The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-03-11
DANGEROUS cAResses.
Divers Fight Desperately 90 Escape the
Embrace OF the Devllnah.

Embrace OF the DeNtihahs
1.-THE devilhsh is the divers greatest dan
ger" said 4 T.. H. Whitelaw. nn cxperienc-
Ell diver. In conversatio lon with a san Fran.
cisco Chronicle reporter. where a diver
Is working alone these deviinsh are really
dangerous. though where there are others
down with him there isn't amy great dan
ger, ~ the divers could cut the deyinsh
90 pieces before hc could iniure a man or
tangle his apparatus The fact that the
fish discolors the wnter makes ID impossi.
BILE for the diver "a sees what 10 do when he
Is attacked and makes him feel the danger
OF the dark. One Of them caught me once
while working of the Harallones but il
was little one only about six feet long.
and cut OH It's tentaces as fast as lac put
them on me
They'll fight hard enough when attack.
ed, but they do not seek "A man 10 iniure
him. II the diver happens to come upon
one Of them when he Is at work, IL is apt 60
fasten to him and draw him into lis en-
brace. But they have no power 20 injure "a
man except 10y crushing and rending, as
their mouths are only the size. shape and
strength of the bcaks u cockatoos Their
power TO rend Is not sufficient to tear man
limb from limb, but OF course they might
Lin diver by tangling his tube and shut
force, and all these stories about their tow
ing large vessels are bosh. Their power is
in muscular contraction, and before they
can exert IL they must first fasten To "A rock
or some heavy object. Even then their
strength is not tremendous.
Il made IA test Of one which was on our
pontoons in Discovery bay IN 1854 IL fas-
tened 10 rock which weighed while sub
merged just ~ pounds. When out Of the
water, il weighed 20O pounds The devil
fish could lift the rock 20 the surface and
partially out Of water, but was not strong
enough to lift IL entirely free. This fish
was II feet inches from tip 20 tip, and
estimated his rending power at about 200
pounds because he couldn't lift the 200
pound rock.
Il don't think the devilnsh can see
through the black fluid it emits when dis
turbed any more than man can, but il has
much more power Of feeling, and a man has
TO cut very lively TO lop away those tenta-
Giles.
"Of course there are sharks about the
wrecks-plenty of them. But never knew
one TO attack diver with suit on. think
the escaping air bubbling from his helmet
kcares the fish away. Then, too, each diver
carries knife, and a shark would be no
match for him. The largest man eater
ever saw along this coast was IL feet long
though the bone sharks run as high rs 40 To
30 feet in length. They are harmless, how
ever, as far as man is concerned. The little
pilotfish, which goes ahead of the man
eater, pointing the way, never approaches "A
diver, 50 the shark doesn't attack him.
though the attack will come quick enough
once the diving suit is removed.
sea lions are also quite dangerous TO the
diver, though they never attack him or in
jure him Intentionally But once a sea lion
gets after fish he doesn't stop for any
thing, and in passing diver is apt to knock
him over and tumble him all in heap. The
diver. with all mis- weight, is mere moth
ing In the sea lions path.
'Ihe whales are harmless. Sometimes
they come and play about the wreck, but
they show little curiosity regarding the
divers and never offer an assault
do / ever find any treasurer Very little.
] hear OF great deal, but when it comes TO
finding il, it isn't there. People generally
manage To save their gold and jewelry, and
then they say they lost everything with the
ship. The divers search the trunks and
chests, but rarely come across anything OF
larRe valuan
Ladies' union suits only voc At Tbs Bee Hive.