Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1874-07-29
An Amateur D..,sr's Peril.
From the New York sun.l

ts~@ az A'eN ANth saul Il
Some time ago a canal boat laden with
steel rails was sunk Off Tivoli, Hudson
River, and the services Of a submarine
diver were required. During his oper-
atoms he was watched with the deepest
interest by the villagers, and a few days
since the telegraph operator expressed a
desire to don the submarine armor. and
60 below to explore the mysterious
depths OF the river, the water being 30
feet deep. The owner Of the armor.
who is an old hand at the business, ac-
ceeded to the operators request, and
arrangements were at once made to
"send him down." What followed is
best described by himself:
Slowly I sank ort Of sight, and during
the first twenty feet Of my descent the
water around me was plainly visible, and
I could also see inside Of the helmet;
could see all Of u foot of outside. Grad
ually darkness came. aud slowly in
creased in intensity until my eyes were
useless. and j could almost feel the
gloom. II was then that I began to feel
uncomfortable. The pressure of water
as I kept going down was tremendous,
and my head felt bad, and now and then
there was n sharp pain in INV ears. Had
also a great desire TO reach bottom. for
II seemed rs though I was poised in dull,
heavy air. Suddenly bottom was reach
ed. when l experienced a great sense OF
relief. and I commenced TO grope about
me. All was still except the roar of the
pump above. every stroke Of which i
could distinctly hear. Air was escaping
from NV helmet fast, as II sounded like
the boiling of a large pot Of water. This
noiss was all AT once interrupted by a
sbarp. snappinp sound. and / felt for
the lie cord. fearing something had hap
peued; but I could not find IL! In
| coming down | carried with me some
,ackI;pc 10 fasten 10 n stump in the bot
tom of The river. In NV descent tho
cpr,an, tprnod me round and round. and
mnch Of The Gearing Including the life.
corl AMI taclIing became eptanpled. 30
tbat when I fslt for the cord. which
7 o,,ht ~ have found Instantly,
4, eonid not be on;cklv separated 40 A 10
vo,t .as;Iy an sonnJ ~ any descrip-
tiop then ceased. and A sense of drowsi-
ness came aver me. / knew that the
escape valve had closed and l was in-
halinp foul air. Finally, securing the
life cord. I signaled for more air, and
could hear the pump run at an increased
speed. hut il was to no purpose, ~ by
constant use the pistons had become No
worn that they could not give the re-
ouired pressure. / became alarmed.
anil Il was bar. 10 breathe, and my
strength commenced TO fail me. Icould
do nothing 10 HELM myself, seemed to
increase in size until my head felt US
tboucb n must burst, and the foul air
/ breathed seemed rs II 1t had been
heated in a furnace. I thought ! should
die. The most horrible sensations CAME
over me. Finally l exhausted oil the
mir from the suit, and then came a tire
mendous pressure ON my body on all
sides. IL was terrible. Ny eyes felt as
though they would burst from their
sockets. My legs expanded, and 80 did
my arms and body. till II seemed a II
they. too, would burss. and then came
Inconsistencies. When reason returned
n soft light seemed to steal over me, aud
I began to awake, and after a time
opened my eyes and found myself OH