The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-12-02
THE DAILY STAR
A DIVERS STORY.

however-but forbear. / will tell my
story and leave others to judge concern
ing it.
An appalling shipwreck occurred, not
long ago, upon the widest part OF the
coast Of Newfoundland. The tidings of
this calamity reached the ears of thou
sands; but, amid the crowd of accidents
which followed in quick succession, it
was soon forgotten. Notify us, however.
We found that the vessel had sunk upon
spot where the waters depth was by no
means great, and that daring man
might easily reach her.
She was steamer called the Mar
mion, and had been seen going suddenly
down. without an instant's warning, by
some fishermen near by. She had, un-
doubtedly, struck hidden rock, and had
thus been, in one moment, destroyed.
spoke to my associates of the plan, and
they approved it, No time was lost in
making the necessary preparations, and
a short time beheld us embarked in oul
small schooner for hesunken ship. There
were SIX of us. and we anticipated extra
ordinary success.
- | was the leader, and generally ven
tured upon any exploit in which there
was uncommon danger. Not that tht
others were towards; on the contrary
they were all brave men, but | wa
gifted with GOODNESS and presence O
mind of which the Others were destitute
As two persons were needed in order te
explore the Marmion, | had selected a.
my companion young fellow who's
steadiDess and dauntless courage hat
several times before been fearfully tested
1t was calm and pleasant day, bu
the southern and eastern horizon looke(
deceitful. Small suspicious clouds wer,
gathered there, i'll of aspect, and "sneak
Ing fellows, regular hand-dog fellows" a
my comrades remarked to me. Neverthe
less we were not to he put off by a LITTLE
cloudliness in the sky, but boldly pre-
pared to venture.
So deep was the water, that no vestig
of ships mast remained above the sur
face to point out the resting place o
the Marmion. We were compelled there
fore to select the scene of operations ae
corling to the best of our ability. Dow
went the sails of our schooners, and Par
ker and | put on our diving-armor. w
fixed on our helmets tightly, and screwed
on the hose. One by one each clumsy al
ticle was adjusted. The weights wer
hung, and we were ready,
at looks terrible blackish, Burton,
said Parker to me.
"Oh," ! replied gayly, otis only a littl
mist-all right"
"Ahw He uttered low exclamation
which sounded hollow from his cavern
Gus helmet.
"All ready" ! cried in loud voice
which they, however, could not easl
distinguish. Then, making the prope
sign, was swung over the side.
Down we went, | first, and Parke
close behind me. Itdid not take lon
time for lis to reach the bottom. W
found ourselves upon what seemed
broad plain, sloping downward toward til
south, and rising slightly toward tn
north. Looking forward, dim, blac
object arose, which our experienced eye
knew to be a lofty rock.
motioned to Parker that we shoul
proceed there can not tell the strang,
ness of the sensation felt by one who frs
walks on the bottom of the sea.
There are thousand objects fitted t
excite astonishment. even in the mind {
him who has dared the deed hundre
times. All around us lay the plain co,
cred by water; but here the eye could NJ
pierce far away, as in the upper air, fo
the water in the distance was Opaque an
seemed to fade away into the misty darl
ness There was no sound, except the il
cessant gurge which was produced by Il
escape of air from the breast-valve, an
the noise caused by our passage throua
the water. We walked on at q good pac
for this armor, which seems 50 clumsy l
above, is excellent below, and offers bl
little inconvenience to the practice
wearer.
Fishesin crowds were around us. Fish
of every shape and size met our eyes, !
matter where they turned. They swa
swiftly by us, they sported il the wat
above us; they raced and chased o.
another in every direction. Here sho
of porpoises tumbled along in clum
gambols there grampus might be SCI
rising slowly to the surface; here an il
mense number of smaller fish fash
past us; there some huge ones, with pc
derous forms, foated in the water laziI
Sometimes three or four placed the
selves directly before us, staring at
and solemnly working their gills. The
they would remain till We came
close to them, and then, with sta
they would dart away.
All this time we were walking onwal
along the bottom OF the sea, while abo
us, like a black cloud in the sky,
could see our boat slowly moving onwa
upon the surface of the water. And no
not more than hundred yards before
we could see the towering form Of I'll
ebony rock which had at first greet
our eyes from afar. As yet, we could |
be certain that this was not the pli
where the Marmion had struck. I
soon a round black object became {
cernible, as we glanced at the rocky bs
Parker touched my arm and point
] signed assent, and we moved on M