Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-09-12
Sn0nGA DiYcrS.n

Just Yet. please, Hilary, hOW1ng gallant
", as was his wont, to the bright face
beside him; = let these sagacious young
people, SO ready to challenge their ell
ders, answer if they can: to them do /
with emphasis address myself, Nov
who, Of this small household crowd, can
speak. advisedly touching the home
place, growth, and uses of my text %
And he held aloft a lovely new sponge.
.''Down the green trcmoulus walls of water =
repeated Bertha, with swapping eyes,
- illons of millions, thus from age to age.
With simplest skill and toll ilnwearable-'"
Laid touch by touch
These amazing editices ;"
Hilary the less added this, changing a
word or SO to suit the demand.
=" Correct, thus far, my wiseacres.
Now we will let Aunt Hilary speak"
And again he paid homage to the gentle
lady.
lies, Bertha and my namesake know
where these busy builders exercise them
selves with cunning craft In the erection
upon lodges and sea-crags of their
small sufficient homes;' beautiful, too,
in our eyes, since III every point of de-
tail and completeness we recognize the
Masters hand. To us only the frame
work is revealed; to divers alone-the
stalwart men who fearlessly grope their
way among rocks and reefs-is it given
to see in their beauty the manifest
mystery Of their peculiar growth and
cunningly poised Judgment IN the silent
chambers of the sea- The real life has
all passed away long before the skele
tons we find so useful are brought TO
market. sr
|Sponge-1iiving is q very serious and
really dangerous business, yet the men
of many families follow the employment
during the season for it year after year,
inheriting, no doubt, a decided fondness
for the perilous enterprise, 4 spirit of
adventure withal splicing the sober real
tiles of heavy work. To supply the
worlds great market many thousand
divers address themselves to the labor.
They must be able-bodied, muscular:
agile. stern of purpose, strong of will,
else nothing could allure them to such a
strain of nerve and physical adroitness.
'They never go out alone, though
they often descend one by one into the
dim strange solitude of the depths be-
low. Six or eight men will go out in one
boat; the diver whose lot it is to precede
his comrades withdraws from them, sit
ting for while alone either at the stern
or bow of the light craft; a slab of white
marble, weighing usually twenty-five
pounds, lies beside him. This is the
anchor OF ballast, as circumstances may
determine, and to it is attached a rope
of the desired length and thickness
(one-antl-a-half inch) A few moments
pass in silence; she then lays aside his
clothing, and endeavors, by expectorat-
ing freely, to clear the passages of his
lungs. initiating them afterward, thus
oxidizing his blood highly by a repeti-
ton Of deep Inspirations. Ten or fifteen
minutes are thus absorbed, IN which no
one speaks; his companions, however,
are watching with intense interest. Pres
emily he feels that the moment for leap
ing has come; he hastily catches up the
marble slab. crosses himself devoutly,
utters a word of prayer, and plunges
into the waters, descending at rapid
rate.
while going down, the marble is
held at arms length directly IN front of
the head, offering in this. position but
little resistance, and at the same time
serving as a rudder. Standing room
once secured, the stone is placed under
one arm, and the diver may creep about,
crawling or walking as the case may
demand, under overlapping rocks Or
screening himself under Lodges, mean
timebusily crowding into the huge hoop
mouthed bag hanging from his neck all
the sponges he can reach. He must
hold firmly to the stone-it is his only
safeguard-and the rope tied to it, the
connecting link between him and his
fellows watching with almost breathless
interest his slightest movement, for
while he is at work IN these gardens of
the deep they, with swift apprehension
Of pos Utilities, Of danger, are holding
with strong hands to the cord, lengthen-
ing OF shortening, as may be signaled
from below and the instant the signal
is given for return they pull with. all
their strength to pull him up. A few
seconds delay may be fatal; at best,
great suffering follows for a few min
utes; and often tine men, thirty fathoms
it may beabove the essponge paths find
their co-laborera more dead than alive
whenhe reaches them. ga -
a heavy blow from his .nostrils to
expel the water and exhausted air shows
at once that he is conscious and can
breathe. "A few re-assuring7 words are
then gently spoken, and tits said that
nothing at this calmementso much
inspires courage as the tones of the hui
man voice. ITheadiveris quickly envel-
oped IN warm garments and rest and
quiet soon restore him. aize 49, issfAs sc
g Now a word concerning spohges. tt
has Of late years been conceded that
they. may be Chased in the animal Gre
alton, though for a long time it was sup.
posed that they were simply Interesting
specimens of plant life. When, this
beautiful skeleton considered an essen
tial for all wellappointed. toilette-tables,
was fist, found and torn from its silent
sea-home, it was 8. complete living thing,
every aperture filed with a delicate sub
stance much resembling the white of an
egg, in color dull bluish-blacka on the
n opd dirty uhito ho]ou- ii