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

oy q representative OF the Boston
Herald. He said:
! The first time a man goes down Ls
is apt to be considerably scared on ac-
count Of the pressure Ii a man il
lowered too 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 30 lorg as he
stood erect. fos - long As air il snps
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, aud 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 6,25O pounds. and at thirty feet
1880 pounds: at fifty feet, 81, $50
pounds; at seventy feet. 1880 pounds;
at ninety feel. SO, $50 pounds; at no
feet, 6S,760 pounds; at l3O feet, 81.
25O pounds; at l59 feet, which j. the
greatest depth to which have des.
cended, 81, 75O pounds, and at l6O
feet, 100000 pounds. Divers seldom
descend over l60 feet, and rarely as
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 the ears,
which is very unpleasant until you
are used to it."
How about the fish; do they ever
molest you!"
Very seldom. You see we make
1t 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 of.
We are much more afraid Of the bari
cots, q 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 elk to fifteen fee. in length. and
have large mouth with small teeth.
The Jew fish have a great deal of Gu
riosity-more than any woman I know
of-and used TO eye us while we were
at work. We were little afraid oi
them at first, but found that they
would not harm US. l suppose you
have heard of the electric eel, which
has the power to give a shock equal
to any battery. When We were div.
ing at the West Indies one of our div.
ers received q shock from an electric
eel, and for a time he seemed almost
paralyzed. Mulesand other animals
when fording streams in that country
often receive a shock.
at depends upon how clear th,
water is whether it is dusk or not
l have been down twenty fathoml
where / could see to read the fines
print, and have been down ten fee
where you could not see your hanC
before you. 1t is not very pleasan
exploring a wreck. especially wher,
there are dead bodies. when you are il
utter darkness. We get used to those
and-while / can't say We don't mine
them-I can say that they don't dete
US from going down. ! am one o
those who believe that drowning i
an easy death. comparatively. becaus'
have noticed that the face of
drowned person looks as If he had gon,
to sleep. and seldom denotes pain; bu
when the eyes are wide OPEN and glas
sy in appearance and the gas in tn
stomach makes the body stand bOl
upright it is rather trying to th
nerves. Sometimes We lind drownec