. Harrington, though
nearly insensible, grasped the sides OF
the boat and continued to keep his head
above water until Captain Jenkins,
with admirable presence Of mind, order
ed the ferry-boat Essex, which was ly-
ing ut the dock above, to back down,
and from it a line was made fast to the
nearly drowned man, and he was haul
ed upon deck.
The captain then steamed directly
across the river with him and when he
arrived here Harrington received medi
cal treatment, and for time the symp-
toms of entire recovery were very favor
able. But we are sorry to learn that
last evening he was not SO we'll, and
that he is a precarious condition. The
sudden exhausting of the air in the tube
when it burst, and the length Of time it
took to get him to the surface, caused
the blood to burst from his nose, and
ears and mouth, and turned his skin a
dark blue color. His neck and face
were also badly swollen, giving him the
appearance of having been strangled.
Shortly after his dress was removed,
which was done on the ferry boat, he
vomited large quantity of blood and
water, after which he showed signs OF
evident relief. Had not Harrington's
iron constitution been in his favor he
would undoubtedly have perished.