The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-04-06

time on the sky and the earth and all
he loves said one who was formerly
engaged in that perilous calling,
ssthere is a fascination about the life
that few divers, after becoming fa-
miliar with it, have ever been able to
resist. This seems the more singular
because no diver shut up in armor and
held down in the depths by a hundred
pounds OF more of weights can ever
Danish entirely the thought that a
little stoppage Of the air pump, leak
in his nose, or some slight careless
ness on the part Of his tender in the
boat above, is sufficient to bring down
upon him the weight Of mountain
and crush the life out Of him as. in the
twinkling of an eye. There is always
danger, too, Of the diver, fonling his
lifeline himself by catching it on
some projecting splinter, or around a
sharp-edged timber, and in his haste
to release it he may precipitate the
catastrophe of which he stands the
most in dread. The fouling Of line
frequently occurs, and I never had it
occur to meas it did more times than
/ care to recall I did not turn
cold in my efforts to release it at the
thought Of what slendcr thing held
back the clutch Of death down in those
moaning depths.
aThere 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 are no wavesin those
depths, only mysterious swelling and
swaying Of the waters. Foundering
vessels on the lakes, especially sailing
vessels, frequently sink so squarely
that the diver who goes down to work
in them finds them resting on the bot
tom as trim and neat as if they were
still ploughing the surface. 1t is
weird and startling sight to come sud-
denly upon full-rigged vessel far
down in the solemn depths Of the lake,
standing erect on her keel, as if she
we're dashing away before the breeze
in the sunlight and freedom Of the
lake above. 1t is sightuncanny and
ghostlike. The moaning sway and
swell of the waters give sce-sawing
tossing motion to the spectral craft,
which is all the more spectral because
there is no creak Of timber, no sound
Of straining ropes or grinding keel.
The diver might climb the rigging,
walk the deck, or go aown into the
sunken cabin as readily and easily as
if he were sailor and the vessel were
sailing along with only the sky above
her-but he can't help the intruding
Thoughts Of death. The lake diver
would much rather find a sunken YES
sci wreck indeed. He naturally ex-
poets TO find broken ruin on the
bottom Of the lake, not the ghost of a
perfect ship. He can work and search
with better cheer among splintered
beams and shattered spars and broken
keels, where he has to chop and pry
and batter down to uncover the object
of his quest, whether it be merchan-
disc, treasure or corpses, than he can
on sunken craft that gives him free
and easy access.
s'This spooky situation Of foun-
dered vessel standing erect on the
bottom is more apt to occ,,r in Lake
Huron than in any other of the great
lakes. What the scientific explana-
ton Of the fact that is 1 don't know,
but diver can work on the bottom Of
Lake Ruron at a depth Of at least
twenty feet greater thar he can in any
of the lakes. In Lake Superior
diver can't see further than ten feet
into the water surrounding him: but
in Lake Huron he can plainly distin-
guish objects fifty feet away. At
depth of 100 feet in Lake Superior
diver can work not more than one hour
at time. the feeling of oppression
becoming then unbearably painful,
but | have worked five hours at
stretch in Lake Huron 115 feet below
the surface, before the pressure forced
me to signal to be hauled up. \ man
drowned in Lake Superior never ap-
pears on the surface. The dead float
on the waters of Lake Huron, and yet
all the water of that lake comes from
Superior.
~ have gone down to the lake bot
toms many times engaged parposely to
release the bodies Of men, women and
children who were known to have per-