, 1888-02-21
THE RIVERS BOTTOM.
WHAT A DIVER SAW UNDER THE
WAVES OF THE HUDSON.

80 = "a ivy col liz DAOOhlg II
bridge, and visible from the promenade of
that great viaduct, is a loft which has
long been n ~favorite headquarters of the
professional divers who do business along
this part of the Atlantic coast. The place
is well furnished, coy and supplied with
oil the latest ideas in submarine work.
Every day 1t is visited by the divers, who
ono for new orders for work, to obtain
assistance upon some hard task, or to pro-
cure supplies for their peculiar calling.
One afternoon While a party of friends,
chiefly newspaper men and divers, were
chatting over the news of the day, one of
the more popular s~ubaqueous toilers
entered who had been absent some time
from the city. He Joined in the CONVEX
sation, and afte- nearly every member of
the party had related some experience,
said: 81 do not recall any exciting episode
in my career at the present moment, but
only the humdrum of my daily career. 1
suppose, however, that It may interest
outsiders n 80 / give the story Of a days
work. Last fall one of the ocean steamers,
In approaching her pier, lost q valuable
anchor n chain cable through the care
lessness or drunkenness of some seamen
on board. TIL captain of the boat was an
old friend n he sent for me to recover the
property. 1t was not much of a Job, but
business was slack and l was glad to get
it. We got everything ready and went to
work q day or two afterward, about IL
O'Clock In the morning. We anchored our
boat, got the pump ready, adjusted my
armor and down / went. You have
an idea that the water Is clear
nk the air, but o are away Off. 1t is
dirty, very dirty. Ordinarily you can see
about ten feet from you In any direction
sideways. Over you head it is a glare.
Underneath 1t 10 MS dark as a cave. With
IN electrical lamp. the best invention yet
made as far as our trade is concerned,
you can see twice us far, but 1t is Just
like standing by n camp fire in the woods
at night time. II makes the surrounding
darkness all the darker. 1 reached the
bottom OF the Hudson and began walking
around. The floor of n great river is not
like Broadway, nor even the beach at
Coney Island. 1t is a great mnss of ooze
or slime, into which You sink sometimes
to your knees, sometimes to your waist
and sometimes over your head. You do
as much work by feeling as by seeing.
This day | struck n lot of commonplace
things, but under water they interested
even me. One was q mass of telegraph
and telephone wires from New York to
Jersey City. Some were whole and some
were broken, probably by the anchors Of
small vessels hat hove TO over night
just above.
y few of the broken wires still stuck
out just rs II they had been pulled so by
main force. All OF the wires showed the
effect of their submergence. Some were
half rotten, others were beginning to
decay or rust. Every one had something
attached to IT.. Little snails, oyster shells,
Feaweed, eel, grass, rags and other winter
logged matter from the land were n few
of the things attached TO the wires. Fur
ther on l came across the oil pipe through
which the Standard OIL company pumps
petroleum direct from the oil wells Of
Pennsylvania TO the great rehneries In
Brooklyn and Williamsburg. The pipe
was stronger and more accurately made
than the ordinary gas and water pipes we
Gee In the city. Yet 1 thought that II
some craft got the luke of its anchor I'M
der it and pulled quite hard then it would
break short and cover the harbor with
crude petroleum. There Is n great deal
of wood lying around the bed of the river.
Contrary TO public opinion, wood is not
lighter than water. Full Of aIr it is, of
course, but when water soaked or logged
it nearly always sinks. Its weight Is SO
close TO water, though, that 1t doesn't
work its way down into the flno dirt and
mud Of the bottom. For this reason it is
very apt to deceive amateurs and novices.
There is another thing that divers see
under the Hudson, and that is that the
river is being filed up through the folly
or ignorance of human beings. The great
sewers never stop throwing their vile oon-
fonts into the slips. Every steamer, from
tug to ocean greyhound, drops its nshes
overheard. Every vessel does the same
with its sweepings and refuse. Then the
scows, which ought to carry the ashes II
garbage of this city far away, save time
and trouble by dumping them in dark
nights into the 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
see US first and give us q wide berth.
Those l meet most are eels and little
sinners, or minnows. If, however, we
carry ono Of those new fashioned incan-
descent lamps 1t acts like q jack lantern
In eel spearing, and brings shoals of fish
around. They arc horribly uni~nteligent,
and after studying a fellow five minutes
and swimming off they will Immediately
return md begin cycling him again, as ~
they had never seen him before. We
never mind them, as they are harmless,
n couldn't be caught by US ever II we
desired to get n good mess of them when
at work.
1.-THE most unpleasant thing n diver
can meet is the dead body of n human
being. 1t is q popular elusion that all
drowned men come to the surface after
several days. Probably they would II
they were left alone and were not attacked
by wharf rats, cells and fishes, But in the
Hudson they are always attacked in this
way within an hour or two after they ore
submerged. Once attacked that ends it.
The breaking Of the skin diffuses some
thing, 1t may be q scent around, and then
everything travels for that body to get q
squAro meal. Long before decomposition
IL Ia 90 cut and riddled that what gases
are formed ave nc chance to accumulate
and initiate the walls of the abdomen. We
divers never touch bodies in this state, be-
cause 1t brings the worst luck possible.
There IA very little romance or beauty
about q Divers life. The white sand
beaches Rnd coral floors, the brilliant
colored fishes md the exquisite forests of
the sea that the reading public never
weary Of in Jules Verne and other lying
writer's do not exist. It is cold, dark,
filthy md dead. The first time you go
down there Is a novelty md excitement
about 1t which nre very pleasant. When
these wear on you feel like tho grave
diegers who every morning go to work In
the great cemeteries. You must b. quick,
alert and sober. You must keep your
eye md ears open and be ready for any
thing. II you don't you'u probably feed
Tho Aapaa No. Xyvk C1- ElaN. n