Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-13

ludt SHOulu DfluS D Genus per pOuHu. w men
captain has lost an anchor and must OBJ
tain another, the agents of the sweepers
can generally show him good assortment
or course there is more or less Of a bubble
fuses reasonable offer. Oftentimes many
fathoms Of chain are brought up by the
sweepers. These chains, Il old and rusty
are seldom used in their former capacity,
but are available as junk or ballast.
Professional Divers.
Most Of the schooners engaged in the
business of anchor sweeping are also
lifted with divers appliances, and frequent
iy do big salvage jobs on wrecked vessels
brought to port. There are many divers
who live by picking up odd jobs on their
own hook-not more, for the life of pro-
fessional diver is not easy. One would not
Think so TO see the cool, matter-of-fact
way IN which these men go about their
business, donning their heavy, leaden-
weisnted armor, and dropping out of sight
thought that the slender tube which bears
them air and life might be parted and their
existence ended In minute. Curiously
enough, the depth to which a diver can
descend is wholly dependent upon his
physical condition, and If he have a cold
In his head or anything of the sort he
cannot go i'll the water at all. Deep div
Ing. too. depends altogether on the man.
Some of them-some OF, the best of them
cannot go deeper than SO or 100 feet.
About 40 feet is the average limit, though
there are experts who go as deep as 100
feet. which may be accounted the extreme
limit. and there are really but few who
attain that depth The work Is exhausting,
and five hours is considered a good days
work, and when one comes to consider
believe that the diver who remains beneath
the water for that length of time fully
earns his wages: Five hours In pitch
darkness and In grewsone silence, breath
ing air pumped through a slender rubber
tube at pressure ranging, according to
depth. from Is to As pounds. Above. water
45 pounds air pressure would kill the ordi-
nary man, but at 90 or Is feet beneath 1t Is
absolutely necessary to sustain life.
The Divers Suit.
The diver in armor is a picturesque fig
ure with touch of uncanniness. His suit
consists of complete rubber casing, with
heavy brass collar and helmet, to which
are attached the life line and the air tube.
The life line, used to,raise and lower and
for signaling. is of Stout hemp. and the
rubber hose. perhaps an inch in thickness,
must be strong enough to resist a severe
strain, for 1t is on this and its perfect
working that the divers life depends. Be
much resembles an Esquimau in costume.
but when this bfg heavy, roomy helmet
Is. screwed on to the collar, preparatory
to descent, he looks nttle like thing of
earth. -,
The huge. round head piece. filled with
glass face plates on three sides, makes of
himR sort of goblin monster. Then about
his feet are fitted heavy iron shoes. weigh
waist other weights of lead, about eighty
pounds. as a rule. are strapped. If he is to
go deeper the weights must be increased, to
resist the buoyant action of the water. So
great is the latter that when the diver Is in
complete armor, weighing not far from 500
pounds. he is beneath the water SO light
that he may be hauled up or lowered with
meath the water a divers strength Is i'm
mensely greater than above, owing to the
iightness of objects buoyed up by the wa
ter. Thus diver can give a man shove
which will easily sendi him ten feet. Deep
sea diving brings into play the highest or
der of talent, forathe .wopk is far more ar
duous and dangeratus. andi the diver often
meets with many grewsome experience.
Deep Sea Sights.
Not long ago dyer eSAaminlns sunken
vessel entered thepsngine,sroom and found
one of the firemeRh seatetiidn a chair, just
as when the vessel haa.esunk. The man
had evidently found escape impossible and
sat down coolly to await death. At another
time a diver who had BEEN below for some
time excitedly jerked theiaife line and was
hauled up. When he reached the surface
he declined to 81 below again. swearing
that he had seen ghost One of his fellow
divers afterward explained the cause Of
his fright The man had entered the saloon
of the ship and encouhte large mirror
The reflection from the divers armor sum-
moned apparftion Of enormous size
glowing with a dull Hight, sight, in deep
sea quite r suinei lie e startle lonesome
entangled in the rigging: not retracing
ones steps perfectly, and having to wander
about imprisoned In the gloom. and unable
to signal for hoist In such case the
he he oiyt nho
is cut there Is almost instant Jearh. Some
times. too, the tube became closged or
caught SO as to cut of the air supply. The
suffering then Is horrible. A man who was
caught thus described the sensation as one
of having ones head between pair of jack
screws. If the man Is free and can signal
provided he can reach the surface within q
minute and a half, he may escape death
Longer than this is fatal. And so great is
the air pressure that a man killed in this
fashion will be found with features dis
torted almost beyond recognition. The air
pumps are rather crude affairs supplying
the air direct, without reservoirs or gauges
diver really stakes his life that the pump
will keep in perfect order. and that the
men who man 1T will keep 1t going. And
after all this hardship and danger, the pay
is not large. For ordinary work around
docks the pay Is usually dollar per hour
but the men employed by the wrecking
all the way from $40 to sos per day. de.
pendent on the character of the work and
the hazard involved Occasionally, when
work Is slack, a diver will try spec
that IS, go shares with some enterprising
capitalist to equip an expedition TO some
field that seems to offer big rewards
Round about New York He'll Gate is a ia
vorite field for operations. So many wrecks
have occurred on that treacnerous reef
that the bottom of the river is literally
strewn with the debris of sunken ships
The bay. too, is another inviting spot and
all sorts of pickups occur, the main staple.
however. being lost anchors
Laying for Bargain.
From the Detroit Free Press.
'Look-a-here," he began, as he entered
Woodward avenue dry goods store Sat-
urday forenoon with a bargainish look on
his face, you had some wimin's cloaks
here last October fur SIS
YES. We did," replied the floor walker.
my ole woman wanted one, but told
her to hold on. About the LIST Of Decem-
Der them same cloaks was only s12."