Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1868-07-30

and remaining there for hours, must be ex-
posed to perils known to no other calling
The divers dress Is composed OF rub
ber cloth garment covering his body and
limbs entirely, with the exception OF his
hands, which are bare. 1t is clamped by
bolts and screws to copper yoke resting
upon the shoulders The copper helmet is
ofobular. about IA inches high and q foot
IA diameter, and is screwed tightly to the
yoke. 1t has three glass windows, about
four inches in diameter, out OF which the
diver can look by turning his head. He
receives air through an inch tube OF thick
rubber, made expressly for this use. About
200 feet in length of this air tube are used,
one end connected with the air pump. The
air enters the helmet in abundance, the
surplus passing out through valve, which,
working with a spring, yields to the pres
sure within, but allows no water to enter.
The diver has leaden weights OF 20 pounds
each hung upon his breast and back, and
wears shoes with leaden soles, weighing IA
pounds each, to sink him to the bottom OF
! the lake. Under all this dress he wears
double thicknesses of woolen drawers,
socks, and shirts, coats and cap to keep
him warm; for at the depth Of twelve faith
oms, the temperature Of the water is that
of cold springs The "life lint" is now plac-
ed around his waist, and by it he Is let
down to the water and disappears from
view. Each diver has his "tender, who
sits on the ships rail with the air tube in
one hand and the air line in the other At
signals agreed npon, the "tender" calls
out now and then to the engineer more
air, sless air, or other orders as to the
letting down of augers, eye-bolts, chains,
or casks, or tackle to raise heavy weights
from the wreck to the steamers deck.
The divers 90 down in the morning at
seven o'clock, and work till dinner time
after which others take their places until
night
When we were there, one diver, MIR,
Reynolds, was engaged under the guards
of the Morning Star boring into the planks
of her hull with an inch auger, and put
ting in iron eye-bolts, row of which are
put in all around, and to which are to be
fastened the casks to be used in raising
her He worked at this on platform laid
ON the muddy bottom for three hours
without coming up. At a signal he was
drawn up, had talk with Capt Curtis,
and went down for two hours more. The
! other diver, Louis Bouriette, French
Canadian, was engaged In sending up
freight from the main deck. At his signal
the tender sings out to the men at the
hoisting apparatus "hoist away" and then
comes up hundreds of bars of IRON or kegs
of nails, reapers, machinery, barrels OF
sugar and molasses, or crates OF crockery.
He sends up in large iron tub let down to
him hundreds of articles difficult to fasten
to line; guns, the contents Of the kitchen,
and once the wallet Of drowned man
which he had picked up. Twice the divers
have discovered and sent up bodies found
lying upon the deck of the Star.
You can see whereabouts the diver is at
work, as the water directly above him is
almost white with the air bubbles rising
from the escape valve in his helmet.
We had curiosity to know the sensa-
tons ofa diver when in great depths. He
says that at O hundred feet depth, the pres
sure of the water is great upon his body
and limbs He sometimes has bleeding
from the nose on first going down He is
very cold at 70 feet below the surface, but
comes up on the deck and gets more COM
Portable. he can see short distances in a
bright day, with the surface smooth.
Under the guards Of the sunken steamer,
it is as dark as midnight Capt. Curtis
wanted diver to examine the seams under
the guards to see if they had been strained
open. 1t was too obscure to see without
some aid The diver cast about for means.
The new submarine lantern was not at
hand. He found mirror in the ladies'
cabin which he held at such an angle as to
reflect the light from above into the dark
ness under the guards, and made the exam
ination by this means thoroughly. The
submarine lamp invented by Fuller is an
sir-tight lamp, supplied with cir from the
surface through tube.
The raising of a sunken vessel is done
by sending down hundreds Of casks filed
with water These are placed bung down
wards alongside, and fastened to chains
rove through eye-bolts inserted in the hull
by the diver. The air tube is inserted in
the hung, and the imitation drives the wa
ter out. The boilers are also filed in the
same manner, and when sufficient air has
been pumped into the casks and boilers,
their buoyancy oyercomes the weight, and
Lifts IL b whole to the surface. There are
many interesting phenomena connected
with this business, and the opportunity Of
observing them is rare treat
An Excited Mob Threaten to Burn WO-