The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-09
A DIVERS EXPERIENCE.
The Wreck Settled Down On the Air
Tube.


To his training as a<zsailor Captain
Charles Smith. a well known Boston
diver, probably owed his truly marvellous
escape from death when overtaken by
accident, while at work on the sunken
h-L OF the Clara Post in the harbor of
Bridgeport, Conn.,, year or so ago, says
( the Brooklyn Eagle. The wreck lay 16
fathoms deep, and when. Captain Smith
descended to examine it he found that
the masts had gone by the board, and
that the deck had been torn off by the
waves. while the cross timpers, strewed
with the Wreckage hung over the deck
and into the holds.
Captain Smith, began to cut them away,
when suddenly the tangled mass shifted
ana fell part way in the hold catching
him with II, ana prisonlng him as in a
wise The diver could not see far in the
anc hnulng himse!I penned in, how he
could not tell, he pulled the life line three
tlmes-the signal that his life was in
peril he felt himself rising a few feet;
then all the wreckage fell in on him,
D.nning him more securely than before.
Worse still, when he tried to free HIM
self. he found that the air pipe had en-
Countered some unseen obstruction. and
that TO attempt to move about would shut
on his supply of air. The peril was one
that made each moment seem like an
eternity.
Meantime the divers assistants were
trying TO find out what had happened to
him. 1t seemed to them that the signal
to haul up had been instantly followed by
one TO lower, and then, by one to stop.
The man al the life line, confused by
these apparently contradictory COM
mands. ordered the derricks to haul on
the blocks. Nothing yielded to the Grain,
they were exhausted and had TO give way
to others, with still no signs of release.
In catching hold of some iron bolts he
mac cut small hole in the valve OF one
OF his rubber gloves and water, filling
the glove, was slowly oozIng past the
clamps at the wrist anS creeping up the
arm 1t seemed to tie helpless diver,
held fast in the tide-swept mass that he
would soon be Strangled or crushed to
death. Confused by the great air pres
sure in his helmet, he had about con-
looked for reiief-the wreckage gave a
lErch. and he found that he could climb
W to. one of the deck timbers.
He graSped his ak and was hewing
desperately for freedom when suddenly
the whole mass gave way, and began TO
rise rapidly, carrying the diver, now head
downward with 1t. HIS queer ascent did
not consume more than 10 seconds but
ii was long enough for him to i've over
in memory all the events of a lifetime of
two score years. At first his comrades
failed to discover him in the mass of
tangled material. and their surprise can
be imagined when he shot up through the
wreckage feet first. Captain Smith
described this as his closest call 20 deaths
door and" he added Il have DeeDed
through the keyhole pretty often.'
Captain Smiths adventure reminded a
brother diver, in whose presence it was
told. of narrow escape of his own. 1t
occurred while he was putting some
CO -e-s or the bottom of Il steamship in
dock. Il took some plates down with
me-" said he. and worked for a while on
one size of the hull, after which / started
20
vessel was about three feet off the bot
tom. and | crawled underneath, dragging
the plates behind me.
After had been at work an hour or so
| noticed that my air was getting short.
but when | tried TO get under the keel
again TO be hauled up | found the steam
snip on the bottom and squeezing my air
hose between its keel and the ground.
The tide was ebbing, and the hull had
gradually sunk until it was almost
aground. I had forgotten all about the
tide, and when / pulled the hose it re-
fused to move an inch. If the bottom
had been soft It would not have 4nat-
te-cd so much. but it was rock and the
hose was grippSd like a vice. There was
nothing to do but wait: if she fell any
lower the air would be entirely shut of
and l would have to die. Not till my last
ho-r shall l forget the torture of those
few minutes while 1 waited to see whether
it rose or fell. My head felt as though il
We're bursting, and my nose and care
We're bleeding. | took heart. however
when the air began to freshen for /
knew the nthat the tide had begun turn
ing and that the hull was rising There
was plenty of time for me to recover my
nerve before it was high enough off the
bottom for me to get under, but / did NOT
get it back Instead l stood there shak
irC ike one stricken with palsy until |
could squeeze under the bottom and give
the signal to be hauled up. ] reached the
surface in a half-fainting condition, and
was sick for weeks afterward When 7
did recover it was with hearing Derman-
entity impaired