The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-10-15
Down Among the Dead Men.
Beneath the Rolling Fares-LJe IN
der Rdter- Tragedies on the Sea-
Hol0 the Fishes Look at a DiUer-
The Story o. Detroit Direr.

ucF VdteF- IFdge0teS on the Ced-
Hol0 the Fishes Look at DiUer-
The Story O. Detroit Direr.
! Il is a strange business, this diving
The danger faseiuates some, but th,
peril is never for a moment lost sigh
! of, put on the helmet for the frs
time more than ter years ago, and ye
I never resume it without a feeling
that it may be the last time shall
ever 60 down. OF course one ha,
more confidence after a while bui
there is something up in the armor
weighed down with hundred pounds
and knowing that little leak in your
Iife-pipe is your death, that no diver
can get rid of. And | do not know
that | should care to Danish the feel
ing, for the sight of the clear, blue
sky, the genial sun, and the face of a
fellow man, after long hours among
the fishes, makes you feel like one
who has suddenly heen drawn away
from the grasp of death. have mad
some narrow escapes while pursuing
my strange profession every diver
has, or has been unusually lucky to
escape them.
/ | think the most dangerous place 1
ever got into was going down to ex-
anime the propeller Comet, sunk of
Toledo. In working about ber bot
tom, 1 got my air pipe eOi!ed over a
large silver from the stOven hole, and
could not reached it my hands. EV-
cry time 1 sprang up to remove the
hose my tender would give me the
"slack" of the line, thus letting me
/ fall back again. He did not under
stand his duties, and did not know
what my signals on the lifeline meant.
/ 1t was two hours and half before l
was relieved, and there wasn't mo-
ment that I was not looking to see
the hose cut by the ragged wood
It's a strage feeling you have down
there. You go walking over vessel,
clambering up her sides, peering in
here and there, and the feeling that
you are alone makes you nervous and
uneasy.
Sometimes a vessel sinks down 80
fairly that she stands up on the bot
tom as trim and as neat as if she rode
on the surface. Then you can 60
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 mb-like there
are no waves down tbere--only
swaying back and forth of the waters
and see-sawing of the ship. You
hear nothing from above. The great
fishes will come swimming about, rub
bing their noses against your glass,
and staring with a wondering look
into your eyes. The very stiffness
sometimes gives life a chill. You
hear just moaning, wailing ound,
like the last notes of an organ, and
you cannot help but think of the
dead men floating over and around
you.
| have been down especially to res
cue the bodies of those drowned
About four years ago the propeller
Buckeye, belonging to the NOthern
transportation Company, went down
in the river St. Lawrence, seventy
eight feet ofwater, and it was known
that a mother and her child were
asleep in their state-room, at the time
of her sinking. The father begged of
mo and offered m0 u gUOd deal Uf
money to take out the eorpses, and
though l dreaded the work, I at last
consented. | had been all over the
wreck two or three times and knew
just where the staie-rOom was. The
DOOR was fast locked, aud l waited u
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 dead person brings up
solemn thoughts and nervous feel
ings? l knew how they would look,
how they we're floating around in the
room, and if the father hadn't been
looking so wretched above, there was
no money to tempt me in there. But
at last l got erowbar from forward,
and, not letting myself think, gave
the light door blow that stove it in.
The water came rushing out, the yes
sci just then lurched over toward my
side, and out they came, the woman
first, her eyes wide open and hair
trailing behind, and in her left hand
she held the hand of the child. l
knew how they would look, but l
screamed oLt and jumped back. Her
face was fearfully distorted, showing
how hard death had been made, and
the eyes looked through the green
waters at me in a way that made my
flesh creep. The child had died easi-
ly, its little white face giving out no
sign Of terror.
1t was a good while before fast
ened the line to them and gave the
Esignal to haul up, and l felt so unea-
sy that | was not long in following.
This is one of the drawbacks to any
feeling of curiosity diver might
Otherwise have. l never 60 down
the hatchway or the cabin steps
without thinking of a dead man
floating about there. When the Lac
la belle sunk on St. Clair fats the
engineer was caught in the rushing
waters, and no trace was ever found
of his body His wife came to me,
hearing that l was to go down to the
wreck, and asked me to find the body
is possible. l remembered this when
[ went down, and / went cropping
through the engine room in momen-
tary expectation OF encountering the
body. iUUkUd 50 long withOut
finding it that l got nervous, and had
started Tor the ladder to 60 up, when
[ felt something strike my helmet and
give way, and chill went dancing
over me as l thought the dead body
was at hand. But, on reaching up, 1
found that L had run against she fire
hose, the end of which was han ing
down, and what l so dreaded was
etiil biddan bavo,J 49, e;~bt