Wichita eagle., 1889-08-09

DIVING FOR SPONGES.'
A BUSINESS WHICH is BOTH PROFIT
ABLE AND PERILOUS.


The Finest Goods Come from Mediterra-
mean waters-Cuba and Key West Fur
nish a Cheaper Grade-How They Are
Gathered, Assorted and Sold.
Sponges are divided into two classes The
first is that style which perambulates on two
legs and works the horny handed son Of toll
for ouarter-of which class the less said
the better.
The other is the style which grows In sub
marine neighborhoods, and comes into the
companionship Of clean people only when in
vited to do so. This latter is much the more
respectable and valuable class.
Sponges are found only in few localities
on the earth's surface, and the supply does
not nearly equal the demand. A very few
men have it in their power to corner the
sponge market, but they have never done it
vet, and can be depended on not to, for the
reason that they already have as much OF
the world Is they care to use. There Is no
mercantile business known in which sales are
SO certain with 50 little effort on the part OF
the dealer; where overlooking and dull mar
kets are SO rarely known, or where the
profits acquired aHe SO very generous.
THE DIVERS WORK.
The best sponges are found In the Grecian
archipelago, In water as shallow In some
cases as forty feet, and ranging from that to
depths below any known soundings. The
deeper the water the finer and more expen-
sive is the product found The Grecian goods
are known as silk sponges, and grade in price
from 50 TO 800 pound, range which Is
accounted for by the almost limitless variety
in texture, size and shape To just what king
dom sponge belongs there seems to be no
settled opinion Mr.. Lindner, manager for
the Chicago company, when seen by a re-
porter, stated that the formation known to
the trade as sponges is the product Of myriads
of small insects that gather the floating
particles found In the ocean and build the
fungus like growth, much as coral reefs are
built, attaching It to any substance they
find-a rock or the sunken timber of a long
wrecked vessel.
The Grecian government controls all the
Mediterranean sponge fields, and leases to
the firms engaged in the business such tracts
of water as are agreed on. The boundaries
Of these leased waters are fixed by floating
buoys, and no lease is made for more than
one year.
The dealer hires his sailors and divers, who
man the clumsy little sail boats and proceed
to their employers grounds. Here the cap
tain in charge employs the water glass, scam
ming the bottom of the sea in search of
sponges. When he finds a promising bed he
+ha mi V
natives, and work entirely naked. Each
boat is provided with a number Of stones
weighing about fifty pounds, to each Of which
is attached a coil of fine rope. The diver
takes up one of these stones, poises himself
on the gunwale of the boat, inhales a heavy
draft Of air and plunges head downward into
the water, holding the rock ahead Of him at
arms length. AS he reaches the bottom he
drops the stone, which is hauled up into the
boat by the rope.
The diver gropes about until he can find
the sponges, which he puts in netting sack
swung to his waist. Sometimes he does not
find any, and then, after creeping about until
his lungs warn him it is time to return to the
surface, he springs upward, and, beating
both hands and feet, struggles into the air.
The long holding of breath soon leaves its
Il
follow the business more than very few
years. However, he makes money while he
is at it, often earning from 500 to 500 a
week-an amount which he finds difficulty In
spending on the barren hills and scattered
villages of the archipelago. For the lower
deeps divers in armor are employed, who are
not SO plentiful as the wages offered might
warrant, and who exact almost any remu-
neration they want.
One trihing objection to the pursuit Of
! sponge diving is the frequent visits of sharks.
Nearly hundred men are lost every year in
Mediterranean waters, chiefly by the vora-
cious sharks, although few of the divers not
/ in armor are occasionally drowned
PREPARING FOR THE MARKET.
! When enough sponges are gathered to fill
/ the boat the crew proceeds to the shore,
where the goods are spread out for inspec-
! ton by the officers Of the government, and
! the rate Of the lease Is fixed by the quantity
! of sponges secured. A field which yields
/ nothing to the merchant costs him nothing
but his time in searching it. After the gov
/ eminent dues are paid the sponges are assort-
/ Ell carefully by experienced men, and are
! then strung with a needle and Irvine and hung
/ in the sun on row Of low stakes to dry. Hy-
/ OTauuC pressure Is tueu eulplOyeO IL lRiChlue,
! the goods When ready for shipment the
! bales resemble compressed cotton, excepting
that they are enveloped in coarse cloth. The
range in quality of these Mediterranean
4 sponges is very great. Now and then, In
very deep water, q small, close flbered sponge
is found, very light in color, and when dry
nearly the size Of an orange. These command
! a price as high Assoc pound.
The West India sponge is cheaper in price
because poorer in quality. The fishing there
is done by poles exclusively, the sponges being
! found in water not more than forty feet deep.
/ They are known as sheepswool, grass, velvet,
reef and yellow sponges The first mentioned
/ is the finest, and is quoted at from So to 50 a
pound, velvet at about 81. and grass sponges
as low as ten cents a pound. The quantity
/ imported into America amounts 20 81 ,0O0, 900
in value annually. Key West, Fla, varies
/ her cigar making with sponge fishing in
dust1y, from which nearly $500, 900 worth of
( sponges are taken each year. The volume OF
the business increases yearly, as sponges are
put to greater variety of uses as time goes
! by, and this in spite of the fact that the price
has steadily increased for the past ten years.
Goods that could be bought for SIPS pound
in 1879 will bring So IS today.
\ bad feature of the business Is that the
American people demand a light colored
sponge, which in very few cases Is natural
color To satisfy this desire strong acids are
a.. -