Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-01-07
Interesting Talk From Man Who
Goes Down Into the
Deep Waters.
Diving Not Hazardous Business if
the Person is COnstitutiOnally
Fit Fol 1t.
How it Feels to Find a Corpse in
the Silence of the Great
Deep.


cred very dangerous business to work at,
but this is a popular error, =" Sid William
UIqubart, an old diver, IL speaking of the
subject few days ago. Another COM
mon delusion," be continued, lis that it
is injurious to health. | don't think that
you can end much heartier man in town
than | am, and have been diving almost
every day for over twenty years. OF course,
If you are suffering from any organic dis
ease when you first start IN, why then div
ing will develop it rapidly, but sound
man will find it much healthier business
than plenty Of other trades, and as for &C.
cidents, it is not nearly as hazardous as
many mechanical occupations, To say moth
ing of railroadIng, mining, or the risks
by the members of the fire department.
Serious accidents rarely happen where
ordinary caution is used, but divers, like
other people, sometimes become careless.
| have witnessed only three fatal accidents
during all the years / have been diving,
and In two of these cases the men were to
blame. You need cool head all the time
in this business.
[ had a close shave last winter. | was
at work on TIE old Walnut street wharf
blasting the timbers away on the line for
the new bridge. | used pound and
half cartridge of dynamite to about
square foot of timber. One day after |
had let off blast, pile of mud suddenly
came down, completely blocking my path
back. | CROPPED around for long time,
hoping to find an outlet but | seemed
hemmed in. Finally, after two hours
hard work. succeeded in getting my line
and tube clear and by using all the extra
lengths from the wheel above, | was able
- IL, @lo- ~. 40 of
my head just above water, where | was
quickly rescued. If anything had hap
pened to that tube, or if it had run short,
| should have been dead man.
Diving suits are not as cumbersome as
they were. Mine weighs about 220 pounds;
belt, 80; shoes, 25 helmet and collar, Is,
and dress, 40 pound. The life signal line
is fastened to your waist. The hose comes
over the back of the helmet and is made
fast in front and carried under the arms,
the foul air escaping from d valve in the
back of the helmet.
with the suit on out of the water the
oppression is terrible, but when submerged
the dress clings close to you, throwing the
air into the helmet. The helmets and col.
lars now used are easily removed or don
ned. After entering the water you must
descend slowly. The pressure of the
water is very great, and the
deeper you 90, of course, the greater the
pressure. The first time | tried diving
stepped off the short ladder that hangs
from the stern of the boat or scow and
and went plumb down to the bottom. The
sudden plunge knocked all the breath out
of me and | thought my head would
burst. You should sink a rope before you
leave the ladder and then lower yourself
gradually Beginners always suffer great
pain iii the head, but after a few trips
something seems to burst there and then
they are all right.
A short distance under water it is dark,
and you have to feel your way about You
soon become accustomed to it, and,work
alE:ost as we'll as you could in the light.
Electric light sent down does not enable
you to see any better, it only makes the
water appear milky. You can hear
nothing except the revolutions of the air
pump.
About the only time Wien diver feels
hmid is when he puts his hand upon
dead body. 1t produces chilly sensation
all through you. You cannot see anything,
but you know that is a corpse by the
touch. You don't know how many more
there may be and uncanny thoughts will
sun through your head and make you
uncomfortable. | was sent once up the
Lehigh Valley to search an abandoned
mine for the body Of 13.yeAr-o old boy,
who was supposed to have fallen in while
playing about its mouth and to have b en-
drowned or killed by the fall. [ was in
the mine from 8 o'clock in the morning
until 3 In the after noon, when | found
him eighiy-eight feet below the surface.
w aE Ifnh l nj 10
grope my way about very carefully. IL
feeling around | happened to put my
hand on his thigh. lnstinctively re.
coiled, but, after minute or two, signal
ed the men at the top that | had found
the body. 1t is singular, but sou never
outgrow that dread of something unde
Unable whenever, down in the dark waters
you come In contact with a corpse even
though you are searching for it, and when
1t comes upon you Unexpectedly the shock
Is naturally much greater And yet |
have been where there were hundreds of
bodies around me. | worked for three
months in 1873 on the wreck of the White
Star steamship Atlantic, which was lost
off Nova Scotia. We had to blow her
open to get in and remove the bodies of
the passengers and save what we could
Of the cargo.
That was an awful experience. Nun
Gers of b!oated bodies we're floating out
the cabins; others were wedged In etween
the furniture and the fixtures; some were
found lD the staterooms on their knees. rs
though in prayer, with their death grasp
fastened 10 the side of the berth; while
here and there were groups of men, women
and children STILL cllnglng to each other,
and mothers with Their little ones tightly
clutched Iii their arms, locked in last
embrace til t even death had been unable
to loosen
You have TO be very careful in moving
about a wreck to see that door does not
close on you. The greatest danger is with
doors that open outward, as should any
thing heavy fall against one and close it
you might be trapped like lat. Your
tube and line, too, must be carefully
guarded.
Some years ago | was at work on the
steamer Vulcan, which was wrecked at
Polt Huron She wa lying on her side
and as walked along her keel [ slipped
and, in falling into the mud below, my
tube became entangled with projecting
plank above, preventing my moving more
than a yard or two either way. | could
haul in this way and that way, but coulo
not get II clear. Just as thought | had
it all right it would go back on me. No,
was not bit nervous; but | was pretty
we'll provoked, and II took me nearly three
hours TO get free.
A vessel loaded with railroad ircn sunk
a good many e irs ago IF Barnegat Light-
ship. B6slGe her hold cargo she had
deckload of rail, but no effort was made