The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-11-14
ARE SAD FACED MEN.
THIS IS WHAT ONE OF THE CRAFT
SAYS OF DEEP SEA DIVERS.

suppose you sOlneLllDeS SCe sUile
fearful sights in wrecks, said a re-
porter to veteran deep sea diver.
"Yes, but you get used to 'em when
you have been in the business long
When l 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 a man seated at the table.
The water was very clear and magnified
him until he looked about four times
his natural size. His hand was upon the
shoulder Of a little boy, who was sitting
on his knee 1t was my first experience
with dead bodies, and it gave me
shock Now l don't mind en- at all
Most Of the tales vou hear about groups
of dead people sittin round quite natural
in a cabin are lies. A body viii rise aft
er being in the water couple Of weeks
ard be found floating up against the
ceiling. When they have their legs IN
der 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 70 the
floor
IAN English diver knew once had a
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 a month
CT so, the bodies of the cattle became
iight and floated up against the hatch.
vavs. Is son IS he ste-to1 the after
( h-sc,, tte r~.. Q heCcn = f--t ont and
1 u Sd the Cuts G. the vz-5- The To-
/ cality was r. Cd with SHARKS, and
they soon hen to gather round the
hatchway, grG,5.ng the cattle as they
came out and following them up TO the
surface, fighting among themselves.
/ Some of the cattle had been tied, and
/ they floated 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 sharks mouth would have
severed his air hose in a twinkling. lie
gave the signal to be hauled up in a
hurry and went biff among the school
Of sharks and through them. In going
through a 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 Ead?"
"Well, about the closest shave that I
remember was when was putting some
copper on a steamers bottom while she
was in dock / took some plates down
with me and did some work on one side
of the hull, after which wanted 70 put
some plates on tie other side. The YES
sci was about three feet off the bottom
1 crawled underneath, dragging some
plates after me. When had been work
ing for some time, noticed my air was
getting short, so l went 10 try to get
under the keel again to be 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 ont, and she had gradually sunk un-
til she was almost aground. had for
gotten all about the tide, and when
pulled the hose 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 it was
rock, and the hose was gripped like a
vice There was nothing to do but wait
If she fell any lower, the air would be
entirely shut off, aud 1 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
My head felt as though it was bursting
: and my nose and ears began to bleed
t Presently felt the air getting a 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. I 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 was a sick man, and my
hearing has never been right since.
Sometimes. especially in tropical wa
ters, the bottom Of the sea is lovely
sight. / have seen forest of kelp and
seaweed gently waving with the tide
which looked ke fairyland The dim
light and the t~ipht colc-ed Z n darting
, about make :. look all tie 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 it looks very diff
ferent
: IF you stand still for a minute, the
) fish will swim all around you and ex-
! anime you just as lot of human beings
: would look at some strange animal AT
the slightest movement they whisk their
tails and not a living thing is to be seen,
1T takes the life out Of a man some
how, diving does, and 1 never knew q
diver who did much smiling They are
all rather grave, sober faced men. -
New York Tribune
Constituent Parts of = Cord Of Wood.
A cord of fairly seasoned wood weighs