The Portland daily press., 1869-10-05
Miscellany.


u
danger fascinates some, but the peril iS new
for moment lost sight Of Iput on tne ,, ne
met for the first time more than Ien - fol
ago, and vet never resume it which, Ii ayar
. ING that it may be the last time sr donoa
go down. OF course one has NH in ho;nS
after awhile, but there is s,ina dnso,, Iii,
shut up in an armor, , we'gi that q Gt,lo
ioaa =. Iife-pipe is your death, that no
iuah ~ a o,aer eel rid Of And do not know
nv r sboud care to Danish the feeling for
,ha siabt 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 been drawn away from the grasp
of death. Il have had some narrow escapes
while pursuing my strange profession; every
diver has, or has been unusually lucky to es-
cape them. I.''t
q think the most dangerous place ever got
into was going down 10 examine the propeller
Comet, sunk off Toledo. In working about
her bottom | got my air-pipe coiled over
large silver from the STAYED hold, and could
not reach it with my hand. Every time l
sprang up to remove the hose, my tender
would give me the "slack7 of the line, thus
letting me fall back again. He did not under
stand his duties, and did not know what my
signals OIL the lifeline meant. 1t was two
hours and a half before L was relieved, and
there was not moment that was not look
ing to see the, hose cut by the ragged wood
ATS a strange feeling you have down there.
You 60 walking over vessel, clambering up
her sides, peering here and there, and the
feeling that you are alone makes you nervous
and uneasy. yHa lsn,H ~ 9a 'fl t'i!
Sometimes vessel sinks down SO fairly
that she stands up on the bottom and as neat
as if she rode on the surface. Then you can
go down into the cabin, up the shrouds, walk
all over her, just as easy as sailor could ii
she were still dashing away before the breeze.
Only il seems so quiet, SO tomb-like; there
are no waves down there-only swayng
back and forth of the water and 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 chill,
y GU hear just moaning, wailing sound, like
the last notes of an organ, and you cannot
help but think of dead men floating over and
around you. ouh ,f3ilAa % IL
I bave been down especially to rescue the
bodies Of those drowned. About four years
ago the propeller Buckeye, belonging to the
Northern transportation Company went
down in the river st. Lawrence, in seventy
eight feet of water, and it was known that
woman and child were asleep in their state
room at the time of her sinking. The father
begged of me and offered me good deal of
money to take out the corpses, and though
dreaded the work, at last consented. had
been all over the wreck two or three times,
and knew just where the stateroom was. The
door was fast locked, and l waited good
while before bursting it open. 1ssi I'e Z
hn iOf course dead person couldn't harm you,
but even in broad day, on shore, with people
around you, don't you know that the sight
and presence of dead person brings up SOL
emn thoughts and nervous feelings?- 1 knew
v..,rxr fh.,y.r la1J- At.
around the room, and if the father hadn't
been looking so wretched aboye, there was no
money to tempt me in there. But at last
got a crowbar from forward, and, not letting
myself think, gave the light door a blow that
stove it in. The water came rushing out, the
vessels just then luiched towards 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.
4 knew how they would look, but L screamed
ont and jumped back. Her face was fearf1lly
distorted, showing how hard death had been
met, and the eyes looked through the green
waters at me in way that made nv flesh
creep. The child had died easily, its little
white face giving no sign Of terror.
diver does not like to go down more than
hundred and twenty feet; at that depth the
pressure is painful, and there is danger of in
ternal injury can stay down for five or six
hours at time, at a hundred and fifteen or
twenty feet, and do good deal'of hard work.
In the waters of Lake Huron the diver can
see thirty or forty feet away, but the other
lakes will screen vessel not len feet from
you. et t-,s..q ,5 ,fl.. .l,---..a. a. ls-t.f
Up here you seldom think OF accident or
death, but a hundred feet of water over your
head would set you to thinking. A little Stop
page OF the air pump, leak in your hose,
careless action on the part of your tender, and
the weight of mountain would press The life
out of4you before you could make move.
And you may "ioul" your pipe or line your
self, and in your haste bring on what you
dread. l often get my hose round q stair or
rail, and though am not called cowardlv.
and generally release it without much itroub-
lie, the bare idea of what a slender thing holds
back the clutch of death from my throat,
makes the cold sweat start from every pore.
es=e - --------------------------- n 81 lat
IT is not likely that New England will be
left out in the cold at present. But if that
event should. ever happen, it would not de-
prrVe her OF large representation in Con-
gress. Her sons scattered all over the colln-
try, would find their way to the national
Legislature, and do honor TO their Yankee
birth. Many persons cannot realize what
moral supremacy New England has in the
country. Such persons may find one good in
dication in'the statistics of nativity Of Con-
gressmen. A Philadelphia paper has been
looking up the matter, and finds that of the
sixty Five Senators in the fortietl Congress,
New England furnished twenty, furnished as
follows :: Massachusetts, seven; Vermont fiva:
Connecticut, nine; New Hampshire. four:
Maine and Rhode Island, each two. or. the
two hundred and eleven members of the
House, New England claims fifty-three of her
sons. The number is made up as follows:
Massachusetts nineteen; Maine, eleven; Yer
mont, ten; Connecticut, nine; New Hamp-
shire, four 1t will thus be seen that what |
ever may be the vices of New England, they
are pretty generally disseminated throughout
the country. These twenty Senator'S and
ffty-three Representatives are not only con-
nected with the Eastern States by birth, but
most OF them are in hearty sympathy with
the political principles which arise here
-,.E-I- u L II II u ri b -