The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-12
PERIL IN OCEAN DEPTH.
A DIVER HEMMED IN BY A MASS
OF BULLION.
A Thrilling Episode in the Life of

| Penned In by Silver Bars in the
| Hold Of a Sunken Vessel.
! From the Net5 Orleans Times-Democrat.
The danger of those who 20 down TO the
sea in ships has always bean cited as che
risky profession par excellence, but to the
thoughtful mind it really does not hold q
candle 70 the danger Of those who go down
in the sea TO ships. However, the phrase
| quoted was made away back IN the days Of
Solomon, and it is highly probable that
! they did not have dress divers in those days,
Notwithstanding his memorable boast about
there being nothing new under the sun.
! The modern profession OF dress diving
is one of the most romantic and best
paying that men now follow, but
the risks are such that it is one OF the few
trades that are not overcrowded. There
are at present about twenty or thirty divers
in the United States, the most Of them
foreigners who have drifted here from all
quarters Of the globe. or the native Amerl-
cans in the business the Washington Post
says there are few who have had wider
experience than Harry Edwards, who Is
now in the employ OF the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, with the prospect OF
nearly a years work before him under the
abuJments of:the Long bridge.
Edwards is bronzed and hearby-looking
fellow, with no suspicion OF the romantic
or uncommon about him, but he has, to use
his own words, seen sights and can tell
| about them most entertain1ngly when, after
work hours, he gets stretched out on the
| locker in his barge, with his favorite pipe
! ablast as a source of inspiration. One of
! his best stories is Of an experience he had
of the Florida coast while reclaiminR the
| wreck of tine Morgan Line steamer Capello,
sunk in - norther off the Vacas Keys some
years ago.
| MAGNIFICENT SIGHT UNDER WATER.
at was my first trip down in the clear
southern ocean water said he, land it
came near being my last. The vessel we
| were after had struck on a regular bayonet
reef of coral and had sunk straight, going
down the perpendicular wall, catching the
| spars and rigging in the spreading branches
of the reef and breaking it off in great
masses as she went, finally coming to rest
on the white sand of the ocean floor about
ninety feet below. sShe had been down only
about three monthsS but the warm pro-
Info water had worked such a trans
formation in her that hardly knew her at
! first for a ship. She was covered with a
rank growth of marine streamers and
| grasses in trailing drapery that was sim
| ply magnificent. Green was the prevailing
oolor-such a vivid, transparent green as
even the youngest spring grass never takes
| on. and mixed with 1t we're patches and
! streaks Of brighter oolors, red and purple,
that waved through the mass Of green with
the movement of the current.
The hull of tue wreck Jay on its side with
the deck close against a wall of glistening
white coral, thus outing off access to the
hold through the matches, for, although the
reef was not a solid wall, | did not dare to
try crawling round to the matches through
any OF the eorkscrew entrances between
the twisted mass of coral trunks and
branches for fear of getting hung up by the
air hose or life line. 1t was almost as risky
an undertaking to approach her through
any Of the shattered openings in the bot
tom, for the masts and what was left OF the
rigging had gone over to that side, forming
perfect abattis with the interviewer juu-
gle of grasses.
However, cut my way in through this
mess, frightening shoals Of lively fishes from
their retreats in the seaweed and wreckage,
and steering as wide as l could of the
nasty-looking cells and water snakes that
slowly writhed their way through the wav.
ing plumes and seagraSs. AS | neared the
opening sea lizard a yard long, with
crooked claws and a regular crown OF
splnes around his head, crept out of the
hole and skunk away into the shadows, ap-
p3tCuJAy 6Wcd ny bu0 blkuU OF
more uncannY-looking monster thar
himself. don't much blame him,
| for, on tearing up piece of sponge from
| the bottom and rubbing the velvety greer
from the hull before me- got a full-lengtt
view Of myself in the bright copper sheath
| ing, and don't wonder the lizard was dis
| gusted. The great google eyes of the he'll.
met and the exaggerated breadth of tn,
chest end shoulder given b. the breast-plat
and the inflated dress. with the two louI
tails formed by the air hose and life linr
trailing away behind, made one of the mos
grotesque visions l ever saw.
USING A BLAST OF DYNAMITE.
"The black, yawning hole In the side o
the dead ship did not look inviting, and still
less 80 as stepped inside and turned M
lamp around, when great skate arose from
the floor and, shaking the sand from hi
back, happed slowly away into the gloon
beyond. but toe opening was merely int
one OF the lower compartments and did no
give me access to the part OF the hol
where was stored the cargo O
Cutting at the massive timber
under water was an endless task, so set
dynamite cartridge to blast way into tn
hold above, and then, retreating to the out
side, waited for the explosion behind a.
angle of the reef without going to the sur
face. The blast came and, though sound
less, was like blow upon the abdomen wit
heavy gloves, while from the hole in tn
wreck there rushed blast of turbid waite
and sand and splinters, dimming the clea
sea for miles around.
Inside the hold the blast had wrough
Transformation. The flooring OF the mid
die deck had been torn away, bursting tn
bags of specie and sending silver ava
lanche of coins and ingots streaming down
almost filing the compartment and over
flowing through the opening In the bottom
to the ocean floor outside, while through tn
matches Of the upper deck. to which roa,
had been opened, there streamed q singl
shaft Of light that touched the mass o
metal into life and brillianoy.
Upon this mass Of wealth l trample
with luxurious feeling of sole proprietor
ship, sinking at every step over my big
weighted shoes in the coin OF the realm
With a plebIan iron shovel loaded the BIZ
hosting bucket with its precious weight a
though it had been coal, and sent it swing
ing to the surface. Gradually cleared tn
first compartment, which was filled chief
with coin that had run down from tn
broken bags above, and, coming to the hol
in the deck before me, reached through
fishing out the heavier ingots by the arm
full.
PINNED IN BY SILVER BARS.
Although the timbers had been shattere
by the blast, the hole in tue flooring wa
| mol b,,t I -,