Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-03-24
UNDER WATER.
EXPERIENCES OF AN
OLD DIVER.
In n School Of DOgfish-A Fight With
Shark-Carrying Up Drowned
PeODIe.

"Tye seen many n time when I'd
rather be under water than on shore. |
used to feel that way sometimes.
Mr.. Edward ii. Littlefield, native of
Block Island, but now keeper of fi0h
market on Fountain street, 66 years old,
made this remark in story he was tel
ling to Providence (R. |. journal rep
resentative. He was diver for twenty
four years, in all spent forty years under
the water or upon it, and has tackled
wrecks from Lake Superior to Niagara
Falls, and from Maine to Port Royal.
Ho estimates the number of bodies he
has with his own hands pulled out of
sunken vessels ut 100, and that he has
walked out and around forty to fifty
vessels lying in water varying depth
from ID to 1863 feet. He nearly lost his
life ten years ago while getting the cargo
out of tho schooner Warren Gage,
off the east of Narragansett Pier, and has
since that time preferred to stay above
water.
"My first experience" said he, "was
in Seaconnet River, in 1859, hunting for
Capt. Ben Tallman's son jerome. 1t
was in the month of August, and jerome
Tallman had been in the water eleven
days. They'd dragged for him, bat
couldn't find him l was shipman for
Capt. Charles Herbert, the wrecker, then,
but one day the regular diver took sick, +,
and as they had an agreement giving
Capt Herbert $500 if he TO nd the body
in three days, and $500 if he did not,
with the idea of working at it all the
time, | was picked out TO go down. 1t
was right off Gould's Island, and ! went
down at 7.30 o'clock in the morning. /
wasn't used to it, so | took sick about
$50 o'clock, but got some old Cognac
brandy to drink and went back about H.
'The first thing saw when got down
the second time was q swarm of buehsh
| went through them, and then came to Il
lot of dogfsh. These dog6sh are tough
things, for they have two spurs on the
back near the tail, and they wind around
a mans legs and spur him. They
smashed against me, and any number of
them spurred my legs good deal as
roostcrs use their spurs, so that Mt last
got out my knife and went TO cutting my
way through. You know dogfsh will
feed on dogish that is dead, SO ripped
them open all around me us they went
along with the tide, and the others ate
the injured ones. | must have killed
fifty or sixty of them, all two or three
feet long.
After got through them felt some.
thing whirl me round. could tell it
wasn't the current so looked around TO
see what it was There was big shark
off to my left, looking at me. l d have
given city TO be out of his way, but
says |, if go up he'll bite me in two;
and so decided to stay there. felt just
as if my helmet was rising up. | sup
pose it was my hair. Well, Mr. Shark
looked at me while. Then he goes
round me twice and q half, and then |
got my knife out again. He turns on
one side, and | could have put barrel
in his mouth easy. | knew what was
coming, so waited. He dashed for me,
and as he came stepped one side, shut
my eyes and slashed with the knife
caught him in his life, for cut his heart
right in two. | opened my eyes and
found him lying on the bottom fifty or
sixty feet off, the blood rising from him
in bubbles. went up TO him, and then
something happened to me, don't know
what. suppose tainted, for came to
with my body leaning against the sharks.
down there on the bottom. Well, |
hadn't given any signal to my tender, so
he had kept up the air supply, bu pretty
quick | felt them pull three times, TO
ask me if was all right They said the
blood all came up to the top in bubbles
before it mixed with the water. Why,
that sharks liver-I cut half of it out
couldn't have been got into barrel.
g But, after all, had my greatest ex-
periences in the two years before the
war. The time went down 1863 feet, tho
deepest ever got, was in 1860. A YES
sci went down east-northeast of Point
Judith, and the captains wife and dau,.h
ter were drowned. | went down after
them. They talk to me now of going
down 500 or 600 feet, but don't believe
it. After the first 100 feet the pumps
will not supply man with air, except
inside his helmet. Before that it will
circulate around his body. When it
only reaches his helmet his clothes be
gin to cling to him, and his pores flow
out all the water in his body. 1t is
terrible sensation. Now, got down to
this vessel ,fand started to descend into tho
companionway. AT the first step | be-
gan TO feel numb all over. 1t was the |
pressure of. the water above me, and as
I'd been told about it | went back on the /
deck of the sunken vessel and climbed
into the ratlines | hadn't gone up more
than three steps before | felt bet.
ter. Then went back again. You
can continue this right straight along ]
and go deeper each time. When | felt
numb again l went upon deck and
climbed onto the rail. was all right in
q minute, and then went into the COM
panionway again. All this time the yes.
sci was waving from side to side with tho
swell under the water.
"Now, it's queer, but there's some
thing about bodies undor water. Did |
you know that if you went into the cabin
of vessel where one was that it would
start toward you, almost as if it were
alive? 1t is that that makes the shock so
terrible. You cant avoid them. They
come as it they want to be taken away. |
Well, the Captains wife and daughter |
were in the state room at the foot of the |
stairs, and | had to open the door. took
some blocks and braced my whole weight |
against the door. | weighed 200 pounds,
and the suit weighed 265 more. knew
there be terrible shock, so got all
ready. The door gave way at last, and !
broke into kindling wood like flash.
The concussion of the water flung the
bodies toward me like lightning. shut
my eyes, and, reaching out 10 grab the !
bodies, caught the woman as she flew