The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-11-27
A Cocks Mysteries.

1t is not an agreeable sight, the bottom
OF ships dock at low wate", but a
thought Of what is hidden in and under the
soft and bubbling mud must give pause to
many q mind. Divers and dredgers only
are familiar by personal contact with the
probabilities of the hidden depth, and their
experiences are exceedingly varied. The
find may be watch, telescope or what
ever is liable to fall over from the rail- of q
ticd-up vessel, or horrible possibility, a
human body. But the curlositles of drcdg.
ing is tho point here. A large steamship
dock In East Boston is being cleaned out,
FOR the first time in twenty years, and the
many finds in the oozy substance, after it
has been deposited by the capacious NAV
of the jaw-hke dipper into the scow, are
very suggestive. Dishes of all kinds,
spoons. knives and forks are hooked out
by the hundred, whole and we'll preserved,
to say nothing of the myriad particles of
broken crockery, scraps OF iron and other
DEBRIS which serve only to emphasize the
ordinary imprecation OF the dredgman as
his ''pull" proves disappointing. But
the strangest happening of all and the
lucklest f1sh-out OF the season occurred re-
Gently, one man recovering more than four
dozen pieces Of tableware without crack
or nick to mar the beauty of their sur
face-English crockery OF the heaviest and
most ornamental description in use on
first passenger steamship. Those
only who huve Travelled know the care that
is taken on transatlantic line in table
furniture. Dishes and tureens, with their
covers, fitting, and in one instance half
dozen matched dinncr-platcs with the COM
pany arms, were found.
Il
over tho vessels sides2 NJ other theory
seems plausible than that OF lazy scullion
committing to everlasting mud what he
was too indolcnt to wash. Think how ex-
pensive the cheapest servant can become,
unmatched, on one of these floating palaces,
where the means of ever hiding the object
of his dread of work are 80 near at hand.
How easily all the evidences of theft and
etrpicKing can be obliterated by the
llght-tingered gentry. The depth of mud
in dock ls always problematieal until
tested by pole or divor, the latter way
being attended with more or less danger.
Some months ago large steamer was haul
Ing out, and. the man IN charge of the
wharf-line did not slip it at the proper mo-
ment. The result was, the capstan head
was Wrenched from the deck, and this
costly piece of shn-gear cast into til"
dock. The vessel proceeded OH its voyage,
and diver was engaged for $50 to recover
the capstan. He descended in the usual
way, with loaded shoes and metallic head
dress, but he did not bargain to sink 80
deep in tlith, though in water it would
have been comparatively pastime. Down,
down he went, yet with painful slowness,
and hard bottom was not struck until he
was far deeper thai his own height, and
he was not ''snorty," Us the boys say.
1t was out of the question to attempt TO
grope around for a capstan under such con-
ditions, and he slgnalled to rise. Nothing
daunted in his original purpose, however,
he doffed the loading from his shoes and
made second descent horizontally, as q
swimmer sinks at will, and groped around
for the missing article until he had ex-
plored by his sense of touch the surface
mud of the entlro dock bottom. No cap
stan, no pay; and the discounted diver
was obliged to relinquish his search, Tho
capstan has not been found yst, and pro-
baby sank with its cattle attached TO a
greater depth than human perseverance
could fathom. 1t IS expected that the
present dredging will bring the lost capstan
to light. ..i