San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-07-19
DIVING FOR SPONGES.
\ BUSINESS WHICH is BOTH PROFIT
ABLE AND PERlLOUS.


first is that style which perambulates on two
legs and works the horny handed son of tell
for a quarter-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
Spenges are found only in a 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
yet, and can be depended on not to, for the
reason that they already have as much of
the world as they care, to use. There is no
mercantile business known in which sales are
SO certain with so little effort on the part of
the dealer; where overstocking and dull mar
kets are so rarely known, or where the
profits acquired are 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 a pound, a range which is
accounted for by the almost limitleSs variety
III texture, size and shape. To just what king
dom a sponge belongs there seems TO be no
settled opinion. Mr.. Lindner, manager for
the Chicago company, when seen by 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 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, scan
ming the bottom of the sea in search Of
sponges. When he finds promising bed he
directs the divers. These men are mainly
natives, and work entirely naked Each
boat is provided with 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 ia netting sack
swung to his waist. Sometimes he does not
fird 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
mark in shattered health, and no diver can
follow the business mcre than a 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 trihisg objection to the pursuit of
sponge diving iSthe frequent visits of sharks
Nearly a 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
tho 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
ernment dues are paid the sponges are assort-
ed 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-
draulic pressure is then employed in packing
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
spongcS is very great. Now and then, in
very deep water, small, close fbered sponge
is found. very light in color, and when dry
nearly the size of an orange. These command
price as high as $50 a pound.
The West India sponge is cheaper in price
because poorer in quality. The fishing there
is done by poles exclusively, thesponges 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 So a
pound, velvet at about 81, and grass sponges
as low as ten cents a pound. The quantity