The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-04-06
GHOSTS UNDER WATER.
Strange Things Seen by Divers in the Great
In spite Of the fact that

~ ~ - t'N 80 ''' 49, NNNl
water lake diver soc~ down without
feeling ii.,t the chance is by no means
rcmotc that Il, hi~ looked for the last
time on tic -hy AMI the Garth and all
he 10 e.. said one who Was formerly
Engaged in that pcrilou- calling.
there is Il fascination about the life
that fcw divers, after becoming ia
niliar with it. have ever been able to
%.csist. This seems the more singular
because no diver hut UP in arInor and
held down in the depths by a hundred
pounds or more Of wci-hts can ever
Danish entirely the thought that Il
little stoppagc Of the air pump. Il leak
~ his nose, or some >lieht careless
ness on the par. Of lii tender in the
boat above. is sufficient to bring down
ipOn him the WEIGHT If a mountain
and crush the life out If him a. in the
,~winEliHg &c ~ eye. There i, always
danger. too. Of the diver forling his
lifeline himself Ly catching it on
some projecting splinter, or around a
sharp-cdgcd timber, and in his haste
TO release it he may prccipitatc the
catastrophe Of which he stands the
most in dread. The fouling Of a line
frequently occurs. anil | never had it
occur to meas it did more times than
care to recall-that | did not turn
cold in my efforts to release it at the
thought Of what Il slender thing held
back the clutch Of death down in those
moaning depths.
There is no sound down there but
the intermittent wall and moan, wall
and moan, Of the swaying waters all
around and above, and yet seeming
far away. There axe no wavcsin those
depths, only Il mysterious swelling and
swaying Of the waters. l'ounlcring
vessels on the lakes, especially sailing
vessels, Frequently sink so squarcly
that the diver wIio goes down 10 work
in them finds them resting on the bot
tom as trim and neat as if they were
still ploughin" the surface. 1t is Il
weird and startling sight to come sud
denly upon a full-riggcd vessel far
down in the solemn depths Of the lake,
standing erect on her keel. as if she
were dashing away before the breeze
in the sunlight and freedom Of the
lake above. 1t is Il sight uncanny and
ghostlikc. The moaning sway and
swell of the waters give Il scc-sawing
tossing motion to the spectral craft.
which is all the more spectral because
there is no crcak IF timber, no sound
Of straining ropes or grinding keel.
The diver might climb the rigging,
walk the deck, or go aown into the
sunkcn cabin as readily and easily as
if he were a sailor and the vessel were
sailing along with only the sky above
hcr-but he can't help the intruding
thoughts Of death. The lake diver
would much rather find a sunkcn YES
sci Il wreck indeed. He naturally OK
poets to find a broken ruin on the
bottom of the lake, not the ghost of Il
perfect ship. lie can work and search
with better cheer among splintcrcd
beams and shattered spars and broken
keels, where he has to chop and pry
and batter down to uncov the object
Of his quest, whether it be mcrchan-
disc, treasure or corpscs, than he can
On Il sunkcn craft that gives him free
and easy access.
This spooky situation Of a foun-
dered vessel standing erect on the
bottom is more apt tt occur in Lake
Huron than in any other Of the great
lakes. What the scientific cxplana-
ton of the fact that is | don't know,
but n diver can work on the h"ttom of
Lake Huron at u depth of 1T least
twenty feet greater thar he can in any
Of the lakes. In Lake Superior IA
diver can't see further than ten feet
into the water surrounding him. but
il Lake Huro" he caa plainly a;4;iH
g \ objects fifty feet away. At Il
d II OF 100 feet in Lake Superior Il
diver can work not more than one hour
ut Il time. the feeling of oppression
becoming then nnbcarably painful.
but ! have worked five hours at IL
stretch i'm Lake Huron IN foot hrlow
the surface. before thcpressurc forced
me to signal to he hauled up. y man
drowned in Lake Superior never ap-
pears On the surface. The dead float
"n the waters Of Lake Huron. and yet
all the water of that lake comes from
Superior.
II have gone down to the lake bot
toms MANY times ENGAGED NuruoSr)v 10