The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-07-10
ARE SAD FACED MEN.
rHls IS WHAT ONE Of rne GRAFT
SAYS or DEtp SEA DIVERS

iif- That i.ar r,seiiy jolt, a We,
erHn Tell. of Experience. ~. and ON.
Diver Have Had Close sha,e-rairy
land on the Ocean. Iiotton,.
II suppose You sometimes Gee som,
fearful sights IN wrecks" said a re-
porter TO n veteran deep sea diver.
Yes. but you get used 10 EN- whe,
Won have been in the business long.
/ When first started diving. I was sent
down TO report u wreck. Nobody wa.
supposed TO have boon drowned whon
the vessel went down. but when wen,
into the cabin the first thing | saw was
the body Of n man seated M the table.
The water was very clear and magnifled
him until he looked about four times
his natural size. His hand was unon the
shoulder Of little boy, who was sitting
ON his knee. II was my first experience
with dead bodies. and il gave me n
shock Now don't mind EN- at all
Most Of the tales you hear about grouts
81 dead people sittin round quite natural
IN n cabin are lies. A body will rise aft
er being in the water a couple Of weeks
and be found floating up against the
ceiling When they have thew legs un.
der table, they sometimes sit right
where they are until their bodies decay
away, because they are held down bv the
table, which is usually screwed TO the
floor.
IAN English diver knew once had n
pretty nasty experience with sharks He
was diving in wreck which had been
loaded with live cattle. When she had
been down at the bottom for month
or so, the bodies of the cattle became
light and fioated up against tho hatch
ways As soon as he started the after
hatch, the cattle began to float ont and
mp to the surface Of the water The To-
cality was infested with sharks. and
they soon began 10 gather round the
hatchway. grabbing the cattle as thew
came out and following them up to the
surface, fighting among themselves.
Some of the cattle had been tied, and
they floated out 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 go up for fear he might be attacked
and afraid to stay down because ono
snap of a sharks mouth would have
severed his air hose in twinkling. He
gave the signal TO be hauled mp in
hurry and went bif among the school
of sharks and through them. In going
through a shark snapped at him and
took of his right hand, SO that he had
to give up the business.
What's the narrowest escape you
ever had?''
well, about the closest shave that I
was when l was putting some
copper on a steamers bottom whilo she
was in dock. took some plates down
with me and did some work ON one side
of the hull, after which / wanted to put
some plates on the other side. The YES
sci was about three feet off the bottom.
crawled underneath dragging some
plates after me. When had been work
ing for some time, l noticed my air was
getting short, so l went to try to get
under the keel again to be hauled up. I
found the steamer nearly ON the bottom
and squeezing my air hose between her
keel and the ground The lido u.,s civ.
ing out. and She had grndnallv srnL nm
til she was almost aground 7 had Gov.
gotten all obont the lido and whon 7
pulled tho hose foppd II ,yorld not
budoe an inch lean toll Won soarod ~
no word for how I folt
"If the bottom had bean soft i, ,vor,d
not have mattered 90 mncb but IL ,ras
rock. and the hose was c,innod i;,o
vice There was nothing 70 do I'M, wait
II she fell apv lower. the air would ha
entirely shut off. and I wmId simnIv
have 10 dia yon COZ, H.. ii,
forget those few minutes when 7 w,s
waiting 70 see whether she rose or fo,I
NV head felt as though II was bnrsting
and my nose and ears bepon 10 blood
1 felt the air getting little
fresher. I took heart. and soon she he.
gan to rise with the turn 81 the tide
There was plenty of time for me IN u.t
my nerve back before she was biob
enough off the bottom for me 70 crawl
nnder. didn't get IL hack however