The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1888-05-10
A DIVERS LIFE.
Ne mods and Apparatus Used IN
Work Under the Sea
a ID sr's suit q Armor-Tahiug Thinga
Eaasy "a tbs So Bottom-rrain-
Ing q man far eubrua-
rlne WORK.

In a latitude where summer reigns
perpetually. while sitting on the deck
Of tie good ship Alpen. and vOyaging
through the Caribbean Sea. bound
from Kingston. jamaica to New
York. that re ntly had an interest
/ ing and instructive chat with Captain
Anthony Williams the famous En-
glish diver. on the subject Of his
hazardous profession.
IL first began diving in 1868" be
said. in answer to my question Il
WAS q wreeker then. and was raising
a sunken ship OF the coast Of Corn
wall ! had working for me a diver
who seemed a very lazy. careless sort
Of fellow. was paying him BY the
day. aud once. after being under
water for a long time. he came up and
reported very little progress N his
work. ! was angry. and expressed
myself strongly. He retOrted with;
Try it yourself If you can do any bet
ter
"'All right. said /. let me have
your diving-dress aud will try il my
self He thought I was only joking.
but / wasn't. He doffed the dress. !
put Il on and down ! went. ] dis
charged him when 1 came up aud
have been doing my own diving ever
since.
subsequently,. however. ! placed
myself under the instruction Of 3 diver
named Scott When he thought me
proficient he said to me one day:
Tony. / think you have learned about
all can teach you Now ! am going
10 put you to the test Taking from
canvas bag five dollars in small
silver coins he threw them into the
sea Now 90 down and bring those
up As every sehoOl-boy knows.
dime OF half dime under water looks
as large as a trade dollar ont Of water
81 did not consider the task a very
difficult one Down I went. and up
came presently with every coin.
whereupOn Scott pronounced my div
ing education complete. Poor fellow.
he was drowned about five years ago
while bathing in the River Magdalen.
in British Columbia
Ibid you ever see a diving dress?
No? Then | will put mine on and
give you an idea Of one" and the cap
tain retired to his stateroOm. whence
he presently emerged In full diving
costume. except the heavy cast iron
helmet. which several Of the company
raised from the deck and placed upon
him. thus making his outfit complete.
The dress is really two dresses. one
within the other. each Of India rubber.
The stockings. pants and shirt are all
made together IS one garment which
/ the diver enters at the neck. feet first.
The hands are left bare. the wrist
bands Of the rubber shirt-sleeves tight
Is COMPRISING the wrists. There is a
copper breast-plate. hearing upon its
outer convex surface small screws.
which are adjusted through holes in
the neck Of the shirt, which, by means
Of nuts fastened upon the screws. is
held 80 firmly in place as TO render the
entire dress. from the neck downward.
absolutely air and water-tight Fit
ting with equal closeness TO this breast
plate Is the helmet mentioned above.
IL completely inrlOses the he "a. and is
supplied with three glasses-One in
front and one at each side-tn enable the
diver to look in any direction. Apair 81
very thick leather shoes, made TO lace
up the front. and supplied with heavy
Il a.Ta1 .,vrs,1afaa fh. .srFgf
You SEE" said the captain. when
his helmet had been removed. after
every body had had ample time to
criticise his appearance IN Il. lit takes
about fifteen minutes to put these toys
on. and when the diver is rigged in
them all but the helmet there are
placed across his shoulders ropes su--
tanning two leaden wei ghts. one hang
ing at his back. the other at his breast.
He then goes down ladder into the wa
ter up to his armpits and then the he'll
met Is placed on h m. the glass in front
Is screwed In place. and when every
thing Is ready he il made aware IT the
fact by a blow on the top Of the hell
met He then goes down by means Of
a rope previously lowered. hand under
hand, 10 the bottom ofthe sea. Some
times IN very strong currents. il Is
necessary TO make the weights extra
ordinarily heavy in order to hold the
diver down. Notwithstanding the fact
that the dress alone weighs nearly two
hundred and fifty pounds. aud yet l
do not 70 / the weight Of Il down
among the fishes any more than / do
that Of an ordinary suit Of clothes ont
Of the water. Il was invented in
Switzerland BY 4 native Of that cOun-
try named Bauer. who spent a small
competency in having Il patented and
in trying to bring il into use. but he
died a disappointed. heari-bruken
pauPer. leaving others to rap the
benefit Of his invention"
Can you breathe rs freely in your
diving dress As yon can out Of it?'
Yes, Indeed. When ten or twelve
fathOms under water my breathing is
as wholly devoid Of effort as IL Is when
] am walking about on dry land You
know that By means Of an air-pump.
worked By two men. the diver is sup
piled with air Through n hose this
air passes into the back 81 his helmet
and near lie place Of entrance i
spring valve for its escape. This
valve can be controlled by the diver.
but he usually sets IL before going into
the water and seldom disturbS il after
ward The pressure 81 the air being
greater than that Of the water. a sur
plus Of the former readily escapes
Wien this valve l. not sufficient
the diver can open in his breast
plate 4 similar spring valve. in
ten led only for such an emer.
geney. He can also regulate the
amount uf air pumped 10 him
by signals upon the air-hnse % the
men engaged in pumping One pull
upon the hOse means more air; two
pulls. less air. and two pulls and q
shake. L want TO come mp These
signals on the air-hose are generally
used bv all divers. but each one q ne
has his own private code Of signals on
the lifeline. which i always fastened
70 the divers waist. and bv means Of
which he Is drawn mp ont Of the water.
These signals each diver writes down
very carefully AMI gives to the man in
charge Of the lifeline By means Of
these we can send up for tools. ma
terial. etc. When alengthy communi-
cation 4 10 BE- male We send M for n