The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-10-21
GaIrs, ghsttRes, AnetOotes, 1T.
DOWN I'M a DIVING BELL.

Haven't you often wondered WnaL Inys~
terious things were hidden in the tar-down
depths of the waves of the great lakes !
Wondered how the bottom looked OF
tie strange fishes; the sensations that a
living man would feel down there in the
moaning waters When you have read
of some good ship, freighted with many
happy souls, plunging down into the dark
depths haven't you wondered how she
rested, and seen, like vision, the pale
ICES, and staring eyes and floating locks
being washed hither and tbither, their I'm
gers clutching stiffiy at one another as the
cold water swept them back and forth
We can see nature In the forest, IN the
air, in all her workings but that OF the
waters. And that is why we seek to
penetrate the hidden mysteries why the
diver who descends into her closed cells Is
an object of awe and admiration. We
who live upon the shore see him IN his
armor often, hear of his successes and
failures. sometimes of his death, and yet
hut few of US know his courage, his en-
durance, his perils, his feelings down there
alone, knowing that he descends with his
life in his hands, and that the waves
above him would gladly chant his death
song for his boldness.
Foremost among the bold divers o. the
lakes is John Quinn, a resident of Detroit,
and, from a long and varied expe&icnce,
eminently qualified to tell the readers OF
the Free Press of the mysteries of which
we have spoken, and with little help to
polish his words, he says:
tsIt is a strange business, this diving.
The danger fascinates some, but the peril
is never for a ,nonent lost sight of. put
On the helmet for the first time more than
ten years ago, and l never resume II
without feeling that it may be the last
time shall ever 60 down. Ot course,
one has more confidence after awhile, but
there is something in being shut up in an
arrlor, weighed down with 100 pounds,
and knowing that little leak in your lite
pipe is your death, should care to Danish
the feeling, for the sight of the clear, blue
sky, the genial sun and the face of fel-
low man, after long hours among the
fishes, makes you feel like one who has
suddenly been drawn away from the grasp
of death. l have had some narrow es-
capes while pursuing my strange profess
sion; every diver has, or has been unu-
sualIy lucky to escape them. / think the
most dangerous place ever got into was
going down to examine the propeller
| Comet, sunk of Toledo. In working
about her bottom, got my air-pipe colled
over a large silver from the stoVen hole,
and could not reach it with my hands
Every time 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 understand his duties, and did
not know what my signals on the lifeline
meant. 1t was two hours and halt be-
fore / was relieved, and there wasn't a
moment that was not looking to see the
hose cut by the jagged wood. It's a
strange feeling you have down there. You
90 walking over a vessel, clambering up
her sides, peering here and there, and the
feeling that you are alone makes you ner-
vous and uneasy Sometimes a vessel
sinks down so fairly that she stands up
on the bottom as trim and neat as If she
rode on the surface. Then you can go
down into the cabin, up the sh-ouds, walk
all over her, just as easily as sailor
could if she were still dashing away be-
fore the breeze. Only, it seems so quiet,
80 tomb like there are no waves down
there-only swaying back and forth of
the waters, and see-sawing of the ship.
You hear nothing from above; the great
fishes come swimming about rubbing their
noses against your glass, and starting with
a wondering look into your eyes. The
very stiffness sometimes gives me chill.
You hear just moaning, waillng sound,
ike the last notes of an organ, and you
cannot help but think of dead men float
inc over and around you. | have 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 seven>
weight feet of water, and it was known
that a mother and child were asleep in
their state-room at the time of her sink
ing. The father begged Of me, and offer