Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-07-12
Under the " alter.


So ~ llaIfN-t l. it--f ItlsIi IIf sfE-
m DIVERS.
The Charleston Nars, in giving an ac-
count Of the wors OF wreckcrs in Charles
ton harbor. says that the irou-cIad il0u~a-
tonic lies ia thrjy->ix feet OF water lust
over tine bar. sixteen mics :ram the city
She rests on hard shell bottom. and lies
northwest and southeast, upright ON her
keel The water ont here Is beautifully
blue and clear. and the divers prosecute
their work with much less difficulty than
at the Wcehawken Her decks, masts
aud rigging have all been eaten away by
the worms, aud little else Is now left of
her but the huge black hull Her propel-
Ter. shaft, chains and anchors aud large
portion of her machinery have been hoist
ed from her by the machine, and also two
of the smaller guns composing her arma-
mcnt. The rest Of them were taken up
by the government several year, ago. The
government has buoy planted about
three hundred yards east-sOuthcast of this
wreck, which enab Is the wreckers to
guess pretty closely As 10 her whereabouts
To render the matter certainty however
Captain Soames, when he leaves her to
come up to the city, ma * her position
with a buoy fastened TO the center of her
hull About twenty feet south Of the
wreck Of the doomed ship lies the hull of
her destroyer. the Confederate torpedo
boat.
She has been visited by the captain,
who reports her to be lyiu. bottom up
wards, and seemingly in good preserya-
=. /
the wings of her dimnutive propeller, now
uppcrmost, seem to be in good running or
der. She did her work effectualy. In
the hull on the port quarter of the huge
ship is Jagged hole large enough to
drive a carriage and pair through. The
heavy oaken ribs and thick planes are
blown in with tremendous power, aud the
IIOusatonic must have gone down with
but little preparation. Her diminutve
but dangerous foe met with a similar fate,
and the two now rest in silence, side by
side, at the bott..ln Of the sea.
! Under the waters the divers see curious
things and make curious acquaintance.
Near the surface Of the water on his way
down, the diver sees sharks of enormous.
dimensions, which seem afraid of the curl
Gus monster thus intruding on their do
main. The sharks are never seen at the
bottom they keep their distance but
the small fry at the bottom are much
more sociable. These swim around the
diver in the most Indifferent manner. and
with a curiosity truly feminine, insert
4 their noses in every orifce in his subma-
rine armor. The irparticular amusement
is to pry into the glass eyes, and at times
they are as troublesome as the mosquitoes
are to US landlubbers. All varieties and
immense quantities of these small fish feed
around on the shells, and their curiosity
renders them easy victims to the insinua-
tons Of hook and bait. At night the
phosphOresecnt sparks in the clear blue
water out at the Housatonc light up the
depths in u wonderful manner, and the d.
yer enjoys the illumination, though he has
not much time for admiring the beauties
of nature. He stays down six hours or
less, as his work renders it necessary, In
rummaging about the ship. the captain
discovered several bottles Of Rhine wine
and ale. He also brought up globuar
brass lamp and several metal mountings
from officers swords. The captain has
also in his possession a massive jaw bone
1t is evidently the lower maxillary of
man but its size am: the strength of the
teeth are wonderful