Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-11-11
UNDER THE SEA.

is apt to be considerably scared on &C
count Of the pressure. If man il
lowered loo fast it will killed him
Divers are seldom or never kill by
drowning, but by an unequal pres.
sure, A diver could cut hole in the
lower portion of his suit without dang.
er Of being drowned so long as he
stood erect, for as long as air is sup.
piled by the air pump the water could
not reach his mouth. In deep water
the pressure is usually very great, and
a diver can descend as deep as he can
stand the pressure. You see we are
in vacuum. There is no pressure
susceptible to US on the copper helmet
about our heads The pressure is all
upon the lower garments, and if it is
too great it drives all the blood in the
body to the head, and the result is
death. | have seen men killed in this
way whose heads were fairly split
open and whose eyes were driven from
their sockets A more horrible death
could not be imagined, and | and al.
most all other divers have narrowly
escaped it. When a diver is ten feet
down the pressure to the square foot
is $3.50 pounds, and at thirty feet
1880 pounds; at fifty feet, 1850
pounds; at seventy feet, 1880 pounds;
at ninety feel, &c. $50 pounds; at 40
feet, 68,760 pounds; at 1870 feet, 81.
$50 pounds; at l59 feet, which is the
greatest depth to which / have des.
cended, $3.50 pounds, and at 100
feet, 100000 pounds. Divers seldom
descend over 100 feet, and rarely az
deep as that. Under the water the
ears feel stopped up, but sometimes
we can make ourselves understood by
putting two helmets together and
shouting; but then it doesn't sound
louder than an ordinary whisper. A
man who went down for the first time
would be likely to signal to come up
after feeling the pressure in tho ears
which is very unpleasant until you
are used to it,"
"How about the fish; do they ever
modest you'll"
Every seldom. You see we make
it rule not to disturb them. We
know that they are in their element
and we are not in ours. AS for sharks,
we don't care for them. They are
cowardly and easily frightened off.
We are much more afraid of the bari.
COTS surface fish with teeth three
inches long. Talk about fish; why one
cant have any conception Of them
until he has been under the water and |
seen them of all sizes and of all colors
Of the rainbow. The noise made by
school Of fish sounds under the water
like the rumbling of thunder.
"One of the greatest curiosities in
this line was the Jew fish encounter.
ed when diving in the Bay Of Cumano,
on the coast of Venezuela. The fish are
from six to fifteen feet in length, and
have large mouth with small teeth.
The Jew fish have great deal Of GU
riosity-more than any woman | know
of-and used to eye us while we were
at work. We were little afraid OF
them at first, but found that they
would not harm us. / suppose you
have heard Of the electric eel, which |
has the power to give shock equal
to any battery. When we were div
ing at the West Indies one of our div
ers received shock from an electric
eel, and for time he seemed almost
paralyzed. Mules and, other animals,
when fording streams in that country,
often receive shock.
ut depends upon how clear the
water is whether it is dusk or not.
| have been down twenty fathoms
where / could zee to read the finest
print, and have been down ten feet
where you could not see your hand
before you. 1t is not very pleasant
exploring a wreck, especially where
there are dead bodies, when you are in
utter darkness. We get used to those,
and-while | can't say we don't mind
them can say that they don't deter
US from going down. am one Of
those who believe that drowning is
an easy death comparatively, because
| have noticed that the face Of
drowned person looks as If be had gone
to sleep, and seldom denotes pain; but
when the eyes are wide open and glas-
sy in appearance and the gas in the
stomach makes the body stand bolt
upright it is rather trying to the
nerves. Sometimes we find drowned !
"a 4 4