Wichita eagle., 1889-10-04
TERRORS OF THE DEEP.
ADVENTUROUS CALLING OF THE
PROFESSIONAL DIVERS.
An Investigator Who Went Down Once,
but Found That Enough-A Terrible
Duel with a Shark Under the Water Over
the Dead Bodies of Woman and Child.

Dut ROUND 1f2t EnocSh-A Xerr1Dle
Duel with Shark Under the Water Over
the Dead Bodies of q Woman and Child.
The sensation Of a walk at the bottom of
the sea is one never to be forgotten-there is
something SO weird SO supernatural in this
defiance o. the laws of nature that ones mind
| Is filled with sort of pleasurable dread that
his temerity will speedily be punished in some
hitherto unheard of manner Strange osay,
the expectation is not at all unpleasant One
of my earliest friends was Capt. George W
| Townsend of Boston, the veteran diver and
submarine architect, and some of the happi-
est of my boyhood days were passed in his
office listening TO his stories of adventure be-
| meath the waves. A short time ago, when at
| home on a visit, renewed our old friendship
and was invited to accompany him to the
governments works at Fort Warren, Boston
harbor, of which he had charge.
ONCE WAS ENOUGH
After an hours sail ne anchored above the
works and the suits and apparatus were got
| ten ready for the divers. With twinkle in
his eye the captain delivered me to the ten
| der mercies of half ambitious monster
| known as ''Jim," who, believe to this day,
! would have been an honor to the Spanish in
| QUESTION. After ordering me to undress he
| produced heavy suit Of fannels, which
| donned, then the diving suit was put on It
| Is made of sheet rubber, protected Oh both
sides with heavy tanned canvas and is built
| more for rength than beauty. The suit is
divided into three parts, the upper is the
| helmet, the intermediate the breastplate and
| the lower portion the dress The helmet is
made of copper and fitted with three plate
| glass windows, strong enough to withstand
| the pressure of the water and also protected
| with guards-the front piece may be I'M
| screwed, SO that the diver coming up to rest
| may do SO without removing the rest of the
! suit. The inlet valve through which the air
Is pumped is fixed in the back of the helmet
and is delicate piece of mechanism Should
any accident happen to the air hose or the
| force pumps the valve instantly closes, in
closing air enough to support the diver until
he can be drawn to the surface and the he'll
| met removed
Having got me inside the dress, James now
fastened the collar, placed the life line about
my waist, and tied on a pair of stout leather
shoes with leaden soles weighing about twenty
pounds.
| then walked, or rather 'shuff1ed," to
ladder descending into the water, where the
front and back weights were adjusted. which
weigh about forty pounds apiece.
The helmet was then pulled over my head
and fastened, and a moment after felt my
self being slowly lowered. The instant the
water closed over me it seemed as if the head
bad been closed in contractable helmet filed
with razor like spikes which seemed to pene-
trate the head in al directions, causing an
intense and indescribable pain. Tighter and
tight it seemed to grow and tho spikes ap-
peared about TO meet III my head AS | was
upon the point of Inconsistencies there came
sudden shock, as if some one bad struck the
helmet sharp blow with sledge hammer.
Instantly the rain vanished and was succeed
ed by a numbness, as one feels when doing
Slowly this passed away, and, much relieved,
l attempted orise to standing position. This
proved somewhat difficult of accomplishment.
Ny feet, despite the weight of the lead soled
shoes, seemed determined to float upward
while it appeared as if some giant power had
fastened itself upon my neck and was at
tempting to push my head into the sand at
the bottom of the river
After several Intellectual attempts however,
finally succeeded III assuming all erect posi-
ton and clumsily stumbled around the works.
H.
The head and body feel very light. as if one
was floating in mid-air, but at the same time
the density of the water causes a feeling of
constant contraction, as if the body was being
slowly squeezed in a wise. The surging of the
air through the helmet now became almost
unbearable, it appeared to enter at one ear,
pass completely through the head and exit on
the opposite side A feeling OF nausea now
lar ma and hot | had
cumulated about all the knowledge OF diving
that l desired, | pulled the signal line and
was drawn to the surface The crowd gath
cred around expecting to see me weaken, but
they were disappointed. | assumed cheer
fitness | was far from feeling, expressed de-
light at my experience, but declined press
ing invitation to descend again.
NERVE Is NEEDED.
During the return trip the captain re-
lated several of his experiences IAN English
steamer had foundered, he said, with all
on ard, the wife and infant daughter of a
20 . merchant of Halifax had been lost,
and he was very anxious to regain the bodies
] was sent for and descended to the wreck
l found the bodies without difficulty, as they
had been dashed to the combing of the hatch |
way. l fastened a rope around them and
monStrous shark darted toward me- As he |
turned upon his side 10 strike threw myself |
backward and he passed me by less than |
foot As he turned again | saw that the |
bodies had attracted his attention, for be !
started straight for them. With the instinct |
Of self preservation grasped the life line,
Intending TO signal a quick hoist, but the |
next instant thought of my own wife and |
li@tl oft boil =, /
SO sadly on the shore; of his grief when |
should tell him that the bodies Of his loved /
ones had been sacrificed TO this monster of
the deep and determined to at least make
an attempt to save them.
Il drew my knife, huge affair fully twelve
inches along and two inches wide, and as the
fish turned on his side threw myself for
ward and drove the blade TO the hit in his
stomach He stopped short and. turning,
darted away about one hundred yards, then
turned again and came at me with marvel
Gus swiftness. Before could move he was
upon me, saw his huge mouth open with
his double rows of saw like teeth and | gave |
myself up for lost How he ever missed me
l don't know almost felt the vicious snap |
Of his jaws as he passed. Acting under an
impulse, | sprang forward,
threw my left arm across his back. aud with
the right drove the knife again and again in
his white stomach. Up and down. back
ward and forward the huge creature darted.
opening and closing MS jaws and flashing the
water furioi1sly IN bis attempts 10 shake me
Of. and even in that moment OF supreme
peril | felt the cold drops of preparation
stand out on my forehead as thought Of the
posi- Utility OF the air pipe parting.