Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-04-28

up for a slate and write all " want to
say; 1t Is just rs easy to read and write
under water AZ out Of 1t. One can sec
very plainly, all objects being greatly
"Does q diver have any unpleasant
sensations while at workW
None, save a drumming in the ears,
and this will sometimes DESTROY the hear.
ing If the diver remains too long below.
-Four hours-two in the morning and two
IN the misunderstanding a DAYS work.
and if the diver restricts himself to this
limit, there is little or no danger Of his
becoming deaf; but if he goes much be-
yond it, he's pretty sure to iniure his
hearing. l once remained under water
for nine hours, and, as a consequence,
completely lost the use of my left ear
for three months, during which time l
suffered agony with earache. Eventu-
ally, however, my hearing became nor
NAL again. Aside from this, the sensa-
tions are delightful, and l feel lust a,
well, happy and contented at the bot
tom of the sea 10 I ever can under any
circumstances. While engaged in raising
the sunken schooner Dauntfess, in Kings.
ton, Jamaica, on the 18th Of August,
1880, l became so disguised at the
stupidity Of the men above in answering
my signals that l took q book which ]
found in the Captains cabin, and, sit
ting down, read it for nearly an hour.
once knew . diver, Tom Brintley by
name, who, though q thoroughly compe-
tent man and a good fellow, wat a little
too fond of stimulants. On one occasion
he went down with a pretty good cargo
of spirits aboard, and the men above, moi
knowing his condition, became seriously
alarmed when several hours passed by
without their receiving any signals from
him, or any response to those they made
to him. Another diveS was sent down tt
look for him, and found him lying on hi
back on the bottom of the ocean, sixt,
feet below the surface, fast asleep.
"What is the greatest depth l ever de-
scended to? Well, about ninety feet
and ittakes me about three minutes to e
down that far"
"Must not a diver be a practical ship
builder also?"
ooh, yes; the diver who could d.
nothing but dive would be of very little
use. He must be both a ship carpenter
and a boiler maker as we'll, that he may
repair sunken ships. The holes must bt
patched and the water pumped out before
a ship car be raised"
"Sharks? l have often seen large
schools of them. They would advance
to within a few feet Of me, and woulc
then stop and look. at me in apparen,
wonder, as though trying to make ou'
what manner of strange creature they
were gazing at. They are a most COW
ardly fish, however, and the slighes,
menace on my part would brighten then
away. As | was repairing the schooner
Shepard in Kingston one day, 1 felt some
thing tampering with my left hand mid
die finger. Looking, 1 found a baby
shark, evidently much too young to leav.
its maternal parent, trying to nibble it.
"The pay of a diver? That varies
Divers generally work by the job, ano
when they do that they sometimes max.
it pay we'll. A diver will go down, loo]
at a vessel, and then state what he viii
charge to raise her. I raised the schoone
Dauntless in two days, and received $75t
for my time and trouble"