Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1889-11-07
No. 2!9
A DIVERS EXPEKIENCES.
A VETERAN'1 TALK CONCERNING
AFFAIRS UNDER WATER.

yllC pressure SN3CnlIcu ny - nitcT~D0u-
gers from Too Rapid Ascent to the
Surface - Various Interesting Objects
Taken from Wrecks.
Some very interesting facts relating to
diving have been told the writer by George
w. Fuller, the veteran submarine diver and
inventor of submarine appliances. In a
talk with Mr.. Fuller relative to the pressure
sustained by diver when in different depths
Of water and other matters of a submarine
nature, he has explained many questions
which were erplexing, and corrected some
Of the impressions received by the writer
during his recent trip to the bottom of the
bay Mr.. Fuller has shown me that the
pressure is about forty -four pounds to tho
square inch. He goes on to say that "even
this pressure Is enormous, for the surface OF
the body Of diver Of ordinary Proportions
presents twelve square feet OF surface upon
which this tremendous pressure Is excrted,
and he Is, when in 100 feet Of salt water, ex-
posed to a pressure equal to about thirty
eight tons pressing inwa. dly toward a cou-
mon center"
THE PRESSURE.
Mr.. Fuller goes OH to say: The resistance
offered to that pressure, its immediate and
1Mul effects and the means employed to
counteract it, form subjocts Of much Inter-
est, and these can be thoroughly explained
only by careful attention to natural and
physical laws and conditions controlling
such actions The reason one fails to ,e tho
weight of his nrmor when subMcrled Is sim
ply this: The suit or "tlress," when properly
Inflated with air contains besides the divers
body and wearing apparel, some Twenty-Five
to twenty 1--we gallons OF air, which, by the
action of tho air pump, Is constantly being
changed or renewed.
Now as to his weight after being submcrg-
cd. Ii his escape valve is properly adjusted
to 100 feet depth, the indicated weight Of d.
yer and urmor combined is less when barely
sunk below the surface, and greatest when at
tho bottom. At the surface the pressure
equals atmosphere to . In our case
Now, for every "a inches depth We descend
In the sea water, we add one pound pressure
per square inch of surface exposed With
this slight amount pressing against our dress,
even the legs Of some are fairly we'll inflated
Gr tho start, hence more displacement and in
creased buoyancy. AS we descend tho pres
sure increases, driving the confined air higher
and higher up the dress reducing buoyancy,
increasing weight, until, having reached the
bottom, we have no air III the dress below
the breast, and mighty little there either.
Now it is that our weight begins to show
its presence In a painful manner. The legs
OF the diver, as we'll US the lower portion Of
his body, succumb to the pressure, and arc
sensibly compressed SO far as tissue, ETC.,
goes, circulation becoming seriously dis
turbed, or, indeed, totally suspended at times,
and the blood, which should normally Circu-
late in the lower limbs is forced above. This
causes numbness of the legs, and severe head
aches often occur, and if the weights were
suddenly cut adrift, and the diver allowed to
"pop" to the surface, death would follow from
effort Of air confined within the cavity Of tho
body to escape, or to establish ali equilibrium
of pressure. The air. seeking every natural
passage out of the divers body, drive, before
it blood, contents Of bowels, etc Tho neces-
sty for comparatively slow descent and
ascent is readily appreciated, as we'll as the
precaution on the purt Of a diver himself to
prevent any sudden or accidental, enforced
Or hurried trip to the surface.
With beginner making his first descent
beneath the waves it will be well to romeln-
ber this fact, when u great deal of the pain
will lie avoided: Always swallow as often as
the slightest pain in tho ears is experienced,
and then the explosion which takes place in
the head will not bs sufficiently heavy to seri-
ously attract the attention.
SOME EXTRAOnbli AIRY FEATS.
Mr.. Fuller also showed ne s,,iIe specimens
which he had brought up from wrecks. One
wes United States 81 bill, and with it was
cn old twenty-five cen, scrip piece which he
rescued in one OF his ,uail@n dives of Ecavor
Tail in 1865. He also exhibited some relies
from Spanish frisate which wls sunk of
tho coast Of South America in lSl5, and
which he recovered while there in charge Of
nn expedition in 1871. In showing some Of
the Spanish dollars to the writer, Mr.. Fuller
said that, notwithstanding their long bath,
most of these coins We're very well preserved,
but some which had como in contact with
the rustnS iron Of the vessel had worn away
to mere ghosts OF their former selves. The
bills which were brought up OF Beaver Tail,
although badly soaked by the water, still
held together, and tho printing on them re-
maiLed entirely lsgi5le.
As has been printed in another story, Mr.
Fucr was the first diver who ever accom-
plished the feat of catching fish, dressing
and cooking it all under water, and bring
ing it to the surface, hot and dry. fio was
also the first man to successfully expose u
sensitized Photographic plate and obtain
negative in a considerable depth OF water.
In speaking of his early experience as
diver, and of the manner in which he first
went into the business, ALr. Fuller said: "In
1857 WIS e,nployetl us IL foreman in an ca
tonsive watch repairing establishment i'll
F,meuil Hall square. Hearing that Il diver
was at work repairing the outer end of
Long wharf which hal fallen out, spent
all entire forenoon in order TO crafty my
great desire to $50 such u curiosity.
This diver WA George W. Townsend, and
he was the first he'd ever seen. The impress
sion then received haunted me continually,
and IN 1860 left the shop and started IN
at my adopted business As Il suhna inc oper-
atOr There were not above six OF eight
divers then in this country.
an 1862 | hpd brought out several important
inventions pertaining to the apparatus and
business and had Il company Of my own, The
Bay State Submarine company, of Boston,
of which was superintendent aud manager.
Since then have had charge Of two other
heavy companies, and our work has taken me
to various parts of the world In 'Gj we got
too numerous in and about Boston, and
strucl: New London. Conn, and for years
carried oi, the business there and at Norwich,
where resided. ~ Boston Globe.
The Ocean Depths.
The greatest known depth Of tho sea Is in
the South Atlantic ocean, midway between
the island of Tristan dAcul,ha and the mouth