Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-06-30
UNDER WATER.
varied Experience OF a Diver Beneath
the Sea Among Strange Amphibisus
Creatures.

Creatures.
l shall never forget my first i'm
preston after I had put on the suit
and started down. As you descend
all is darkness; you see absolutely
nothing. The sensation is of a burst
ing, roaring, rumbling sound, which
rattles through your ears and makes
your brain whirl. It is caused by the
air entering the helmet, or shell, as i,
is called, from the pumps. The fex
ible air-hose has to be strong enough
to bear a pressure Of twenty five to
fifty pounds to the square inch. The
drum of the ear yields to the strong
external pressure, the mouth opens
involuntarily, the air rushes in the
tube and strikes the drum, which
snaps back to it's normal state with q
sharp pistol crack. Reaching the
bottom world of splendor is opened
up, which the diver, clad in his close
fitting rubber suit, peerlng out of his
dead eyes, views with wonder and as
tonishment. Huge fish and briny
monsters float about glancing
askance at this moving invader OF
their domains. Tiny fish crowd up
and nibble at the fingers and toes OF
the diver, and other more timid ocean
inhabitants shoot off out OF sight.
Sometimes the water is light blue,
then again it changes to bottle
green. If the tide is moving, all OBJ
jects seem distorted. Perhaps the
sun shines upon the water, and then
all above is pure golden canopy,
while around and close at hand are
tints and shimmering hues, including
all colors, which are elegant beyond
description. The floor of the sea
rises and falls like a golden carpet,
inclining gently to the surface. The
wreck of a ship seems studded
with emeralds glittering in lines of
gold; piles of brick appear as crys-
tails; a ladder beco hes silver, every
shadow giving the impression of a
bottomless depth. Shells of every
description lay scattered about, and
huge cutie fish lay fast asleep in the
ocean bed, while every variety of
mineral substance lay scattered about.
with sometimes here and there a
grinning skeleton, whose bones are
strewn half-covered with sand or sea-
weed. The cave of Aladdin in the
arabian Nights" is no grander than
the bottom OF the ocean off some of
the South American coasts.
The shark is q cowardly fish. He
never attacks one unless you provoke
the quarrel. / have met thousands
of them. and had them swim all
around me, with their horrid, CLASSY,
death-like eyes glaring at me, and
their huge mouths under their belly
swapping as though it was ready to
swallow me. The noise that the air
makes roaring into the shell frightens
them, and then they see that the man
is moving about At Callao Harbor,
which is regular sharks nest, l
went down forty feet or more, and
met lots of these ocean devils, but
none of them offered to modest me:
At first / thought it was very danger
GUS, as the slaughter-houses at Callao
project over the harbor, and all the
offal is thrown into the water, which,
of course, the sharks are greedy
after. The shark has to turn onto his
back before he can strike you, and
we're / attacked by one / should lie
down on my face at the bottom OF the
ocean and be perfectly safe. The
most voracious Of all the shark fam
lily is the green shark, and the harbor
Of Callao was fairly alive with these
monsters.
The only scare I ever had with .
fish was when / first went down Oh
the South American coast. l had a
big crowbar in my hand, which, per-
haps, fell about foot or eighteen
inches below my feet just beneath
me lay a huge cutie fish fast asleep.
OF course I did not see him, and the
crowbar went right through him.
The cuttle-fish has q peculiar mode
of attack. lie discharges black
humor, which makes the water look
like ink. The first thing ] knew II
was so black all around me / could
not see my hand before my face. ]
couldn't imagine what had broken
loose, and signaled to pull me up
The natives all laughed, and told me
it was only q cuttle-fsh. Not long
after the cuttle-fish was worked
ashore, and there was my crowbal
gone right through him.
Diving bells are gone completely
out of date. They only enable the
workmen to work within the limits oi
the bell; whereas, as the suits are now
made, one can go all around and over
a wreck. These suits consist, first
Of a copper shell, about three-six-
teenths Of an inch in thickness. made
in as nearly globular form as pos.
sible. This is provided with dead.
ewes, or glasses. to enable the diver tc
see. and fits into the shoulder by
means Of yoke. Tho shell has q
strong ring-bolt in the top and below
which has securely fastened to it 8
rubber suit, including shirt, pants
and stockings. The sleeves OF the
Jacket are gathered around the wrists
and firmly tied. Coarse leather shoes
are worn, on the soles Of which arr
fastened huge plates Of lead, while
series of pockets in the jacket arr
arranged also to hold leaden weights
The shoes weigh eighteen or twenty