Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-09-10
Down In q Dlvlng-Bell,

lakess Wondered hpw he bottom looked;
of the strange fishes; the Sensations that
n living mau woult feel down there in the
moaning watcrsp When YOU have read
of some good ship, ireighted with many
happy souls, plunging down into the dark
depths haven't you wondered how she
rested, and seen, like vision, the pale
faces, with staring eyes and floating locks,
being washed hithcr and thithcr their
fingers clutching stitlly at one another rs
the cold water swept them back and forthy
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 de-
scends 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 but few of us know his
| courage, his endurance, his perils, his feel
| ings down there alone, knowing that he
dcscends with his life in his hands, and
that the waves above him would gladly
chant his dcathsong for his boldncss
Foremost among the bold divers of the
lakes is John Quinn resident of Detroit,
and, from n long and varied experience,
cmincntly qualified to tell the readers of
the Free Press of the mysteries of which
we have spoken, and with little help to
polish up his words, he says;
at is n strange business this diving
The danger iascinates some, but the peril
is never for n moment lost sight of, put
on the helmet for the first time more than
ten years ago, and yet never resume it
without feeling that ii may be the last
time shall ever go down. Ofcoursc, one
has more confidence after u while, but
10 IN pl,, ~ To-
armor, weighed down with 100 pounds,
and knowing that little leak in your life
pipe is your death, that no 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 Il 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 escape 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 my air pipe coiled over a
large silver from the stoven hole, and
could not reach it with my hands Every
timel sprang up to remove my hose my
tender would give me the "slack " of the
lid not understSrd his dutiee nnj d,d not
know whot NV signals on the liz. line
meant II was Two 6mrs and n half before
I was reIiaved and tbnrn ysns,'t n nomcnt
That ,,aS not Inokina m ser tho hoso ont
NV, tho ;sgetnd wond II is a Stranro foei,
;pr Won baSyn down tbcrn you ge wall.
inSS over ~" n vessel n,amhor,a r. ,,n or s;Jns
nearing here and there, and The feolino
hat Won ore alone makes Won nervons and
unnosv Sometimes a(vcssel sinks down
so fairlv tbot She stands nm on tbe bottnm
as trim and neat ms if she rode on the snr.
| face Then. Won can ro down into The
cabin. Mn the shro,ids walk all over her,
lust as easily as a sailor could if She were
still dashing away before the breeze. Only
it seems so quiet, so tomb-like; there arc
no waves down there-only swayins
back and forth of the waters, and a see
saving of the ship. You hear nothing
from above; the great fishes will como
swimming about, rubbing their noses
against your glass and staring with won
dCrmg look INTO your eyes. The very
stiffness sometimes gives me chill. YOU
hear Just moaning, wailng sound, like
the last notes of an organ, and you can
not 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 pro
pcller Buclieye, belonging to the Northern
| Transportation Company, went down in
the river st. Lawrence, in seyenty,eight
feet of water ana it was known that a
mother and child were asleep in their
state-room at the time of her sinking
The father begged of me, and Of
feretl me good deal ofmoney, to take out
the corpses, and though / dreaded
the work, at last consentee. had been
all over the wreck two or three times, and
l knew Just where the stateroom was.
The door was fast locked, and I waited a
good while before bursting it open OF
course, dead person couldn't harm you,
but even in broad day. on shore, and peo-
pie around you, don't YOU know that the
sight and presence of dead person brings
up lsolemn thoughts and nervous feel
| ings? / knew how they would look,
how they were 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
| got a orowbar from forwards, and, not
letting myself think, gave the light door a
blowthat stove it in The water came
rushing out, the vessel 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 her child. / knew
how they would look, but screamed cut
and jumped back. Her face was fearfully
distorted, showing how hard death had
been met, and the eyes looked through the
green waters at me in way that made
my flesh creep The child had died easily
its liyid, white face giving no sign OF ter,
ror. 1t was a good while before I fas
tened the line to them and gave the signal
to haul up, and I felt SO Uneasy, that j
was not long in following. This is
one of the drawbacks to any feeling of GU
ri0sitv diver might otherwise have.
never 90 down the hatchway or the cabin
steps Without thinking of a dead man float
ing about there When the Lac la Belle
sunk on St. Clair 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 l was to go down
| IN tho vuraclrI and Sslted me IN fnd thf