The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-10-22

Remarkable Adventures and Thrill
Ing Experiences by a Woman.-The
Life History OF Female Profess
siOuaI Diver

FTOlu tllc W. L. "olCulS.
At the residence of Captain Beers
late of the Delaware River Submarine
Company, Mercury reporter was intro
duced to q pleasant. faced, dsrk-garbed
sun Drowned lady, who, in her unassum
ing personality, represents the only te
male rival of BoyLon, Sidney Cook, Dean
and other professional divers of the cen
fury.
Twill l detail my experiences toI
publicstion2" she said. with pleasure
| was originally stewardess on the l.. snC
w. l.. steamer California, of which my
husband was head waiter. We left the
steamer and established ourselves in bust
ness in Panama in 1871, but failed anC
went to Mexico, where my husband WA
employed rs diver by the Santa Bar
bara Pearl Fishing Company, operating
in the Gulf OF California. l haye Away
been fond of the water, from being s.
much at sea, suppose, and when we
were established at the head
quarters OF the fishery, on the island o
Santa Barbara, where acted for u time
rs cook for the party, frequently &C
cOmpanied the divers to the scene o.
their operations. From watching then
so often | became quite familiar with the
divers work, and one day the idea struck
me that l would
LIKE TO GO DOWN.
NV husband finally consented TO the ex'
pertinent in shallow water, that Is
where the depth was not more than tt.
teen feet, The experiment of my first
descent WAS not very encouraging.
came up
BLEEDING AT NoSTRILs, MOUTH, AMI
EARS,
and tainted upon reaching the surface
However, preservered, tried it again and
again. and At length became so hardened
to the work that l could remain down As
long as any of the men. In 1874 my
husband WAS sutfocated in his armOr by
the breaking OF the sir-supply tube, and
from that time until the end OF the sea
son took his place In the fishery. 1t
may seem singular to you that l should
tempt the very death which | had seen
my husband succumb to, put | only tell
YOU what every other diver will, that the
fascination of my dangerous trade over
comes every consideration OF peril. l
have seen men brought up so badly IN
Jared that they lay for months IN agony
vet during All that 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 hit drance to
YOUR success MS diverY asked the re-
porter. THAT is to say, not physically
ba. morally. Even the people at the
pearl fisheries, although they knew me
and my ability to do the work, hesitsted
to employ me, and found it absolutely
to obtain work on tie lower
coast until Captain Hartley the chief
diver of Douglas i Co, who has seen
me at work in the Gulf, gave me chance
tor work on the schooner Gsviota. That
vas early last February. The schooner
w.s sunk on a sand bank eighteen miles
from shore, in water water seventy. I've
feet deep, and whenever any wind was
blowing the sea became very heavy.
WIS heartily sick OF the job the first time
| went down, but the men had sneered
nj me so ri the start that
WOULD NOT GIVE VI.
never got TO like that experience, any
w4y, and WAS glad enough when the last
cask of her cargo came up and work was
declared at an end
"Did YOU meet with any peculiar or
dangerous experiences during the con-
tinuance OF this work. asked the reporter
Tie first, and one which nearly cost al!
of our lives, WAS an attack by The Next
cans. Gsvlota had been sunk with load
of Struggled silver. At the time OF the
disaster to the Gaviots the Mexican
authorities were unusually vlgilant, and
it was very difficult TO run cargo OF
SILVER. Alter the Gsviots was sunk, the
owners sent Captain Hartley with sever
Al divers. of whom l was one, 10 attempt
to recover the cargo under the prote2-
ton of sn armed steamer. The MeXicsns
made seven efforts to drive the Amerl-
cans of. One of these attacks resulted
in savage fight, and We had TO abandon
work and run out to sea for few days
From that time forth we had TO be con-
stantly on the alert, but We were not
further mOlested.
A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE UNDER WATER
when the attack WAS made | VA,
down al the bottom, trying TO make last
10 n cask of dollars that was partially
sunk in the sand. We were diving from
tie port side of the steamer, and the
first | knew of the disturbance Wa:
the sudden stoppage of the air supply
occasloned, IS ] afterwards found out, by
the man in charge OF the air pump hsv
ing 10 desert his post to defend himself
Ii came all of n sudden, like flash.
felt n trighttul sense OF oppression at the
chest, and thunderous rumblng at the
ears, while not shiver, rs If had been
SUDDENLY exposed TO the heat of blast
furnace, ran through me. Fortunately
the man at the signal line was still Oh
duty, and he answered my call for help
by dragging me to the surface.
WAS NEARLY DEAD.
NV face was bIack snd stained with the
blood which had started even from the
sockets of my eyes. 1t took an hour to
revive me, and for two days | wss unfit
for duty. If i had been under wafer
two minutes more | would not be here 10
tell the Mercury of the adventure. We
had to blow up the deck of the schooner
twice, in order TO get st the cargo. The
second time sad accident occurred. a
Mexican diver, named Pablo Vasquez,
went down to put the torpedo in posi-
ton. The man in charge of the battery
WAS nervous, and must have pressed the
lever invOluntsrily At any rate he e1-
piOded the charge before Pablo had risen
~ the surface, and
THE Shock KILLED HIM,
although be did lst have scratch On