Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-02-23
THE RIVERS BOTTOM.
WHAT A DIVER SAW UNDER THE
WAVES or THE HUDSON


The Floor of the River Great Mass Of
Slime-Scme of the sishts-Hroken
Wires, Pipes. Sewage. Ete--A Dead
Man.
In New York city, near the Brooklyn
bridge. and visible from the promenade Of
that great siaiuct. is Il loft which has
,ng been fayorite headquarters OF the
professional divers who do business along
this part of the Atlantic coast. The place
is veii furnished. cozy and supplied with
all the latest IDEAS III submarine work.
Every day it is visited by the divers. who
core for new orders for work. to obtain
assistance upon some hard task. or TO pro-
cur supplies for their peculiar calling.
One afternoon while party III friends,
chiefly newspaper men and divers, We're
chatting over the news Of the day. one of
the more popular subaQue0as toilers
entered who had been absent some time
from the city. He joined in the CONVEX
satio1i, and afte- nearly every member of
the party had related some experience,
said: Il do not recall any exciting episode
in my career at the present moment, but
only the humdrum of my daily career. |
outsiders and so give the story Of II days
work. Last fall one of the ocean steamers,
in approaching her pier. lost a valuable
anchor and chain cable through the care
lessness or drunkenness of some seamen
On board. The captain of the boat was an
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
it We got everything ready and went to
work u day or two afterward. about Ii
O'Clock In the morning. We anchored our
boat got the pump ready, adjusted my
armor and down l went. You have
Oh idea that the water is clear
like the air, but you are away off. 1t is
dirty, very dirty. Ordinarily you can see
about ten feet from you in any direction
sideways. Over your head it is a glare.
Underneath it is as dark as a cave. With
an electrical lamp, the best invention yet
made as far as our trade is concerned,
you can see twice as far, but it is just
like standing by camp fire in the woods
at night time. 1t makes the surrounding
darkness all the darker. l reached the
bottom of the Hudson and began walking
around. The floor of great river is not
like Broadway, nor even the beach at
Coney Island. 1t is great mass 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 lot OF commonplace
things, but under water they interested
even me. One was a mass of telegraph
and telephone wires from New York to
Jersey City. Some were whole and some
We're broken, probably by the anchors of
small vessels that hove to over night
Just above.
\ few of the broken wires still stuck
out just as if 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,
seaweed. eel. grass, rags and other water
logged matter from the land We're a few
of the things attached to the wires. Fur
Their on | came across the oil pipe through
which the Standard Oil company pumps
petroleum direct from the oil wells of
Pennsylvania TO the great refineries in
Brooklyn and Williamsburg. The pipe
was stronger and more accurately made
than the ordinary gas and water pipes we
see in the city. Yet | thought that if
some craft got the fluke of its anchor I'M
der it and pulled quite hard then il would
break short and cover the harbor with
crude petroleum. There is 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 il doesn't
work its way down into the fine 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 filled up through the folly
or ignorance of human beings. The great
sewers never stop throwing their vile con-
tents into the slips. Every steamer, from
tug to ocean greyhound, drops its ashes
overheard. Every vessel does the same
with its sweepings and refuse Then the
scows, which ought to carry the ashes and
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
s2c us first and give us wide berth.
TAose | meet most are cells and little
sinners, or minnows. If. however, we
carry one of those new fashioned mean
descent lamps it acts like IA jack lantern
fl eel spcaring, and brings shoals of fish
around They are horribly unintelligent,
and after Studying n fellow five minutes
and swimm ~ off they will Immediately
return ami begin cycling him again, rs if
they had never seen him before. We
never mind them, rs they are harmless,
and couldn't he caught by us even if we
desired to get good mess Of them when
at work.
The most unpleasant thing diver
can meet is the dead body of human
being. 1t is popular deusion that all
drowned men come to the surface after
several days. Probably they would if
they were left alone and We're 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 are
submerged. Once attacked that ends it.
The breaking of the skin diffuses some
thing it may be n scent around, and then
everything travels for that body to get
square meal Long before decomposition
It is SO cut and riddled that what gases
are formed have no chance to accumulate
and initiate he walls of the abdomen. We
divers never touch bodies in this state, be-
cause it brings the worst lack possible
There is very little romance or beauty
ABOUT aver llie. i ne Wnlte sand
beaches and coral floors, the brilliant
colored fishes and the exquisite forests of
the sea that the reading public never
weary of in Jules Verne and other lying
writers do not exist, 1t is cold, dark,
filthy and dead. The first time you go
down there is a novelty and excitement
about it which are very pleasant. When
these wear off you feel like the grave
diggers who every morning go to work in
the great cemeteries. You must be quick,
alert and sober You must keep your
eyes and ears open and be ready for any
thing. II you don't you'll probably feed
the fiSncs.-New York Cor. Globe Dem
ocrat.
Labouchere is a victim OF rheumatic
govt.