St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-09-21
Seeing and Hearing U,.aer the Sea.
"Can Won see under water!n


"Can you see under waters'
Every seldom. l remember years ago go
ing down to have look at the wreck of the
Forfarshlre-the vessel Grace Darling and
her father pulled to, not far from the wind
ward of the island, as the story says, but from
the lee side, where the cobble lay ready, and
where the water was smooth. / dived just
out of curiosity, and saw the old hooker plain
enough. Off that same coast I've been down
in water so bright that I've stood among
weeds as tall as this room, beautiful garden
of them, and watched 'em with delight, al
most to forgetting the job 1 was down there
for, and | saw all kinds of fish swimming
about and appearing quite close through the
glass in the helmet, though if put out my
hand to them l found them to be fathoms
away.''
''But as rule you can't see!''
''No more than If 1 was looking through
London fog. And then take ship. Sup
pose you were to come into this room at night
without light-you couldn't see. So it is
with ships hold and cabin under water. It's
pitch dark. man can only grope."
sit must be dangerous work moving about
among cargo under such circumstances.
''Why, not when you're used to it. A bit
of sea above is often inconvenient, by max
ing the vessel on the surface roll and tauten
the tacle for heaving up the cargo, and so
running up mass of dead weight on sud
den before you're ready, and then letting it
come down crash again. A ground SWELL
mean the swell at bottom-is also trouble
some, for it'll swing a man to and fro dis
lance Of seven feet and more. But this is
only on deck. It's quiet enough in the
hold''
Suppose such swell should dash diver
against anything!'
at wouldn't hurt him, sir Tie dress
makes him so light. l have fallen through
many yawn in ships decks, fit to break
mans neck and back, you might think for
the depth of it, and have gone very softly,
and have come up again just as quietly"
'eCan you converse under water!'
eyes; but very few know how it's done.
If you were to stand up face to face with an
other man each might burst himself with yell
ling without producing the faintest sound.
Now, how do you think you can hear?"
81 cannot imagine
"By lying down. You and your mate must
lie down on your breasts-it must be on your
breasts-head to head or side by side, close,
and in that position you'll hear one another
as easily as you and 1 can hear each other in
this room.''
81 suppose the sound is conveyed by the
deck or sand, or whatever you lie upon?"
POSSIBLY, I only know it's true. When
found this out 1 spoke to another diver about
it, and he would not believe me. Well, one
day we happened to go down to wreck to-
gether. told him beforehand what position
to put himself in, and after we had been to
r-rrl-e L..
down as agreed, and l said, Jim are there
many more casks left in the forehold?'
''Heaps,' he answered right off. And so
you can hear meg said l. Aye he an
swered, wonderfully plain, and with that he
laughed and so did /, and we both heard each
others laugh just as we heard each others
words.''
''How deep down were you at the time?"
''In about eleven fathoms.''