The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-11-14
DEEP SEA EXPLORATIONS.
SUBMARINE DIVERS AND THEIR
APPLIANCES.

hangers Encountered at Great
Depths-A Test OF Goodness and
Endurance-A Divers Outfit.
Joseph Smith is one of the oldest and
most experienced practical divers on the
Atlantic coast, and is at present work
ing foreman in the only mandatory OF
diving apparatus in this part of the
country. What he does not know
about matters pertaining to diving very
few men know.
What is the reason that man cannot
accomplish the feat Of submarine ex-
ploration2
The answer to this question, given by
MIR. Smith and other old divers, is. that
man doesn't want to attempt 1t. Down
to certain depth the matter is compare.
lively easy. Almost any practical diver
will go down to distance of eighty or
100 feet and work there as coolly as on
the surface. But at a greater depth than
that there is something so weird and
strange, so uncanny, augmented by the
eternal stiffness and the knowledge
that if an accident should happen
to the slender life line or string of
hose that supplies air to the diver, he
could never hope TO rise again to the sur
face, that few men have the nerve to
undertake the decent. There have been
descents and work performed on the
bottom of the sea at a depth Of 125 feet
some unauthenticated stories name $50
feet-but no diver can remain at that
depth more than hall an hour at a time
Besides the sensation, which is calculated
to unnerve even a brave men, there are
physical obstacles against remaining any
longer. The chief of these is the di IL
Guilty of forcing air through the hose
down to that depth. A steam pump has
TO be employed, and even then the air
will only come in gasps and sobs and
intermittent putfs. The immense press
sure of the water squeeLes the hose to-
gether so that it can hardly be forced
through. The pressure of water is so
great about the divers body that it re-
quires strong man to stand it, while the
heat and perspiration induced inside the
closed armor is something fearful. A
good many divers who have ventured to
great depths and remained down too
long for their strength, have come up
paralyzed.
Have there been any improvements in
diving armor of late years2 None !
worth speaking of. The sut is practi-
cally the same now as when first used, a
generation ago. 1t consists of a helmet,
q diving dress, set of belt weights, a .
pair of diving shoes with lead or iron |
soles, rubber mitteus and other articles
to correspond. The helmet is made of .
copper and bell metal in order to be as
light as possible, with glass fve-six-
teenths of an inch thick for the three
which are guarded by wires
across the outside.
The dress is made of two plies of can
vas with one ply of rub5er between.
The air hose is made of rubber lined with
canvas. This apparatus is now the
same all the world over. Who first in
vented it has been forgotten, if it was
ever known. There are no patents upon
it, but it would hardly pay for many
firms to engage in its manufacture be-
cause the demand is so small. The sale
of half dozen suits and outfits year is
counted a pretty fair business, besides
repairing.
The cost of an outfit varies from S400
to $1,000. The CO t of an air pump
varies from $40 to $500. This outfit is
the same that has been manufactured
here since 1859, and which abont that
time suppla1ted the diving bell. There
are few diving bells still in existence,
but they are never used because they are
SO unhandy. A person cannot move
outside of them, but they have been
used at depth of $50 feet
Along the coast from Maine to Florida
there are probably not more than two
hundred practical divers, men competent
10 take job of work under water and
perform it satisfactorily. There are
probably two or three times that number
who have worn divers armor and worked
n shoal water A good many armors
ire now employed for going through
sewers and performing such work, the
'rmor being more protection against
gas and foul air than from water. The
Oil Company employ some
men to look after and repair its pipes
which cross the bottom of rivers, and in /
which there are frequently breaks and
eaks. But these men are not termed
iiyers by the profession.
The most famous piece of diving work
lone on this coast, perhaps, was at the
wreck OF the steamship Oregon, outside
u Sandy Hook, about four years ago. :
Men worked there in 135 feet of water. {
Although the wreck lay in clear sea !
water, they found considerable difficulty :
owing to lack of lights. The appearance !
1i objects was as though seen in q room
1t night lighted only by the stars shining I
through the windows, and most of the !
work had to be done by feeling. Elec- j
rle lights were tried with some success. f,
but 1t was too much trouble to carry
hem about and keep them in good posi-. /
.ion for working by At this depth the a
liver had to take half hour shifts. At =
depth of eighty feet, the ordinary i
liver will work all day and ask only to
'ome up TO his meals. .-NeU York Com. :
nercial Aacerfiser. =