Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-11

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER.
An Expert Diver Examines the Base OF
the Tilted Pier Of the Free Bridge.
THE MASONRY STRUCK BIZ Blo TREE DURING TIE
RECENT FREsHKT-rHI LOO yAMxxD uxDIl
TIE PIER AND snf AND PnoBABLY coxcRxrE
WASHED IloN BISIATH TEE MAsoxRY.
my goodness, captain! It's awful hot down
therer' were the first words of Diver Robert
Rogers as he emerged from his helmet after
this afternoon. He was clinging to .
short ladder hanging from the side Of =
ecow moored by the tilted south pier under the
Aqueduct bridge. His face was dripping with
perspiration, and looked az though the appa-
ratus had leaked. But his hair was dry,
and the water that wet his face was not from
the Potomac.
It was intended that the diver should 20 be-
low at 10 o'clock this morning, but at that hour
it was discovered that there was no ladder on
hand with sufficiently short steps to permit
him to go over the side Of the scow with ease
| and time was called until one could be made.
THE DIVER, HIS COSTUME AND APPARATus.
So 1t was nearly o'clock before Mr.. Rogers
was ready for his excursion. On the scow were
Capt. Symons and . couple Of clerks from the
District buildings, an assistant in the ONCE Of
| the submarine reporters Of The STAR and the
CdptfdL and three colored men.
The diver was dressed In q NICE cool suit Of
heavy canvas, trimmed around the neck with
q copper collar, and rubber cuffs. His feet
| were submerged in shoes that would have made
a sprinter illogreat, wide structures Of leather
soled with an inch Of iron. His hands
were uncovered, and on the right glistened q
diamond ring. Mr.. Rogers wore light straw
nat while he was getting ready to go down,
was hidden from the sun under
piece OF canvas. A great fat rock was
tied to rope and lowered to the bottom. A
| strong MANILA rope was fastened around the
divers waist and he dragged himself to the
| side OF the scow and stepped over on the lad
der.
READY FOB THE SUBMARINE TRIP.
Then some one struggled over with the
immense round helmet, to which a black inch
hose was screwed. The great copper box was
dipped into the water to cool it, and then lifted
over MIR. Rogers head and screwed fast to the
copper collar. He continued to give instructions
through the open front, his voice sounding
like that of q man standing four feet from his
telephone. Leaning over the top Of the ladder
he let Jack" tie q belt around him-a light
airy little affair composed Of fifteen or twenty
chunks OF lead on piece of canvas. When
this was done he was ready for his trip, and
with goodbye he let his man screw on the
front plate.
GOING DOWN.
As he stood on the ladder he weighed fully
800 pounds, though he is but q small man.
There were about 80 pounds of belt, 40 pounds of
shoes, 40 pounds of collar and helmet, and
$50 pounds of man. This mass Of matter slowly
sank out Of sight until but the round head
piece was visible, and then the diver sprang
out from the ladder and was gone.
The life line and the air tube slipped
rapidly through Jacks fingers as he stood at
the side OF the scow, and two colored men at
the pump handles bent up and down as they
sent life to the man below. A great rush OF
bubbles sprang to the surface of the water and
showed that the pump was working well.
THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THE DIVER
were to take trip along the north face Of the
pier and around to the west to look for evil
dences of washing, and to examine the
character Of the bottom and the masonry
He was underneath about twenty minutes, his
course being marked by the patch Of bubbles
with his line with great care, now paying out
now pulling in, until o tug or two came up the
rope, and he Immediately began to haul iup
with all his strength.
'HEs COMING upr'
he exclaimed, and a colored man went to his
assistance. Hes a small man, but he's mighty
heavy" In another moment the copper dome
that covered the divers head could be seen
approaching the surface, then his hands
grasped the ladder and he had pulled himself
halfway up.
Go easy on the air." the bumpers were told
while some one quickly unscrewed the front
piece and then took off the helmet. It
was then that Mr.. Rogers told Capt Sy-
mons that the bed of the Potomac was
t.,zvz g. -
city. The air he breathed was hot from COM
preston and the windows of the helmet were
| reeking.
THE DIVERS REPORT.
As soon as he could get a breath or two Of
cooler air the diver made his preliminary re-
port to the captain. He said that he had been
out to the west end Of the pier and had discovered
there an immense tree log fully thirty
feet long and three feet in diameter that
after going down nearly straight, fared
out at the bottom, and beneath this
jog it was fully feet to the bottom, which at
the west end was hard rock, as clear as though
swept by brooms. He had put his leg under
the jog and found that there was
an excavation beneath the pier, which he CAL
culated to extend fully six feet back. He had
explored as far as he could with his foot.
The tree was firmly lodged and there were
some timbers caught in the masonry also
These, Captain SymOns thought, were part Of
the old coffer-dam.
ROUGH MASONRY.
Toward the east end the masonry was very
rough and bad. 1t looked. the diver said, as
though it had been loosely, hastily thrown in,
and was so jagged that he could have
climbed up the face of the pier some distance.
In this neighborbood the bottom was covered
with coarse silt for a depth of about o foot.
The diver had brought up several pounds of
this stuff in his pocket
He exhibited this to the captain, who thought
that it had been washed in to replace the con-
crete that had been laid at the
base of the pier when it was
built. The diver said that there was
no trace Of concrete on that side. There were
no evidences of the settling Of the pier below,
he added, but the masonry was 80 rough that
there was nothing to indicate it,
WHAT CAPTAIN sYMoNs SAYS.
Capt. Symons said to The STAR reporter that
the discovery Of the tree confirms his former
theory. 1t had been lodged there by the freshet
and had turned the current downward under the
masonry with great force, sufficient to wash
out the silt on the bed Of the river and possibly
some of the masonry. He remembered reading