Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-10-27
IN SUBMARINEARM0R
HOW DELIVERS M WATERS DEEP ARE
EQUIPPED AND TENDED.

EulaB sAoat tottAN @ftteasAty hnN
outnt-story of Fatal Accident.
Submarine diving has been reduced to
such an exact science that there ia little
work under water that the expert diver
cannot do, and It is hardly more dangerous
than similar work on the surface.
Minor improvements are making In the
suits constantly, but the greatest change
within few years has been in the manner
Of attaching the helmet. But you must
know first how submarine arinor Is con-
structed before 1 can explain this to you.
You have the common notion, suppose,
that IL you Just have diving suit you can
do all the diving you wish. That is a very
erroneous idea. The suit Is a ANAL part Of
the necessary apparatus. For instance. you
can buy diving suit for $50, of the best
quality, but before you can make dive
you must have apparatus which, Of cor
responding quality, will cost you e6S7.
As the pay Of u diver is only IS u day and
his work very uncertain, you will readily
imagine that the divers do not own their
own suits. The suits are bought by wreck
lug companies and other corporations, and
they employ the divers. The most expensive
thing about the outfit IL the air pump, and
the next IA the helmet The diving dress
proper is made Of india rubber, laid be-
tween two layers OF canvas, the rubber be-
ing entirely covered. A copper collar, which
fits over the shoulders, chest and back, Is
fastened 10 the rubber suit with IL bolts
10 this collar the helmet Is attached For
merly the helmet WAS screwed 70 the collar,
but the recent improvement mentioned is
the fastening Of the helmet with bolts,
which is much stronger and safer.
The helmet Is made of sheet copper and
weighs about 30 pounds. 1t has three eye
holes, ono IN front and one OH each side, all
filled with half inch thick glass and pro-
tected with strong copper wires. On one
side is valve which allows the foul air TO
escape, and at the back is copper pipe to
which the breathing tube is attached. The
sleeve wrists are made Of strong rubber,
which keeps the water out. The shoes have
iron soles, which weigh over % pounds each.
The heavy leather belt is lined with blocks
Of lead, weighing In the aggregate 100
pounds. The suit complete weighs about
225 pounds, and on the surface it Is very
burdensome, but in the water II feels no
heavier than any ordinary suit Of clothes
The helmet is always the last thing put on.
When the diver comes up for breathing
spell, the helmet is not taken ofr-one of the
eyeholes is unscrewed, which answers every
purpose
The life line, as we call 1.-THE rope with
which the driver communicates with the
surface and with which he Ia hoisted when
necessnry-pAs through a ring in the hel.
met. and after being bolted In several places
TO the collar on one side goes through a ring
in the belt and Ia then bolted to the collar
on the other side. This is not only life
line, but a telegraph line too. One pull
means more wind; two pulls, less wind;
three pulls, stop the pump for II moment.
You see, the air supply Ia the main thing,
and most of the things relate to II. But
tho diver may have too much air as well as
too little. The air pipe is made much
heavier and sitter than ordinary rubber
hose. II IL were too timber, 1t would get
into kinks" and shut OF the air.
Three men on the surface attend to one
diyer-two to work the air pump and one
for the air tube and life line. They must
be Trustworthy men, too, or they will kill
the diver. Some companies make Il point
10 employ father and son or two brothers
or very close friends. While one relative
dives, tho other exercises great care on the
surface.
Incased In his Rrpaor the diver keeps dry
as a chip. and Of course thepump gives him
plenty Of air. But do not say that he Is
altogether comfortable. When the water
Is cold, the Is cold and requires one or
two suits Of heavy hRnnels and wooden
mittens to wear beneath his Divers nit
tens In clear water he can see very well, but
about this harbor the water is not clear,
and most of the work must be done by
feeling In fact, 1t ia very hard work-so
hard that four hours Ia counted full day IS
work. Formerly the divers wages were
much higher, but they have como down.
New York divers probably run less risk
than any others In this country because
they do more work and know how to keep
their apparatus in order. Very much de-
pends upon that, but not everything. De-
cAsionally an accident happens in spite OF
all the care possible,
The last fatal accident to diver In this
harbor That remember was several years
| ago. A steamship had sunk near her dock,
and diver went down to SEQ how she lay.
/ He felt his way along her deck up TO the
bow, for the water was too muddy for him
to see much, 1t was too muddy, indeed, for
| him to see that one OF the anchors lay on
| its side with a fluke In the air. As he went
| up one side of the deck and down the other
| his life line passed around the anchor. On
completing his work he gave the signal t.
| be drawn up, but when his companions
drew on the line they only pulled him to-
ward the anchor. He could not see what
was wrong, but he managed to get hold OF
something to cut the line. Unfortunately,
instead OF the life line, he cut the air tube
and before he could be extrlcsted he was
drowned. The men on the surface imme-
diately dived for him without any armor,
but they were too late--lnteryiew In New
York Sun.