The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-10
GHOSTS FAR UNDER WATER.
Strange Thtngs Seen by Divers I'm the
Great Lakes.
New York Sun.

New 1OTk pun.
'In spite of the fact that no deep-water
lake diver ever goes down without feeling
that the chance is by no means remote that
he has looked for the last time on the SKY
and the earth and all he loves" said one
who was formerly engaged in that perlIouS
calling there is a fascination about the lie
that few divers after 1eco m rgss lai This
seems the more singular because no aver,
shut up in armor and held down In the
depths by HUNDRED pounds or more o.
thought that little stoppage OF the ar
pump, leak in his hose, or some sllght
carelessness on the part of his tender in the
boat above is SUFFICIENT to bring down upon
him the weight of a mountain ana crush the
life out of him as in the twinkhng OF an
eye. There is always danger too, or tne
diver fouling his lifeline himself by CATCH
ing 1t on some. projecting splinter or around
a sharp-edged timber, ana In his haste 10
release it he may precipitate the catastrophe
of which he stands the most in dread The
fouling of a line frequently occurs, and l
never had 1t occur to MEAS II Qlq more
times than care to recall-that dld not
turn cold In my efforts to release 1T at the
thought of what slender thing held back
the clutch of death down in those moaning
depths Eg,tl So g 40 .o.,nd 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
waves in those depths, only mysterious
swelling and swaying of the waters. Foun-
dering vessels on the lakes, especially sail
that the diver who goes down to work
in them finds them resting on the bottom
as trim and neat as If they were still
blowing the surface 1t is weird and start
ling sight to come suddenly upon a full
rugged vessel far down in the solemn depths
of the lake, standing erect on her keel as II
she were dashing away before the breeze
in the sunlight and freedom of the lake
above. 1t Is q sight uncanny and ghoStllke.
The moaning sway and swell OF the waters
gives a See-Sawing tossing motion to the
spectral craft, which is all the more spec
trail 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 down 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 in
truding thoughts of death. The lake diver
would much rather find sunken vessel
a wreck indeed. He naturally expects to
find a broken ruin on the bottom of the
lake, not the ghost OF 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 mer-
chandise treasure, or corpses, than he can
on sunken craft that gives him free and
easy access.
vessel standing erect on the bottom is more
apt to occur in Lake Huron than IN any
other Of the great lakes. What the scien-
tific explanation of the fact is | don't know.
but a diver can work on the bottom OF
Lake Huron at depth OF ct least twenty
Zee greater imam he can III any OF the
other lakes. In Lake Superior diver can't
see further than ten feet into the water
surrounding him, but in Lake Huron he
can plainly distinguish objects fifty feet
away. At a depth of 100 feet in Lake SUI
perior diver can work not more than one
hour at q time, the feeling OF oppression
becoming tnan unbearably painful, but
have worked five hours at a stretch in
Lake Huron lis feet below the surface be-
fore the pressure forced me to sig
nal to be hauled up. y man drowned in
Lake Superior never appears on the sur
face. The dead float on the waters of Lake
Huron, and yet all the water of that lake
comes from Superior.
II have gone down to the lake poutomS
many times engaged purposeiy to release
the bodies of men, women and cnildren VINO
We're known to have persisted In wrecked
vessels, and l early became insensible to
easiness in searching among Sunken
wrecks for corpses But there came time
when I could not go down simply TO recover
goods or valuables, no one having been car
ried to the bottom with the vessel, without
being constantly haunted by the dread that
some dead person would rise suddenly from
some part of the wreck and confront me
or that corpses were floating IN the water
above or around me. That feeling came TO
be a part of my work from an experience
had on a wreck not long aIter became
a diver. 1t occurred in Lake huron nad
gone down to recover valuable cargo
from a vessel that had foundered so sud
denly that the captain and crew had bare
~ time to escape by the boats The wreck
lay IL ninety feet Of water. IL was badly
broken up and rocked ana SWayed IN the
hculty as worked among the timbers..
was prying and chopping my way 20 me
matches when from some place ABOUT the
wreck, but from just where ! never could
Eel. a dead man rose suddenly IN front OF
:aThe corpse was not more than ten feet