Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-08-14

get little better I'll be at it again, and
I'll make more money in one day than
these land lubbers make in a month.
But" continued he his anger dying
away ''you want me TO spin yarn
about myself"
"Well l was born in Dublin, ould
Ireland, in March, 1913. Invent to sea
when l was between9 and 10 years old.
| sailed almost all over the world. 1
went to the West Indies and East In
dies. | saw considerable of war, too.
| sailed on the English gunboat Talave-
ria, of fseventy-fOur guns, in '39. | was
in the battle of Joan D'Arc, and re-
ceived a medal for bravery while
there. | sailed on the frigate Brandy
wine for two years and three months.
Then L went on a West India mail
steamboat. Finally L went aboard the
steamer Dee. 1t was while l was on
her that begun TO dive. l came on
deck one day, and, i'm fun, said that |
should like to dive. l said-in sport.
you knOw-that l didn't believe there
was anything so great about diving
after all. We had several divers with
us you know. We were raisin' wreck
in the English Channel. Ii was the
wreck of an East India merchantmen
that had sunk. She was loaded with all
sorts of merchandise. They were raisin'
her with rubber bags. The diver
would go down and take with him
big air-tight rubber bag Each of them.
bags, when filled with AR. would raise
five ton. They were fastened all over
the vessel and connected with rubber
pipe. After we had fastened hundreds
of them TO her, air was pumped into
'em and they lifted that vessel out of
the water just as easy as rollin' off a log.
Ii was to fasten on those air bags that
the divers were hired. | had often
wished that l could be diver, because
they were getting f45 pounds a month
whilst we sailors were making only f3.
But had never thought that l could,
because | didn't suppose that had the
grit to learn. Many man gets killed
while learnin' TO dive, you know. But,
as was tellin' ye, one day | came on
deck and was sayin' that | would like
to dive. when the captain took me up.
"Said he, g want you to go below
and shorten up that wheel rope. |
would have given almost anything to
have got out of it. but | wasn't going
to back down, because if | had | would
never have heard the last of it. l put
on the armor, and in the afternoon |
went below. | can't describe to you the
feelin' that comes over a man when, for
the first time he puts on the armor and
gets ready TO dive. The great heavy
helmet makes him feel as if he is goin'
10 smother As looked at the long rub
Der pipe leadin' from the air pump to
my helmet, thought if that should get
broke while | was down below. Some
careless fellow might step on it, and
shut of the air, an then what would
become o me? Before | went down |
had TO learn the signals. Besides the
long hose that came down and connected
with my helmet there was life line
about my waist which a signal man on
deck held. That is of almost as much
consequence as the hose. | was learnt
that, if | wanted more air, 1 should
Jerk on the hose once; if less air was
wanted, two pulls; if | wanted 'em to
take up the slack on the hose, l was to
pull three times on il. Then there
were signals on the lifeline. One jerk
on the lifeline meant Hold on one
pull and shake. Lower away; two
jerks, Pull up whatever the tackle
NAV be attached to- three pulls, Take
me OUT There are several signals.
There's one which every signalman
knows all about, that means pull me
out quick, for Gods sake" Finally,
after I'd got ready, they lowered me
/ felt all right. The heavy feeling of
the armor went away, and l seemed as
light as feather. As soon as struck
the deck of the wreck began to walk
tOuiuii L SEC NNl Ntil,
| mad to be careful not to get my life
line and hose tangled i'm the rigging. |
hadn't been down long before | wanted
more air. | felt as if was smothering.
Oh. it was terrible! The most peculiar
thing about mans feelings, when for
the first time he's down below a'divin',
is the pain that takes him in the head
right behind the ears. Ii feels as if
some one was stickin' sharp knife
into him. Ii put me in terrible mis-
cry, and it was some little time before |
got over it. / staid down over an hour,
an when l came up bled pretty bad
out of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
But felt big, | tell you, because
hadn't allowed them to bluff me off,"
Jack gave a graphic description of the
appearance of the first sunken steam |
boat into which he ever went. 1t was
about two miles from shore that the
vessel had gone down. He went into
her for the purpose Of recovering her
cargo. The bodies were of no conse-
Quence, he sIaleu. IL Is Il slnguldT
fact" said he in substance, that the
corpses of women in sunken vessel
always lie face upward, while men are
invariably face downward. The cabin
of the vessel presented horrid appear
anee. The bloated bodies all laid up
next the ceiling. Some were clasped
i'm each others arms. One mother had
in her arms her baby. A husband and
wife were clasped in each others EN-
brace so firmly that they could not pull
them apart. It's bad practice among
some divers TO 90 through the pockets
of corpses that they find, and take all
the valuables. l have known divers to
make thousands of dollars in that way.
There is sort of pocket in the armOr
in which they carry their tools, and l
have seen divers come up out of wreck
in which they had been working with
their pockets filled with gold watches.
diamond rings and pins, and all sorts of
trash