News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-02-28
A DIVERS EXPERIENCE.
AN HOUR OF AGONY UNDER A
MIGHTY RIVER.
Through the Foot by a Bolt-A
Cut from Instcp to Toe.

When submarine divers go down un-
der water they look for and expect all
sorts of adventures. engagements with
devilfsh of enormous proportions are of
every day occurrence, while the finding
of human bodies and other ghastly evi-
! dences of shipwreck is small matter to
the professional diver. Probably one of
the most noted divers fir this country is
John Moore, who is now in this city on
business. Mr.. Moore claims New Or
leans as his home, although he is recent
| ly from Seattle, w. T. An Examiner
reporter met him fsay days ago, and
heard one of th11s1e. tfyt thrilling adven-
lures that ever bsr9! - S.l.rn under water,
he having been impaled through the foot
in some twenty feet of water at Mem
phis, Tenn. Mr. Moore walks with an
almost imperceptible lameness as re-
suit of his adventures in the Mississippi
River.
'That foot bothers me at times" said
the diver, ''and the horror of the situa-
ton was in [ shall never forget.
Mr.. Moore removed his shoe and
stocking from his right foot, which is
slit from near the instep to between the
great and second toes, he having releas-
ed himself by tearing his foot thrt ugh
the bolt at the time of the Implement.
The story, however, is best told in the
divers own words.
''It was in October, 19S3," said Mr..
Moore, ''that was engaged to do the
underwater work-that is, to build the
inclines for the Kansas City, Springfield
and Memphis Railroad at Memphis.
My work was all under water, [ having
to sink caps on top of the piles, and then
drive drift bolts into each pile. The
latter were SIX in a row, forming what is
termed bent. The incline was about
four hundred feet in length, the bents
being sixteen feet apart. 1t was on the
morning of October 17th that was sent
over to the West Memphis side and
made survey. / found that the incline
lacked foot of being down on the caps,
and so reported to the Chief Engineer.
| was directed to bolt the incline timbers
to the caps, and it was in doing this that
the accident which nearly cost me my
life occurred. / used the regulation
diving dress, with helmet and air. pump,
but relied principally on my lifeline
and signal rope
Mr.. Moore then explained the method
of drawing bolt twenty feet under
water. 'In this instance" he continued
ga piece of two-inch gas-pipe of the re-
quired length was used. After holes
had been bored in the timbers, bolt
was sent down the pipe, and, being put
into position by the diver, was rammed
loading gun. Everything progressed
M oh 4 fl,or 10 &c ho
l had just pointed the pipe over bolt
hole, and gave the signal to send the
bolt down and ram away, when / felt
a sharp singing pain in my right foot,
and found myself impaled L reached
for my life line, but owing to the muddy
nature of the water jn the Mississippi, 1
was unable to find ItYor scaveral lirUlnents.
BY that time L realized my position.
The bolt had been driven through the
string piece of the incline, then through
my foot, and then into the top of the
pile. I confess that J. was fright
ened at first, but well knowing that if
1 lost my presence of mind 1 would be
goner, braced up and looked around
for some way to release myself. If had
n slate with me / could have sent it up
and notified those above of the fix I was
in, but had gone down that day with
out one. My situation was a very seri-
Gus one.
"The current was running at the rate
of about six miles an hour, and there l
was, a prisoner under twenty feet of
water, suffering intense pain and losing
large quantity of blood. There was no
other diver within three or four miles of
the place, and things looked very
blue for me. L had been impaled for
probably half an hour when the men
above concluded that something was
wrong, and tried to signal me with my
lifeline. This was finally abandoned,
and young fellow named John Con-
ners, who acted as my tender, came
down. He brought with him the dullest
knife / think ever saw. He came down
to meet me in novel way. He had no
diving suit, but got one of the men on
the lighter to hold my lifeline and hose,
and came down by them. He had to
act quickly, and as soon as he reached
me placed the knife in my hand, and re-
leasing his hold on the line, rose to the
surface.
'I can assure you I felt better when
1 got hold of that knife. My first work
was to sharpen it on piece of railroad
iron, piles of which were around me.
then cut the upper strap of my shoe and
then the right leg of my dress off Just
above the knee. This resulted in the
water filling my dress up to my chin.
This 1 did not mind, however, for as
long as the air-pump was kept going |
was safe. The main trouble was to get
my foot clear. / could not, from the
position 1 was in, reach down further
than the upper strap of my knee. Had
L been able to do SO | would have slit
my foot between the toes.
'I tried in every possible way to clear
myself, but it was impossible, and, as a
last resort had to suffer the torture of
having the bolt torn through the flesh.
1 sighaled wittiiT7-nry life line, which was
attached to the wench, and the engine
started. The agony was simply terrible,
and after being impaled under water for
fifty minutes / was brought up very
faint from loss of blood. d.--San Francisco
Examiner.