St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-02-27
A DIVERS WORK.

4 DIVERS WORK.
NJ Wsess He Ressaves s,a tie csss q
Hb OutAt.
Wreckexs and divers In this town are
much interested In the plan TO form
the men Of those crafts into . labor
union. So are the wrecking companies.
though their attitude il not exactly
that Of the men. At the Office Of one
wrecking company it was said that only
the unskilled divers could be engaged
in forming the proposed union. Skilled
divers were 80 scarce that they could
obtain good wages without the aid Of a
union. It was quite impossible TO get
clear statement Of divers wages from
anyone in the Office. though upon other
features of the business every body was
communicative enough. IF . diver
belonging to the Knights Of Labor
should come into our Office. I'd order
him out" said one Of the company.
'.for I should be sure that he was
worthless"
Hard BY the Office Of the wrecking
company, in . little third-floor room,
sat long-nosed, weather-beaten Yam
kee past middle age. with look Of sea
soned toughness in face and figure, and
. wooden pipe between his teeth. He
was . self-employing diver. and he knew
al about the business. He had heard
Of the scheme for forming . union of
his own and kindred crafts. and he ap-
proved the idea. To the best of his
knowledge there are not moro than fif.
teen or twenty skilled divers in New
York, but their wages are brought
down BY the cheap labor of nearly twice
~ many so-called divers. who are will
ing to work for little or nothing. Ac.
cording TO his estimate there are not
more than half . dozen self-employing
divers in town. Nearly all the sub
marine work ON the Atlantic coast il
done BY divers living in New York or
Boston. There arc about - many
skilled divers In Boston n here. The
pay of skilled diver il flve dollars per
day of four hours or lesA In that
period man may descend half dozen
times, or he may descend once and stay
four hours. or he may descend once and
stay only four minutes. All the sane,
IL is . days work. and he must be paid
flve dollarA II at the end Of four hours
he descended again that descent count
ed Is another days work. and the diver
must be paid fivc dollars more. The
wrecking companies employ men at all
sorts Of prices-the best men at the rats
named, poorer ones perhaps ss low -
sixty dollars . month. The earnings Of
skilled divers do not average fifteen
hundred dollars . year, because ordi-
narily . diver is not occupied every
working day Of the year.
The divers assistant receives three
dollars day. He is skilled man, and
his business 10 TO manage the life line
and the hose. Some assistants develop
into divers, and the best divers under
stand the assistant's work, and also are
good sailor2 The bumpers. whose bus
iness It ID 70 run the pump that keeps
the diver supplied with air, are paid
two dollars per day. They are not
skilled workmen. Two Of them run
each pump. Ordinarily they do not de-
vel0p into diver&
A self-employing divers outfit con.
sists Of . rubber suit, weighted shoes.
metallic helmet weights. pump and
ono hundred and fifty feet Of hrst-rate
hose. Such IN outfit Of best quality
costs about six hundred dollara The
diver that does days work ordinarily
looks to his employer 70 supply all
these things. Under his rubber suit
the diver wears nannels in winter Of
many thicknessess. The chief dangers
to which the diver il exposed are from
accidents to the life line or the hose.
There is practically NO danger from
Ash, for the diver Is . sufficient for
midable looking object 70 frighten on
the most voracious sea monster. The
work may affect injuriously the head.
the lungs or the bladder. But many
divers work for twenty years without
any serious injury to health. The
divers Of New York live much ss
other citizens Of the metropoliA Most
Of them are native Americans, many
with homes. wives and chill
dren. They are absent from home q
great deal and ON short notice. for div
ers from New York are sent all over the
eastern coast Of the North American
continent and even TO the great lakes
and the interior rivera Most Of the
work lies beyond the city.
The wrecl<ers are . distinct class
from the divers and moro numerous
Auy skilled sailor may develop into .
wrecker. Wreckers are paid BY the
wrecking companies from thirty-6ve 70
afty dollars per month. with board. and
they are liable 70 be sent to any point
on . moments notice. The wrecking
.oihpanies have somebody in the Office
day and night the year round, and .
steamer with wreclring outfit may be
sent OF In six hours notice. Probably
ainety per cent Of the wreclEing ON the
Atlantic ccast il done BY four or i've
companies stationed In this city. Wreck
ing il done BY the day, BY the job or on
salvage. The United States navy fur.
nishes no small share Of work for the
wrecking companiea-N. Y. Recorder.
n