Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1896-10-15

,
In going through, a shark snapped
at him and took off his right hand,
so that he had to give up the busi.
ness"
"What's the narrowest escape you
ever had?"
We'll, about the closest shave
that remember was when | was
putting some copper on steamers
bottom while she was in dock. l
took some plates down with me and
did some work on one side of the
hull, after which 1 wanted to put
some plates on the other side. The
vessel was about three feet off the
bottom. l Crawled underneath,
dragging some plates after me-
When l had been working for some
time l noticed my air was getting
short, so l went to try to get under
tho keel again to be hauled up. /
found the steamer nearly on the bot
tom and squeezing my air-hose be-
tween'her keel and the ground. The
tide was giving out, and she had
gradually sunk until she was almost
aground. [ had forgotten all about
the tide, and when pulled the hose
| found it would not bulge an inch
l can tell you, scared is no word for
how I felt.
IF the bottom had been soft it
would not have mattered so much,
but it was rock, and the hose was
gripped like wise. There was moth.
ing to do but wait; if she fell any
lower the air would be shut off, and
! would simply have to die. You
can bet l shall never forget those
few minutes when 1 was waiting to
see whether she rose or fell. NV
head felt as though it was bursting
and my nose and ears began to bleed !.
Presently l felt the air getting a lit
tie fresher; l took heart, and soon
she began 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
1T back, however, but just stood there
trembling until L could squeeze un-
der her bottom and give the signal
to be hauled up. For weeks after
that 1 was a sick man, and my hear
ing has never been right since.n
"I suppose there is a comic side
as well as tragic to diving?"
Eyes, sometimes. l remember
case where diver was sent down to
recover a body from a wreck very
much against his will. Some divers
are very much afraid of dead bodies
and never handle them when they
can possibly avoid it. He was one
of this kind, and the water being
very thick, he went cropping gingerly
around in the cabin. After feeling
around he found body, and fasten-
ing small line around it, he gave
the signal to haul it up.
When he followed and took off
his helmet, a large hog lay on the
deck. He had tied the line around
1t thinking ii was the body he was
looking for. After that he was al.
ways known as the pork diver
especially in tropical
waters, the bottom of the sea is
lovely sight. ] have seen forest
Of kelp and seaweed gently waving
with the tide, which looked like fai-
ryland. The dim light and the
bright colored fish darting about
make it look all the more beautiful.
A bit OF seaweed on land does not
amount to much, but if you see
regular forest of it growing, it looks
very different.
If you stand still for a min
ute the fish will swim all around
you and examine you just as lot of
human beings would look at some
strange animal. At the slightest
they whisk their tails and
not living thing is to be seem"
g Are divers superstitious as a
rule 2"
81 should say they were. I sup.
pose they are the most superstitlous
lot of men in the world. Some will
not descend If they hear a dog howl
dnring the day, others won't 90 near
drowned body /; all have fancies of
some kind.
l have an impression myself that
I shall go down one of these days
without coming up again, but man
has to live. 1t takes the life out of
man somehow, diving does, and l
never knew diver who did much
smiling; They are all rather grave,
sober faced men,"
STRINGS OF MUSHROOMs.-The
is French story of some travellers
in Africa who, while on an explor-
ing expedition, ran out of supplies.
By chance they came upon a native
hut, but it was empty, and the only
visible edibles in it were several
strings of mushrooms suspended
from the rafters to dry. For lack of
anything better or more substantial,
they steWed these and made a meal
of them.
After a while the owner of the
hut, who was powerful native chief
and warrior, returned from a hunt
ing expedition, and, having greeted
the explorers in friendly manner,
set up wild howl Of despair.
:! What is the matter?" asked the
"They are gone. My evil spirits
have stolen them," walled the chief.
What are gomez"
"Those, those !" shrieked the
chief, pointing to the cut cords on
the rafters.
Why, no evil spirits took Them"
said the explorers. We ate them"
The chief seized his stomach i'm
both hands and ratified the bones in
side his skin. "At what ?n he
gasped.
"phose dried mushrooms"
"Oh! suffering Moses 7" roared
the warrior, or words to that effect,
" why, you fools you've eaten the
ears Of all the enemies / killed I'm
battle.",