The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-04-17
A Divers Life.

ca. IL was a wreckeri then aud was raj
| ing sunkcn ship Off the Massachusott
coast. had working Tor mo diver VIII
seemed very lazy, caIeless sort OF fellow
! was paying him by tie day and once
after being under wateHfor long time, b
came up and reported Merry little progres
In his work. I was angry and expresse
myself strongly. He ibtor,ed with, 'Tr
it yourself If you can dp any better.'
can right" said |. let me have YOU
diving dress and will Try it myself Fl
thought l was only Joking. but wasn't
he nUsa sns dsSss p i 9a Came aed un Dst
have been doing my8own diving eve
since. 2.w
.'suosequentiy, howdVer, placed my
self under the lnsLructl9n of diver namec
Scott, When he thought me proficient he
SAID to me one day: Tony. l think Won
have learned about alII can teach Won
NOW am going 10 puayou to the test.
Taking from canvasbag i've dollars in
/ sma'i silver CONS ne tlrew them into the
! sea. NOW go down am bring those up,
AS every schoolooy tnows, a dime or
hal1 dlme under wateF LOOKS ne la-ge as
trade dollar out OF fate', 30 did not
consider the task very hifficult one. Down
l went, and up FSne presently with
every coin, whcreupo4 Scott pronounced
my diving education complete. Poor
fellow, he was drowng about five years
ago while bathing In tHo river Magdalen,
III British Columbia.
"Did you ever see afriving dress? ? No
Then l will put NINE h and give you an
| idea OF one," and the bptain retired to his
state room, whence heprescntly emerged
In full diving costumeIeXcept the heavy
cast iron helmet, whA several OF the
company raised from |he deck and placed
upon hlm, thus makiE his outfit com.
plete. The dress ID fally two dresses.
one within tho other, 4ch of India rubber.
The stockings, pantsand shirt are all
made together as one arment, which the
diver enters at the nds feet first. The
hands are lett bare, q wristbands Of the
rubber shlrt-sleevcs hghtly compresslng
the wrists. There is copper breastplate,
bearing upon its OR, convex surface
small screws, which 20 adjusted through
holes III the neck Of hd skirt, which, BY
means Of nuts fastened abon the scre vs.
is held so firmly In placas to render the
entire dress, tron theleck downwards.
absolutely a'r and wertight Fitting
| with equal closeness to lis breastplate 10
tue helmet me: toned Above. 1t COM
pletely encloscs the heahnd IS supplied
with three GLASSES, ose,( front and one at |
each side, to epsno the liver to look In !
any ahSoo oirectgto lace i'm - Yry thick leather
'' OH" .th .Aa heavy A,ts,raE rsE
pgetaS s,ee5S see," said Tie E. captain. whom his
ie1met had been reno Jed, after every
l.. l. IL ktnsnn ~
,earance in 1t, sit takes about fifteen |
minutes TO put those togs Oh, and when |
he diver Is rugged In them oil but the
,elmct there are placed across his shout
lers ropes, sustaining two lcaden weights,
,ne hanging at his back, the other at his
,rc.st. He then goes down ladder into |
he water up to his armplts, and then the !
lelmet is placed on him, the glass in front |
8 screwed in place and when everything
8 ready he ls made aware Of the fact by
. blow on the top OF tie helmet. He then
goes down by means Of rope previously
owered, hand under hand, to tho bottom
If the sea. Sometimes, IN very strong
1t is necessary to make the
weights extraordinarily hoavy IN order to
lold the diver down, Notwithstanding The
1act that the dress alone weighs nrar.y
.wo hundred pounds. and yet | ,IO not
feel the weight of 1t down among the
q shes any more than do that of an ordi.
nary SUIT of clothes out of the water. 1t
was invented In Switzerland by native
# tnat country, named Bauer, who spent
Il small col,pentoncy Ill having 1t paten ed
and III trying 10 bring 1t into use, but he
died disappointed, hearL.broken pauper,
leaving others to reap tho benef1t of his
"Can you breathe as freely IN your
diving dress as you can out Of its
~ es, indeed. When ten or twelve
fathoms under water my breathing Is as
walking about on dry land. You know
that by means OF an air pump, worked by
two men, the diver Is supplied with air.
Through hose this air passes into the
back of ms helmet, aud near It's place Of
entrance Is a spring valve for It's escape.
This valve can be controlled by the diver,
but he usually sots It btfore going INTO the
water and seldom dlsturbs 1t afterwards
The pressure of the air being greater than
that OF the water surplus of the former
readily escapes. When this valve Is not
sufficient the diver cen open ia his breast.
plate q similar spring valve, intended only
TOR such an emergency. tle can also
regulate the amount OF air pumped to him
by signals upon the air hose to the man
engaged IN pumping. One pull upon the
htso n.eans moro air; two pulls, lcss air,
and two pulls and shake, Il want tc
como up The signals on the alr-hose arc
generally used by all divers. but each one
| Of us has his own private code OF signals
on tho lite. liue, which Is always fastened
to the divers waist, and by means ol
which he IL drawn up out OF the water
These signals each diver writes down very
carefully aud gives to the man In charge
OF the life line. BY means of these w
can send up Tor tools, material. etc. Whel
lengthy comndnicatl Ms Is to be matt
We send VI, for u slate and write all w
want " say. 1t Is Just as easy to read unr
write uudor water as ont of It,. One CHI
see very plainly. all ohj.cls being grea,l,
magn,flcd."
does diver have any unploasau
sensations while ut workf' "s
''None, save q drumming In the cara
and this will sometimes destroy the hear
Ing II the diver remains too long below
Four nours--twO III the morning and wv,
In the afternoon--cOnstitute q days work
and II the diver restricts himseif to lbi
limit there Ia little or no danger of his be
] Inntninof .. 10 t,ac