The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-10-19
Thrilling Erpe,iencc of' q Female
DiCer.

At the residence Of Captain Beers late
OF the Delaware Biver Submai inc Com
pany, reporter was introduced to pleas
ant-faced, dark -garbed, suil-browned lady,
who IN her unasSuming pc sonality repre-
sents the only female rival of Boyton. Sid
ney Cook, Dean and other famous profess
sional divers of the century.
Nv Ill detail my experiences for pub
LEGATION ?'' she said. with pleasure. |
was originally st stewardcss on the l.. and W.
!. steamer California, of which my husband
was head waiter. We left the steamer and
established ourselves in business in Panama
in 1871, but failed and went to Mexico
where my husband was employed as a
diver by the Santa Barbara Pearl Fishing
Company, operating in the Gulf of Califur-
MIA. | have always been fond Of the water
from being so much a; sea, ! suppose, and
when we were established at the headquar-
tiers of the fishery, on the island of Santa
Barbara, where ! acted foI a time as cook
for the party, frequently accompanied the
divers to the scene Of their operat ions.
From watching them often | became
! quite familiar with the divers work, and
/ one day the idea struck me that | would
| like To go down. My husband finally con
! sented to the experiment in shallow water,
that is where the depth was not more than
! fifteen feet. The experince of my first de-
| scent was not very encouraging. | came
up bleeding at nOstIilS, mouth aud :,
| and tainted upon reaching the surface.
/ However, | persevered, tried il again aud
/ again, and at length became so hardened
| to the work that | could remain down as
J long as any of the men. In 1874 my huS-
! band was suffucated in his armOr by the
| breaking of The air-supply tube, and from
! that time until the end of the season ] took
/ his place in the fishery. 1t may seem sing
ular To you that | should tempt the very
death which | had seen my husband sue
cunb TO, but | only tell you what every
| other diver will, thai the fascination of my
| dangerous trade overcomeS every consider
alton of peril. / have seen men brought
up so badly injured that they lay for months
i'll agony: yet during all Ihar time were
constantly looking forward to the time
when they could once more brave the fate
they had 50 narrowly escaped"
''Did you find your sex hindu ance to
your success as a diver?' asked the repOv-
ter. THAT is to say, net physically, but
morally. Even the people at the pearl
fisheries, although they knew me and my
, ability To do the work, hesitated to employ
me, and found it absolutely impossible to
obtain work on the lower coast until Cap
tain Hartley, the chief diver of Douglas q
| Co, who had seen me a work iii the Gulf,
gave me a chance to work ou the schooner
Gaviota. That was early last February.
! The schooner was sunk on a saudGank eigh-
| teen miles from shore, III water seventy
five feet deep, and whenever any wind was
blowing the sea became very heavy. | was
! heartily sick of the job the first time |
went dowH, but the men had sneered at
me SO at the start that ] would not give
up. | never got to like that experience
anyway, aud was glad enough when the
last cask of dollars of her cargo came mp
and work was declared at an end
"Did you meet with any peculiar or
dangerous experiences during the coutiiIu-
ance of this work ?'' asked the reporter.
THE first, and one which nearly cost all
of our lives was an attack by the MtNi-
cans. The GaviOta had been sunk with
load of smugglod silver. At the time Of
the disaster To the GaViota the Mexican
authoriiics were unusually vlgilant, and II
was very difficult to run cargo of silver.
After the Gaviota was sunk the owners
sent Captain Hartley, with several divers,
of whom | was one, to at.cmpj 10 recover
the cargo under the III Otectiuu of an armed
steamer. The MeXicans made several ct
forts to drive the Amer leans uff. One of
these attacks resulted IN savage fight,
and we had to abandon work, and run out
to sea for several days From that time
forth we had to be constantly on the alert,
but we we're not further molested. When
| the attack was made ! was down at the bot
| tom, trying to make fast 10 cask OF DOL
lars that was partially sunk in the sand.
We were diving from the port side of the
steamer, aud the fist | knew of the dis
tuTbance was he sHddeu stoppage OF the
air supply, occasiOued, as aftcrwNd found
out, by the man in charge of ihe air pump
having to desert his pus; To- defend himself
| Ii came all of a sudden. like a flash. |
felt "a frigh:ful sense of oppression At the
chest, and "A thunderous fumbiiug at the
ears, while a hot shiver, as il | bad been
suddenly exposed to the heat uf a blast fur
mace, Ian through me. Fortunately the
/ man at the signal line was still duty,
aud lie answered my call for help 10y drag
ging me to the surface. was nearly dead.
NV face las black aud stained with the
blood which had started even from the
sockets Of my eyes. IL took an hour 10 re
vive me- aud for two days ! WAS unfit for
duty. Ii had been under water two MN
utes more would no: he here 10 tell of my
adventure. We had to blow up the deck
of the schooner twice in order to get at
the cargo. The second time a sad acci-
dent occurred. Mexican diver namCd
| Pablo NaSqueZ went down to put The ton
peslo in position. The man in charge of
The battery was nervous, and must have
plcssed the lever involuutarily. Al any
rate he exploded the charge before Pablo
had risen TO the Ifdce, and the shock
| killed him-altbough he did not have a
scratch on him. Pablo was tirstrate
diver One day | remember I've got mp 81,
600, the heaN lest raise made by Que man
during the work.
DO you intend To follow your perilous
calling in this part of the world p asked
| the reporter.
No more of If for me-" said Mrs. Con
sidiue,- shaking her head graVeiy.
4 IIytNG Fly IL a SToNE.-1he New