Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-11-07

On the first dive recovered two boxes o.
gold. After that came up somewhat ex
hausted. went on board, took lunch. anc
rested couple Of hours. Then I made
another dive and recovered a third box
That demonstrated that night-work was
great success. and after that for eight OF
ten nights, until the Mexicans left, we only
worked in the dark. We were kept In nc
little fear, especially during our night.
work. by q sort of marine monster which
the Mexicans call deyiI-fish. 1t Is not
like the gigantic octopii to which that name
has been given in other waters. but is a
creature with two great arms to grasp and
powerful jaws and teeth to rend anything
1t deems prey. Individuals of the species
are often seen weighing as much as four
tons, and 1t is upon record that At least one
enormous specimen has been captured By
an English msn-Of-war which, from the
dimentions given. must have weighed fully
eight tons. One Of those monsters, one
night, parted my life line, and another
night one was settling down over me to
devour me, when he was seen by the crew
of the boat. who struck him with al oar
and frightened him away. II he had once
got his arms about me nothing could have
saved me from being sliced up by his jaws.
There still remained In the wreck S202,
900 besides what was In the purser's safe,
variously estimated at 800, 900 to $50 900.
Four years ago Mr.. Cook joined another
expedition to recover those sums. IL was
late in the season when they started, and
their prospects were far from good, but,
acting upon the erroneous advice OF some
old coast Captains. who averred that there
was sometimes good weather there in
March and April, they went down and made
an unproductive trial Of two months du-a-
ton.
The billows rolling in from the equator
were more terrible than ever before, GUS
tomarily rising TO height OF full 40 feet,
as estimated by their comblng over the still
standing engine frame. The sand, too, was
deeper than ever, the depth OF the treasure
strata being then 10 feet below the surface
OF the bottom. When 1t is remembered
that the actual dep.h OF the water here. had
it been still. would have been only about 5
feet. it will readily be understood how fear
tul mus. have been the power OF those
enormous breakers, how slight the pros
pect of mans puny power contending sue
cessfully with them where he was fully ex-
posed TO their fury. and how desperate the
task of boring down through those 10 feet
of saut. Yet Cook undauntedly loaded
himself down with more lead, plunged
down outside the surt some 300 feet from
where he had TO work, crawled in TO the
spot where he wished to sink, and there
burrowed down, feet foremost, as before.
At this time he used three lines OF hydrau-
lie hose, two fastened so as to discharge
downward behind the calves Of his leZS.
the other in his hand. Mr.. Cook saws con-
cerning the mighty struggle:
There were only 10 days of the two
months We were there 10 which it was even
moderately safe to work, and the smooth
est weather was rougaer than any | ever
tried to work In before. The surf-breakers
were so terrible that it would almost make
a mans hair stand to look at them, they
curled in so high and dark, with such angry
white crowns. and the beach trembled so
with their shock. You could have heard
their roar miles away. Even the men on
the expedition with me would hardly have
believed that actually got down in those
waves and through the 10 feet of sand TO
the strata of coal and old iron il had not
every dive brought up some objects from
that depth. Unhappily, however, We got
nothing OF any value. After desperate
light for HE with the rollers and under
tow, and an hour and half OF exhaustive
toll getting down to the required depth
through the sand, would get nothing but
something that felt strangely in my hands.
and which might possibly contain some
small article Of value, but generally did not.
Once | brought up mass of conglomerate
about two feet long, one wide, and one
thick. 1t seemed waste and sand. When
we broke 1t open we found inside gold
pencil coin OF the East India Company,
a coin of the sixteenth century, a knife,
fnrE and spnnns AZ Amprican gold ,,i.ca
and trunk lock. 1t was all that was lett
OF some passengers trunk. Once, just at
sundown, | struck q corner OF what | know
was $4,000 box OF gold. 1t was caught
between the homework and planking in
such way that could not move it, and
tried for two hours to tear open the end
with my steel hook so that could get out
the gold and carry it up in the legs of my
dress. But became exhausted before
could do SO, and had to be drawn up. Ii
could have endured the work halt AN hour
more know l would have got that gold
Alterward | tried again and again to find
IL, but never could"
In 1876 Mr.. Cook was for a short time
engaged on the wreck of the HuSsar in the
East River. and there took chances as des.
perate as any he had dared in diving Tor
the treasure of the Golden Gate. Until he
Went there, the divers never used 10 go
down but at flood and ebb tide, and then
only for from half to three-quarters of an
hour at time. 1t was believed impossible
for men to remain down when the tide was
running. 1t was so swift and powerful The
divers there had used the Taylor dress,
which he characterizes as "the finest inven-
ton in the world for a man to do nothing
in." Cook went down as he had done on
the Pacific coast, anchored himself at the
bottom, and worked without regard to
tides, remaining below two or three hours
at "A time. To do this il was requisite that
he should so faster himself ut the bottom,
50 feet beneath the surface, that help from
the boat above, in any emergency, would
have been practically impossible. During
80 days he and Mr.. Barnes. a comrade who
worked after his fashion, made one descent
each per diem, between s and ii A. NJ,
aud 2 to z. NJ, using their hydraulics to
cut through the ballast where the treasure
was supposed to be hidden. They recov-
cred one meerschauin pipe-bowl. two ships
leads. some iron cannon balls, one whole
cupand one half cup. That may not seem
encouraging to the stockholders in the
company tor the recovery of the treasures
OF the Hussar, but it was the best Cook and
Barnes could do for them.
MT. LOOK, IN answer 10 question ABOUT
the difficulty OF wOrkln. at great depths
under water. said that he had pros ccuted
submarine explorations at depth OF 100
feet, and believed hr could, without much
trouble, at l20 feet. He could dive, he said,
until the pressure of the water stopped his
circulation: 1t never disturbed his head
He is now resident of Presque Isle, In his
native State OF Maine, and is enjoying an
affiuence which he has surely earned by his
wonderful tolls and hazards.
Graham Flour.
The St. Louis Trade Journal in q late
issue makes the following sensible remark :