The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-02-26
SPONGE DIVERS.
A PERILoUs OCCUPATION IN THE
MEDITERRANEAN.
sponges Obtained at the Deadly Peril
Of Divers, Who Use no. Appar-
atus and Remain Below q 4
Several Minutes.

sponges soft as the skin of babe come
from the Grecian Archipelago, where
thousands of lives are lost every year in
procuring them, and forty dollars has
often been paid for fine ones in New
York. y
No man in the city knows more about
this annual sacrifice of men than u.
Papadopolo. He was born in Greece,
witnessed the operations Of the sponge
getters there, and himself seen many OF
these fearless men eaten by sharks or
otherwise killed in the water. I
'sIn the Archipelago the divers are
prepared to take many chances" he said1
''Under water they can hold their breath
| for four or five minutes and can see as
we'll beneath the surface as above it!
keeping their eyes constantly open.
They use no diving apparatus, neither
helmet nor anything else, and are clothed
just as nature made them. They are acj
customed to the work from the time they
are six or seven years old, and when q
boy is sixteen he has become as expert as
bis father" 1
The skill they attain does not proi
long their lives, and few of them reach
or pass the age of thirty. Often they
are brought up from the bottom of the
sea more dead than alive, having become
unconscious before they could give the
signal to be raised. ~
MIR. Papadopolo said that though their
skin is fair enough, being only somewhat
tanned, it turns actually black when the,
divers have been suffocated by long
STAY below. Their occupation rendersy
all of them deaf-the pressure OF the,
water running the delicate structure in
side the ear.
Every vessel that goes out on the
Mediterranean on a voyage for sponges-
returns with several dead bodies, or re-
ports that missing men had been de-
voured BY sharks. The wife of every.
diver anticipates widowhood when She
kisses him adieu.
sponges come from the Gulf of Mexico,
the coast of Florida and the West,
Indies, but only in the Mediterranean do
those who get them brave the monsters
of the deep by jumping in the water
and cutting the sponges loose from the,
rocks or coral to which they are fastened.
In the other waters men remain in boats,
and, with long poles to which hooked
knives are joined, they tear each SPONGE
away.
But the Mediterranean sponges are the
finest; they are such as the Vanderbilts,
Astors and nabobs of the world use In
their bathrooms, and they are considered
precious enough to risk cheap human
lives for.
"The diver holds heavy rock with
both hands when he jumps into the water,
so that he may sink to the bottom rapid.
w." said Mr.. Papadopolo. "Moments.
are valuable to him then, and none should
be wasted going down. A rope is fast
ened to this rock and another to belt
around his waist. When he reaches bot.
torn, hundred feet, perhaps, or more;
he d rops the rock, and with knife Like
Turkish yataghsn detaches sponaes1
from the coral. He has larger knife
his belt to protect himself against sharks
and other fishes. &
It means danger or death to diver TO-
forget where the rock is deposited, as the,
rope attached to it is the one used to sig
nal with. When he has been down
longer than usual another diver is sent to.
look for him, but by that time he may be
drowned. The second rope is used to-
draw him up when the other diver sig
nails. No attention is paid to pulling on
it as he is rowing around below.
The bag which every diver carries sus--.
pended around his neck is made of light, :
tough netting. The stuff he throws into
il rapidly is unattractive in its original
condition. Mr.. Papadopolo compared
the sponge when brought up to a piece
of dark liver.
An integument surrounds it, and be-.
tween this outer covering and the sponge
itself is a thick tarry-like substance,
which the sponge men call "milk." The
sponges are tramped on by the divers
when thrown on the vessels deck, and
this thick liquid crushed out. Otherwise
it would dye the sponge so black that no
bleaching could make it yellow. Bleach!
ing confers the yellow color, and g
bleacher who does not know how to han
die the acids delicately will cause q
sponge to rot in the o-ocess. y
"When a diver is descending or IS at
the bottom" Mr.. Papadopolo remarked,
"sharks do not attack him. he may de-!
fend himself then with his knife, as he
can see them below or around hlmt
While he is down, the shark, coward:
ly fish, will hover around him or reu1al
in one spot watching him intently, q
parently knowing that his breath winl
give out, that he must rise to the surface
and that then will be the time to attack
him from below. The diver remains at
the bottom as long as he can, anu when
he gives the signal to be drawn up ne
has not breath enough left to take time
to fight the shark. Up he goes; the
shark follows and seizes his man otteni
times as he is about to be drawn on deck!
The shark jumps up above the water ana
catches divers leg;' the crew on the
deck pound it with the oars OF thell
small boats or iron bars; but it does not
let 90 until it has severed the leg or cut
the man in twain. Such scenes are conn
mon in the archipelago" q
It might be thought that large remui
neration comes from this perilous employ:
ment, but the pittance the divers ger
barely maintains them and their families,
u 4, -