Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1869-09-18
From the Detroit Advertiser a Triblne
Life Under Water Story Of a
Detroit Diver

IL ~ n AlfaU1e DuNiDeSS, InlS UlNlnR.
The danger fascinates some, but the
peril is never for moment lost sight Of.
put on the helmet for the first time ten
years ago, and yet mover resume it
without fearing that it may be the last
time shall ever 90 down. OF course
one has more confidence after n while,
but there is something in being shut up
in armor, weighed down with hundIe !
pounds, and knowing that little leak
in your lifepipe is your death, that NJ
diver can ever get rid Of And do not
know that ! should care TO Danish the
feeling, for the sight of the clear, blue
sky, the genial sun, and the face Of n
fellow-man, after long hours among the
fishes, makes you feel like one who has
suddenly been drawn away from the
grasp Of death. ! have had some
narrow escapes while pursuing my
strange profession, every diver has or
has been unusually lucky to eecape
them.
think the most dangerous place !
ever got into was going down to examine
the propeller Comet, sunk off Toledo.
In working about her bottom got nv
air pipe coiled over large silver from
the stoyen hole, and could not reach it
with my hands. Every time sprang
up TO remove the hose my tender would
give me .he "slack" of the line, thus let
ting me fall back again. lie did not
understand his duties, and did not know
what my signals on the lifeline meant.
1t was two hours and half before | was
pali nd
that ] was not looking to see the hose
cut by the ragged wood. It's strange
feeling you have down there. You 20
walking over vessel, clambering up her
sides, peering here and there, and the
feeling that you are alone makes you
nervous and uneasy.
Sometimes vessel sinks down so
fairly that she stands up on the bottom
as trim and as neat as if she rode on the
surface. Then You can 90 down into
the cabin, up the shrouds, walk all over
her just as easily as a sailor could if she
were still dashing away before the
breeze. Only it seems so quiet, SO tomb
like; there are no waves down there,
only n swsying back and forth of the
waters, and a see-sawing of the ship.
You hear nothing from above. The
great fishes will come swimming about,
rubbing their noses against your glass,
and staring with wondering look into
your eyes. The very stiffness sometimes
gives life a chill. You hear Just a moan
ing, waiing sound, like the last notes of
an organ, and you cannot help but think
of dead men floating over and around
you.
| have been down especially to rescue
the bodies Of those drowned. About
four years ago the propeller Buckeye
State, belonging TO the Northern Trans
portation Company, went down in the
river ST. Lawrence, in seventy-eight feet
of water, and it was known that a
mother and child were asleep in their
stateroom at the time of her sinking
The father begged me and offered me a
good deal of money to take out the
corpses, and though l dreaded the work,
at last consented. had been all over
the wreck two or three times and knew
Just where the staternom was. The
door was locked, and waited a good
while before bursting it open.
OF course, dead person couldn't
harm you, but even in broad day, on
shore, and with people around you, don't
you know that the sight and presence Of
a dead person brings up solemn thoughts
and nervous feelings? | knew how
they would look, how they were floating
around in the room, and if the father
hadn't been looking 50 wretched above,
there was no money TO tempt me in
there. But, at last, got crow bar from
forward, and not letting myself think,
gave the light door blow that stove il
in. The water came rushing out, the
vessel just tl'en lurched over toward my
side, and out they came, the woman first,
her eyes wide open aud hair trailing be-
hind, and in her left hand she held the
hand of the child. knew how they
would look, but | screamed out and
jumped back. Her face was fearfullv
distorted, showing how hard death had
been made, and the eyes looked through
the green waters at me in 4 way that
made my flesh creep. The child had
died easily, its little white face giving
out 10 sign of terror.
1t was good while before I fastened
the line to them and gave the signal to
haul up, and felt so uneasy that l was
not long in following. This is one of
the draw backs to any feeling of curiosity
diver might otherwise have. never
go down the hatchway or cabin steps
without thinking of dead man floating
about there. When the Lac la Belle
sunk on ST. Glare flats the engineer was
caught in the rushing waters, and no
trace was ever found of his body. His
wife came to me, hearing that | was to
go down to the wreck, and asked me to
find the body if possible. l remembered
this when went down, and went crop
ing through the engine room in momen-
tary expectation of encountering the
body. looked so long without finding
it that got nervous, and had started for
the ladder to go up, when | felt some
thing strike my helmet and gave way,
and chill went dancing over me as |
thought the dead body was at hand.
But, on reaching up, found that had
run against the fire hose, the end of
which was hanging down, and what |
SO dreaded was still hidden beyond my