Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-09-24
A TALK WITH A DIVER.
Seeing, Hearing and Talking
Under the Sea,
Submarine Conversation only Possible by
Lying Down in the Water.
"Can you see under water?"

"Can you see under water?"
every seldom. | remember years
ago going down to have look at the
wreck of the Forfarshre-the vessel
Grace Darling and her father pulled to,
not far from the windward of the
island, as the story says, but from the
lee side, where the cobble lay ready,
and where the water was smooth. |
diyed 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,
almost to forgetting the job | was
down there for, and saw all kinds of
fish swimming about, and appearing
quite close through the glass in my
helmet, though if l put out my hand
to them l found them to be fathoms
away"
".But as a rule you can't see?'
"No more than if | was looking
through London fog. And then take
ship. Suppose you were to come
into this room at night without a
light-you couldn't see. So it is with
a ships hold and cabin Lnder water.
It's pitch dark. A man can only
grope."
at must be dangerous work moving
about among cargo under such circum-
stances"
"Why, not when you're used to it. A
bit of sea above is often inconvenient,
by making the vessel on the surface
roll and talten the tackle for heaving
up the cargo, and so running upa mass
of dead weight on a sudden before
you're ready, and then letting 1t come
down crash again. A ground
swell i mean Il swell at bot
TOMS also troublesome, for it'll
swing man to and fro distance of
seven feet and more. But this is only
on deck. It's quiet enough in the
hold"
Suppose such a swell should dash a
diver against anything?"
at wouldn't hurt him, sir. The
dress makes him so light. I have
fallen through many ayawn in aship's
decks, fit to break a 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"
"Can you converse under water?"
Eyes; but very few know how us
done. If You were to stand up face to
face with another man each might
burst himself with yelling 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 to
head or side by side. close and in that
position you'll hear one another as
easily as you and | can hear each other
in this room"
"I suppose the sound is conveyed by
the deck or sand or whatever you lie
upon?'
"Possbly. l only know it's true.
When l found this ous spoke to an
other diver about it, and he would not
believe me. Well, one day we hap
pened to go down to wreck together.
told him beforehand wha. position to
put himself in, and after we had been
to work sometime we came tOgether
and lay down as agreed, and l said,
Jim, are there many moro casks left
in the forchold? Heaps he answered
right off. And so you can hear meY
said l. Aye he answered, wonder
fully plain and with that he laughed
and so did !, and we both heard each
others laugh just as We heard each
others words
GLOW deep down were you at the
time?'
"In about eleven fathoms." -London
Telegraph,
----------Izno.