The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-02

So,n time ago canal boat laden with
steel RIM was sunk of Tfvoli, Hudson
River, and the sefvices 81 spbrhstfne
diver were required. During his opera
Mons he was watched With the deepest
interest by the villagers, and few days
siAcR the telegraph operator expressed
desire to don the submarine armor and
60 below to explore the mysterious
depths of the river, the water being ilby
feet deep. The owner of the armor, who
is an old hand at the business, acceded to
the operators request, and arrangements
were at once made ITO send him down."
What followed is best described by him.
self:
"Slowly I sank out of sight, and during
the first twenty feet Of my descent the
water around me was plainly visible, and
! could also see inside of the helmet;
could see all Of foot off outside.
Gradually darkness came and slowly in
creased in intensity, until my eyes were
useless, and could almost feel the
gloom. 1t was then that began to feel
uncomfortable. The pressure of the
water as kept going down was ire
mendcus, and my head felt bad and NOW
and then there was a sharp pain in my
ears. Had also great desire to reach
battotn, for it seemed as though l was
poised in dull, heavy air. Suddenly bot
tom was reached, when l experienced a
great sense Of relief and l commenced to
grope about me. All was still except
the roaring Of the pump above, every
stroke of which ] could distinctly hear.
The air was escaping from my helmet
fast, and 1t sounded like the boiling of a
large pot of water. The noise was all at
once interrupted by sharp, swapping
sound, and felt for the life-cord, fearing
that something had happened; but I
could not find it'll In coming down
carried with me some tackling to fasten
to stump in the bottom of the river.
In my descent the current turned me
round and round, and much of the gear
ing, including much of the life-cord and
tackling, became entangled, so that when
I.felt for the cord, which ought to have
found instantly, it could not he quickly
separated Sc as to work easily. All sound
of any description then ceased and a
sense Of drowsiness came over me.
knew that the escape valve had closed,
and was breathing foul air. Final
ly securing the life-cord l signaled
for more air and could hear the
pump run at an increased speed, but it
was to no purpose, as, by constant use,
the pistons had become so worn they
could not give the requisite pressure. l
became alarmed, and it was hard to
breathe, and my strength commenced to
fail me. l could do nothing to help my
self. seemed to increase in size until
my head felt as though it must burst,
and the foul gas breathed seemed as if
1t had been heated in furnace thought
l should die. The most horrible sensa-
ton came over me. Finally exhausted
all the air from the suit; then came a
tremendous pressure upon my body on
all sides. 1t was terrible. My eyes felt
as though they would burst from their
sockets. My legs expanded and so did
my arms and body, till it seemed as if
they too would burst, and then came un-
consciousness. When reason returned a
soft light seemed to steal over me, and l
began to awake, and after time opened
my eyes and found myself on the surface
of the water. l could see the boat on
which were my friends, but all of them
had weird look and their proportions
were gigantic, the smallest boy among
them SURPRISING in size the famous Car
diff giant
"As quickly as possible was hauled
on board the vessel and the helmet was
removed. The sensation produced by the
admission of the cold air was the same as
that produced by the sudden drenching
Of sleeper with ice water. However,
soon recovered my strength and congrat-
ulated myself on my very narrow escape
from DEATH"
1t seems that after he was let down
the diver who owned the armor was
somewhat doubtful in regard to the power
of the air pump, and finding from the
sense of feeling that he was doing moth
ing on the bed of the river signaled
several times but got no answer. Those
on the vessel saw his countenance change
to ashy white. Then the alarm became
general, and all possible haste was made
to get the diver to the surface.-N. Y.
Sun.