The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-01-24

SCDOOu6I 0dFllE LNSQIY-lOTs0 power
boiler in her hold, and steam pump throw
ing 700 gallons OF water per minute. As j
had control of the expedition, with every
thing needful, procured 500 feet of six-inch
rubber hose, and about the ssme of 211-inch
hose. 1 had variety of nozzies made, some
| for boriDgin the sand and some for working
ahead when down in the sand. l also fitted
up twelve-section Groves battery for
blasting purposes. ] will here state that
went with new parties the second time,
not liking the management of the first
parties in settling the salvage;
/ consequently there were two ex-
| peditions the second trip. The old par
/ ties arrived st the wreck soon after / did
! with large and welI-ftted expedition, with
i four old and experienced divers IN common
! kinds OF diving. They, however, met with
! trouble they little expected. 1t was such
| perilOus work that 1 bad to take my life in
my hand and risk 1t with perfect reckless
ness; and l suppose the opposition that ex-
| isted between these two expeditions was as
4 bitter as could be. The old PARTIES were
sorely vexed because had LETT them, so we
| expected no help from them in case of acei-
| dent or trouble OF any kind. Both parties
/ were armed with cannon, rifles and revol-
vers. Every man went to his work each
morning srmsd. When we arrived on the
ground, l found about fifteen feet of sand
/ on the money. Most of our party advised
/ waiting until calmer sea would carry the
sand on shOres thereby shoaling it over the
| money.
TIE OTHER EXPEDITION
did lie iale spme two weeks, thinking 1
would wear myself out in fruitless at
tempts to get down to the treasure. /, how
ever, persuaded the crew to move the light
and small schooner into position. They lay
long dis;aucel off shore, the sea running
! high at the time, which made it very diff
| cult for me 10 reach the breakers where the
money lay. / made one dive with the hose
OF the new fOrcepump, to see how it would
work, and soon found myself stranded
| bigh on the beaeh, like some unlucky fish.
A heavy sea cone rolling in, catching In the
turn CT the inch hose as it turned into the
water, where 1 vas holding the muzzle. It
flung me high aud dry out of the water. 1
gathered myself up, took look at the boats
| and the walls ofwater that were following
| one another in. and concluded TO unfasten
myself from the water hose and signal for
| assistance on my life line in meeting the
rollers, which old, and then cast myself
| into the sea. i then changed my dress
| throughout, making one of canvas the
rubber being so tight the air made it too
buoyan9 which, by closing the scspe-valve
| for air, could toIce the air out through the
| canvas, thereby preventing the water from
| coming up above the armpits inside of the
| dress. 1 also discarded my boots and ar
| ranged the enormous weight carried as fol-
| lows: l made double canvas belt as wide
as from the hip 70 the armpit, and seWed
| across 1t in such q manner as to make five
pockets, each holding % pounds of shot, and
also made similar belt to be strapped
| around each leg below the knee, TO take the
place Of weighted boots. These also. con-
tanned the same quantity OF shot. My man
| ner of dressing Was as follows: First to
| get into the canvas dress aEd put on the
| shoulder-piece, TO which the dress is fast
| ened, and then seat myself, when the large
/ halt fro I'D az re1o zr15n Ina hxy
| straps over the shoulders; then the belts
were secured around the legs, suspended by
straps sewed TO tha legs of the dress to
which the belts were buckled. Then
TWO LARGE PLATES OF LEAD,
weighing 80 pounds each, were lashed to me,
one in front and ole on the back of my
shoulders, in all making 235 pounds OF lead,
besides the weight OF the helmet. The men
assisted in holding up the weights until
was rolled over the side of the lighter into
the water. Thus. with over two hundred
and forty pounds suspended from my shoul-
| ders, made two dives per day for 90 days,
| averaging from one 20 four hours each. Upon
| discovering box ofgold, never left IL un-
| til it was secured. | also fastened small
| kedge anchor to the water hose, about
| forty feet from the nozzle, thus leaving only
40 feet for me to handle. L usually made
4
tending to the life line for signals, which
consisted of certain number of short pulls
/ for different purposes, as may be agreed
| upon. After being rolled overheard and
slowly lowered to the bottom, would ascer-
1 tain my locality by looking up to see how the
bottom of the boat lay Ia person under water
/ can only see what is in the water, and moth
J ing out of it), and then stagger toward the
) shore over the ridges of land. When hear
I ing the breakers roller would start me on
. 4.na fam cea han h0
stopped short, and would perhaps fall down,
! which was warningto creep the rest of
| distance. On finding the nozzle of the ater
hose l would tie il to me so 1t could not be
| jerked out of arms reach, otherwise might
| be left buried in the sand; and as it was
became fastened in the sand about seven
feet deep, and gave myself up as lost. 1t
happened in this way: On reaching the
locality of the treasure l would sic down,
holding the nozzle, pointing down, between
my legs, and signal for the steam pump to
| start the water. AS soon as hole was cut
under me would enter it, feet foremost
The water would drill hole about the size
| of barrel. At this time descended to a
plate of boiler iron, and in turning the
J stream of water In front of me TO work my
| way off of the boiler plate, became
! FASTENED BY THE SAND
closing around me from behind, which 1T
did almost instantly. My arms were buried
as far as the wrists, my hands being the only
part of me not buried, as solid as If in a
mold and metal run around me. Tue nozzle
had jumped out of my hands and was
swinging at the snd of the rope which was
/ tied to me. The undertow carried 1t back
| over my head, the stream OF water passing
over my head and pointing in shore. 1 was
/ in an easy position, bat being backed so
| solid could not make an effort to clear my
self, or make a signal or receive one, expect
ing every moment that the escape of air
/ would be stopped, thus bursting the air
hose, which would be the end of all. re-
manned in that position over two hours Qt
seemed ages as 1 learned on coming mp,
for when at work under water person has
no idea of time Whatever, and perhaps
| would be there now had not huge roller
come crashing in, strengthening tho water
hose, kedge anchor and all in shore beyond