Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-03-30
4 STRUGGLE TOR lllF 2
CAPTAIN SMITH TELLS OF HIS CLOSE
 GALL AT DEATHS DOOR.

The Diver Was Tinned Beneath Nyreci'ara
 with Fifty Feet of Water Abovo-Feis
 the Water cssep.ag Under lis Arm0r.
 Each Moment an Eternity.
 Captain Charles Smith ef Bridgeport, Conn. who had thrilling struggle with doath % feot under water the oth CT day, told the story of his experience today. The captain is a well known diver, and while working on tho sunken hull of the Giara Post became caught ill the rigging and narrowly escaped with his lifo.
 s'The wreck lay quite doep-deeper than I usually care to go, although l have been down IS fathoms said tho captain. After the masts went by the board and tho deck was torn off by tho waves tho cross timbers were strewed with tho wreckage, and many were sus- pended oyer the decks and into the hold. l cut them away on the starboard side and then crossed over, doing the same. Then i'll some way some of the tangled mass slowed over and fell partially into the hold and l was caught with 1t and held fast. You cannot sec very far |, such a depth of water, and when l found myself pinned i'll, how 1 could not tell. I jerked the life line three times, which is the signal to rise. l felt myself rising fow feet, and then all tho wreekaee fell i'll upon me and ey erything came to standstill ] jerkaa the life line repeatedly, but there was no response. tried to move, but found the air pipe was somehow caught sn that any movement shut off the current of air. 1t was an awful moment, and it seemed eternity to ne.
 In the meantime those on the wreck ing ship were wondering what had hap pened. It seemed to them as though the signals to haul up were quickly follow cd by others to lower, and then by one to stop. The man at the lifeline became confused at these contradictory orders, and hoping to take a safe course ordered the derrick to haul on the blocks Noth- ing yielded to the strain, although the Wrecking ship careened greatly. The men at the pumps worked for dear life, until they were exhausted and had to be relieved. Still no signs of release.
 All this while l was wondering, continued the captain, why was not hauled mp, when I came to the conolu- sion that my lifeline had certainly been fouled when the wreckage shifted and that my signals were not properly sent up. 1t had now become black as night i'll the water I had cut small hole in the valve of my right hand rubber glove by catching hold of some iron bolts, and tho water had come in and filled the glove full, exerting a terribly painful pressure on my hand, and was slowly oezing past the clamps at my wrist and had reached my elbow. It seemed to me in that mass which was moving by the tide that l would soon bo hopelessly crushed by the wreekage I found my self becoming confused through tho great air pressure ill my helmet, and 1 had about concluded that 1 should never clear myself. when suddenly the wreck age gave q larch, and I found l could climb up to one of the deck timbers. Grasping my ax, cut away at my feet, | but some iron stays were ill the way. As l hung there 1t seemed a lifetime. when again the tide favored me, and I l began working desperately.
 Suddenly the whole mass broke away and began to rise rapidly, and became so entangled that I was actually | hold head downward, as l was carried up. It seemed another eternity before I ! reached tho surface. When came up. l tho men at first did not suppose I was there, as there was such mass of tan. gled material, and their surprise you can imagine whom shot np through the wreckage. feet first. When I was hauled | upon deck and my helmet opened, II | seemed as though my eyes were on fire, so terribly did they burn from the les sened air pressure.
 It was, concluded the captain, 'tthe closest call to deaths door that I evel had, and haye peeped through its key hole pretty often, assure you.
 Captain Smith is powerful six foot CT, 40 years Of age. and has followed his dangerous calling some IS years. His wide experience in these lines stood him in good stead in the thrilling event which followed his experience. New York Journal.
 4 Trick Paddock.