The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-11-13

fearful sights in wrecks. said a re-
porter to a veteran deep sea diver.
"Yes, but you get used TO EN- when
you have been in the business long.
When | first started diving was sent
down to report a wreck Nobody was
supposed to have been drowned when
the vessel went down, but when | went
into the cabin the first thing l saw was
the body of man seated at the table
The water wac very clear and magnified
him until he looked about four times
Eis natural size. His hand was upon the
shoulder Of a little boy, who was sitting
on his knee Ii was my first experience
with dead bodies, and it gave me
shock Now | don't mind 'em at all
Most Of the tales you hear about groups
of dead people sittin round quite natural
in a cabin are lies A body Will rise aft
er being III the wafer couple of weeks
ard be found floating up against the
ceiling When they have their legs uu-
der "A table, they sometimes sit right
where they are until their bodies decay
away, because they are held down by the
table. which is usually screwed to the
floor
AN English diver knew once had a
pretty nasty experience with sharks He
was diving III wreck which had been
loaded with live cattle. When she had
been down at the bottom for 4 month
or so, the bodies of the cattle became
+ light and floated up against the hatch
ways As soon as he started the after
hatch, the cattle began to float out aud
up TO the surface Of the water The To-
cality was infested with sharks, and
they soon began to gather round the
hatchway, grabbing the cattle as they
came out and following them up to the
surface. fighting among themselves
f Some of the cattle had been tied, and
they fiOated ont as far as their ropes
would allow The sharks gathered round
them and began to tear them to pieces
Pretty soon they began to fight, and poor
Marsh-that was his name-was afraid
TO 90 up for fear he might be attacked
and afraid to stay down because one
snap of a shark ; mouth would have
severed his air hose in twinkling He
gave the signal to be hauled mp in a
hurry and went bin among the school
Of sharks and through them. In going
through shark snapped at him and
took off his right hand, so that he had
TO give up the business.
What's the narroweSt escape you
ever had:'
We'll, about tho closest shave that I
remember was when was putting some
copper on "a steamers bottom while She
was i'll dock. ! took some plates down
with me and did >aMc work ON one side
Of the hull. after which | wanted 10 put
some plates ON tie other side The YES
sci was about three feet or the bottom
l crawled underneath. dragging some
plates after me. When Ihad been work
ing for some tine. | noticed my AR was
getting short, so ] went to try 70 get
under the keel again 10 bee hauled up.
found the steamer nearly on the bottom
and squeezing my air hose between her
keel and the ground The tide was Civ
ing out, and she had gradually sunk I'M
til she was almost aground. / had for
gotten all about the tide, and when l
pulled the hose l found it would not
bulge an inch can tell you scared Is
no word for how | felt
If the bottom had been soft. il would
not have mattered so much. but il was
y
vice There was nothing To do but wait
If she fell any lower. the air would be
entirely shut off, and l would simply
have TO die You can bet l shall never
, forget those few minutes when l was
! waiting TO see whether she rose or fell
Ny head felt as though it was bursting
and my nose and ears began to bleed
Presently | felt the air getting little
fresher. / took heart, and soon she be
gan to rise with the turn Of the tide
There was plenty of time for me TO get
my nerve back before she was high
{ enough off the bottom for me TO crawl
; under. | didn't get it back, however.
: but Just stood there trembling until !
could squeeze under her bottom and give
the signal to be hauled up. For weeks
after that l was sick man, and my
hearing has never been right since.
: Sometimes, especially in tropical wa
5 tiers, the bottom of the sea is lovely
, sight l have seen forest of kelp and
4 seaweed gently waving with the tide
which looked like fairyland. The dim
light and the bright colored fish darting
2 about make it look all the more beauti-
full a bit of seaweed on land does not
amount to much, but if you see a regu-
lar forest OF it growing 1t looks very diff
2 ferent
D IF you stand still for a minute, the
e fish will swim all around you and ex-
anime you just as lot Of human beings
would look at some strange animal Al
the slightest movement they whisk Their
tails and not living thing is to be seen.
ut takes the life out of a man some
how, diving does, and 1 never knew 4
r diver who did much smiling. They are
p all rather grave sober facad men -
New York Tribune
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