Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-02-17
THE RIVERS BOTTOM.
WHAT A DIVER SAW UNDER THE
WAVES OF THE HUDSON.

The Floor of tho River y Great Mass Of
Siime-Scn,e Of the Sights-Broken
Wires. Pipes sewage. Etr.-A Dead
Man.
In New York city, near the Brooklyn
! bridge. and visible from the promenade OF
| that ev-a; yiaiuct, is loft which has
| l NJ been favorite headquarters of the
| professional divers who do business along
! this part of the Atlantic coast. The place
! ia well furnished, cozy and supplied with
| ali the Latest haeas in submarine work.
| Every day il is visited by the divers. who
! cone Tor new orders for work, to obtain
| assistance upon some hard task, or to pro-
! curr supplies for their peculiar calling.
One afternoon whle party Of friends,
| chiefly newspaper men and divers, were
chatting over the news Of the day, one Of
| the more popular subaqueous toilers
entered who had been absent some time
! from the city. He Joined in the conver-
| sa;ion, and Aftk- nearly every member OF
! the Marty had Eelats.i some experience,
/ said: Il do not >scail any exciting episode
in my career at the present moment, but
onl, the humdrum of my daily career
u'NosVE, tuos
outsiders AMI SO give the story cf days
| work. Last fall one of the ocean steamers,
| In approaching her pier. lost q valuable
| anchor and chaiu cable through the care
leSsn.ss or Grnnkenness Of some sesmen
on board. The captain n the boat WAS IN
old friend and he sent for me To recover the
property. 1t WAS not much Of job, but
! business was slack and was glad to get
!, bin.v randy nph n
work a day OF two Aftsrward. about IL
o'clock IN the mornin2. We anchored our
boat. got the pump resdy. adjusted my
urmor and down I went. Toa have
| III idea that the Sater il clear
like the sir, but You are away of. Il is
! dirty. very dirty. Ordinarily you can see
shout zen feet from You in any direction
! SIDEWAYS Over your head it is q glare
| Underneath i, is rs dark q, y cave. With
sn electrical lamp. the best invention Yet
made n Ear - our trade is Concerned
you can see twice rs Ear. but it Is just
| like standing hy camp fire in this woods
| al nirlt kline. II makes the surrounding
| darSn - all the darker. I reached ths
/ botrom Of tie Hudson and began walking
around. lie floor of great river is not
| like Broadway. nor even tie beach at
! Coury Island. IL is great mass of r,ze
or slime. into which you sink sometimes
10 your knees, sometimes 70 your waist
and sometimes over Your head. You do
| rs much work by feeling a. by seeing
| This dsy I strnck q 10; Of commonplace
things, but under water they interested
even NE One was mass Of telegraph
/ and telephone wires from New York to
| Jersey City Some were whole and some
were broken, probably 10y the anchors Of
| small vessels that hove 10 over night
| Just above.
| A few Of the broken wires s.ill stuck
out Just as il they had been pulled so by
| main .orcs- All Of the wires showed the
! effec. Of their suhnerxence. Some were
| half rotten. others were beCinniug to
| decay or rust. Every one had something
attached 10 IL. Little snsils. oyster shells.
| s.aweed, eel. gcass. rags and other water
logged matter from the land were q few
| of the things attached to the wires. Fur
ther on ] came across the oil pipe through
which the Standard Oil company pumps
| p.,roleum direct from the oil wells Of
| PENNSYLVANIA to tho great refneries in
| Brooklyn and Williamsburg. The pipe
| was stronger and more accurately made
| than the ordinary cis and water pipes We
| see in the city. Yet ! thought that II
| some craft got the nuke Of its anchor un-
der it and pulled quite hard then il would
| break short aud cover the harbor with
| crude petroleum. Thers 10 . great deal
| O; wood lying around the bed Of the river
| Contrary 70 public opinion. wood is not
| lighter than water. Full OF sir it il, OF
course, but when water soaked or logged
II nearly always sinks. lts weight Is 80
| close tO water. though, that it doesu' {
work its way down into the fine dirs and
raud of the bottom. For this reason II Is
very apt to deceive amateurs and novices.
There is another thing that divers see
| under the Hudson, and that 10 that the
river is being filed up through the folly
or ignorance OF human beings. The great
sewers never stop throwing their vile oou-
tea,s into the slips. Every steamer, from
tug To ocean greyhound, drops its ashes
overheard. Every vessel does tho Aame
With its sweepings and refuse. Then the
scows, which ought 10 carry the ashes and
garbage Of this city far away, save time
and trouble by dumping them in dark
nights into :he Hudson.
! There are not very many fishes In the
North river. There may be, but We divers
don't see much OF them. Probably they
sec us first aud give US . wide berth.
| Those / meet most are eeis and little
sinners. or minnows. II. however, we
clrry one Of those new fashioned incau-
te,cen. lamps it acts like . jack lantern
IA eel spearing, and nrineY shoals OF fish
around They are horribly unintelligent,
and after studying fellow i've minutes
sni swimming of they will Immediately
| rc;r-n ani o.Sin eyeing. him again. As if
| the. hal never seen him before. We
never m,ai them, ss they are harmless.
! ard coul,lii', he oaught by rs even il We
| ,.cs rel To get q good insss Of them when
at work.
Tho most unpleasant thing q diver
| can nest is tho dead body Of = human
| being IL IS a popular delusion that all
| dro,Sned men come TO the surface after
several days. Probably they would IL
| they " ere left alone and were not attacked
| hT wharf rac,, ecls aud fishes. But in the
| J. lt,so,. they are always attacked In this
waS within an hour or two after they are
- r',,!,-r.,e,i Once attacked that ends 1t.
! Tie breaking Of the skin difYuses some
! thing: it NAV !,c u scent around, and then
eve. ytLin. travels for that body to get .
| square meal. Long iefore decomposition
! j, is So cut and riddled that what gases
are formed have no chance 10 accumulate
| md intlnte the wallis OF the abdomen. We
divers never touch bodies in this state, be-
ctuSs 4, brim.s the worst luck possible.
There i, very little romance or beauty
aboU, = divers life The white sand
! beaches and coral floors, the brilliant
| co,nreG fishes And the exquisite forests Of
| Tie sea that the reading public never
worry Of in jules Verne and other lying
wri,erS do not exist. II IS cold, dark,
| f..hy and lead. The FIRST time you 60
down ;herc Is = novelty and excitement
about It which are very pleasant When
| thcsc wear NJ you feel like the grave
| Girgcrs who every morning go TO work in
the great cemeteries. You must be quick.
| piert a:G sober. You must keep your
| ornx aud cara omen onl he ready for any-