The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-11-06
UNDER THE SEA.
The Treasures Which Dredges
Bring Up.
Many Strange Things Found In tho Bottom
OF New York Bay-One Dredger's
Sad EKperlenoe-Found Ills
Daughters Corpse.


IN Y, TlmeA'l
Sometimes II Is a different thing from
mud that the dredge brings up from tho
bottom Of the bay. Usually II In mud,
however-mud and gravel, bits OF rock,
and long strings OF slime. IL Ia clear mud
however, and tho dredger thinks nothing
OF plunging feet foremost nto Il IN scar b
OF any thing bright that glitters for a mo-
ment In the sun M the Jaws Of tho scoop
are jerked open above the scow. Close up
10 the docks the mud ia not 80 clean, but
the chances of finding someth ng valuable
are so much greater that the difference 10
not taken into practical consideration
Sometimes h IL q silver dollar that glitters
In the sun and finds u restingplnce In the
scowi once in a rare while u watch made
useless by long contact with suit water,
comes TO excite n the dredger the III ster.
Ing regret that ID can not DO sold or
pawued, and quite frequently knives Of
strange shapes aud rusted ont Of all
Benblance TO edged steel join forces with
bits OF broken glass 10 cut the feet Of
the dredger who treads uuwarIly along tho
bottom OF the HGow, Twice the harbor
dredGes have brought up, within the past
year, u brlght.bladed knife, showing along
lis point aud edge a corroded stain, as
though blood had stuck there, Once the
sharp iaws Of the scoop cut OIL both feet Of
a drowned man, aud the tide carried the
body beyond tho reach Of graphing hooks,
a human hand, with one Of the fingers
bruised as though a ring had been torn
from It 10y great force, fell out Of the scoop
several months ago, The dredgors thought
that the man from whose arm the hand
had been torn had been led down to a dock
while intoxicated, and robbed aud thrown
overheard Ivy tho members Of q "gaug,n
II Is u common practice, but tho dredgo
rarely dlsturhs the body,
An immense drag.not stretched
across tho Narrows would catch q
multitude Of strange aud mysterious
things II would DO a store.houso ten
times more CHASTITY than a morgue, There
Ia a tradition that yea ago n murderer
was convicted by a blood STAINED knife
brought up In a dredge, The names aud
dates are lacking, Another tradition says
that q dreiger once brought up his own
nulhter from tho bottom OF the liver, A
Ghustly bruise on her temple told tho story
OF har death, Tho dredg0r beat his b'ains
ont against tho barred door OF an Insane
asylum two years later, lIe had lived sane
loug enough 10 murder tho man that unOlF
with his daughter, and q mcrcilul court
sent him 20 an asylum for tho Insane, A
third blood .curlling tradition Ia TO tho NJ.
feet that o dredscr nursod q grudgo against
another dredger for many years, hoping
Tor vengeance, A. length when the enemy
got between the jaws Of the scoop To
tnstcn q loose riyet, tho jaws closed on
him, aud no was swung out over tho
wutun Then the dredge went out slowly,
and tho last thing that tho dredgor
saw Of earth was the face Of hia murderer
grluuing iumphantly over the cdgo Of tho
scow, These traditions have no facts TO
mako them real, but the drodgcrs believe In
them, An old Spanish proycrb says "bor
the character OF the peoplo look IN the bot.
tom OF tho cnunl,n Now York would not
find much Of a character In the bed Of the
Enst River, or In the alps adjoining tho
mouths Of sewers, When tho water closes
over the unlawful deed done In tho dark.
ness Of tho night, ouly the dredgo eau
bring 10 back to lifo, How many bodies
wet htcd with lead 10 In tho mud beneath
six rathoma Of water, how many bodies
Goat cut TO sea no man can know, How
greatly tho number Of discovered dead OK.
Goods tho number OF unknown dead 70.
ported by the police can never DO est.
mated,
Other than CHASTITY things, however,
come mp In tho drOdgc, Down tho lay, q
few days ago, u big crab was found n q
copper kettle, aud an eel was found con.
fined In along-nooked bottle much too small
for him, While sim young no had made
tho bottle his homo, aud had grown 30 rap.
idly that no could not got out, Alizlard
Crawled out Of u rustod musIot last SUM.
mor In BurlIng Slip, and q big "bullhcad"
was caught IN n rOt-trap. A throosfoot
shark came up No the end Of n broken fish.
lug.lino, and two stlng.ray8 were found
dead In a crNbbor'S crib-nct, Hammers,
hotchcts, saws, ADDE'S, pieces Of ships
stoves, pots, kettles, tNblo.dishcs and
various articles Of sh PSI outlttlngs
Soon 10 strow tho bed Of tho river, Few Of
thom nro Of use, Only tho now ones pay
tho drodgor for his trouble In fishing thcm
out Of tho mud In tho scow, Those that
arc Of no value hclp an up tho channel
again when tho soow Ia dumped, Some
time In tho future they win ho drolgcd up
ogoiu, In order that tho channel may DO
kept clear, Some people grumblo because
the scows are not dumped far out at sea,
on tho obb tide, 40 that tho channel win not
become chokod with tho refuse, Tho
drodsor must live, however, aud 10
live no must work, 70 work no must have
dredging to do, and II tho channel Ia not
allowed TO mn up no win be thrown out Of
employment. Some people arc worry un.
reasonable,