The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-12-10
UNDER THE SEA.
The Treasures Which Dredges
Bring Up.
Many Grange Things Found in the Bottom
OF New York Bay-one Drcdger's
Sad Experlonce-Found His
Daughters Corpse.
IN. Y. Times.1

Sometimes 1t il q different thing frop.
mud that the dredge brings up from th.
bottom of the bay. Usually It 10 mud,
however-mud and gravel, bits Of rock,
and long strings of slime. II is clear mud,
however, and the dredger thinks nothing
of plunging feet foremost into 1t in search
of any thing bright that glitters for q mo.
ment in the sun as the jaws Of the scoop
are jerked open above the scow. Close up
to the docks the mud Is not 30 clean, but
the chances Of finding something valuable
are SO much greater that the difference 10
not taken into practical consideration.
Sometimes it Is q silver dollar that glitters
In the sun and finds q resting place In the
Icow; once in rare while watch made
useless by long contact with salt water,
comes to excite in the dredger the blister
ing regret that 1t can not be sold or
pawned, and quite frequently knives Of
strange shapes and rusted out Of all
semblance to edged steel join forces with
bits of broken glass to cut the feet OF
the dredger who treads unwarily along the
bottom of the scow. Twice the harbor
dredges have brought up, within the past
year, bright-bIaded knife, showing along
its point and edge q corroded stain, as
though blood had stuck there. Once the
sharp jaws of the scoop cut off both feet Of
a drowned man, and the tide carried the
body beyond the reach of graphing hooks.
A human hand, with one of the fingers
bruised as though ring had been torn
from it by great force, fell out of the scoop
several months ago. The dredgers thought
that the man from whose arm the hand
had been torn had been led down to dock
while intoxicated, and robbed and thrown
overheard by the members Of "gang."
1t is common practice, but the dredge
rarely disturbs the body.
An immense drag-net stretched
across the Narrows would catch d
multitude of strange and mysterious
things. 1t would be a store-house ten
times more ghastly than n morgue. There
Is tradition that yeas ago a murderer
was convicted by a blood-stained knife
brought up In a dredge. The names and
dates are lacking. Another tradition says
that dredger once brought up his own
daughter from the bottom Of the river. A
CHASTITY bruise on her temple told the story
Of her death. The dredger beat his brains
out against the barred door OF an insane
asylum two years later. He had lived sane
long enough to murder the man that ran Of
with his daughter, and q merciful court
sent him 10 an asylum for the insane. A
third blood -curdling tradition is to the Of.
feet that dredger nursed a grudge against
another dredger for many years, hoping
for vengeance. At length when the enemy
got between the jaws OF the scoop to
fasten a loose rivet, the jaws closed on
him, and he was swung out over the
water. Then the dredge went out slowly,
and the last thing that the dredger
saw OF earth was the face Of his murderer
grinning triumphantly over the edge of the
scow. These traditions have no facts To
make them real, but the dredgers believe In
them. An old Spanish proverb says: "For
the character Of the people look in the bot.
tom Of the canal" New York would not
find much Of a character in the bed Of the
Iluhb VI III Nut bllPb
mouths Of sewers. When the water closes
over the unlawful deed done In the dark
ness Of the night, only the dredge can
bring II back 10 life. How many bodies
weighted with lead lie in the mud beneath
six fathoms OF water, how many bodies
greatly the number Of discovered dead ex-
ceeds the number Of unknown dead re-
ported by the police can never be esti-
mated.
Other than ghastly things, however,
come up in the dredge. Down the bay, q
few days ago, a big crab was found in a
copper kettle, and an eel was found con-
fined In long -necked bottle much too small
for him. While still young he had made
the bottle his home, and had grown so rap.
idly that he could not get out. A lizard
crawled out Of rusted musket last sum.
mer In Burling Slip, and big "bullhead y
was caught in rat-trap. A three-foot
shark came up at the end Of a broken FISH,
ing-lino, and two sting-rays were found
dead in a crabber's crib-net. Hammers,
hatchets, saws, adzes, pieces Of ships
stoves, pots, kettles, table-dishes and
various articles Of ships outAttings
seem TO strew the bed Of the river. Few Of
them are Of use. Only the new ones pay
the dredger for his trouble in fishing them
out Of the mud In the scow. Those that
are Of no value help I'LL up the channel
again when the scow Is dumped. Some
time In the future they will be dredged up
again, In order that the channel may be
kept clear. Some people grumble because
the scows are not dumped far out at sea.
on the ebb tide, so that the channel will mol
become choked With the refuse. Tho
dredger must live, however, and 10
live he must work. To work he must have
dredging TO do, and II the channel is moi
allowed to fill up he will be thrown out Of
employment. Some people are very un.
reasonable.