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

H' 49, ~
tain and crew had barely time to
escape is the ioat.. The wreck lay
IN ninety feet Of water. 1t was badly
broken ~, aud rocked and swaycd in
the water - that | kept my balance
with difficulty as worked among the
tlmbcrs. was prying and chopping
my way to the matches when from
some place about the wreck, but from
inst where | never could tell. IL dead
man rose suddenly in front Of me.
The corpse was not more than ten
feet away, erect in the water. facing
me. and seemed to ne exactly as if it
had risen in alarm at my approach.
The man had died with both hands
tightly c~lutching his breast. His open
mouth. widely staring eyes. and dis
tortcd face made such Il picture Of
horror a. J hope never To see again.
The corpse stood Il second facing me,
and it seemed to ne as If rs Horror
was Of ne and because Of my presence
there. | stood as if p%aralyzcd. such
was my terror. The dead man rose ut
last toward the surface and in such Il
way that it dccpcncd the impression
that | had disturbed him in his scpul-
chrc, for it was FOR all the world as if
he were fleeing from me. Several
times before the corpse disappeared
beyond the line Of my vision it turned
in the water and seemed TO gaze back
at me with that haunting look Of hor-
ror, the hands still c%lutching the
breast.
After the body had gone ont Of sight
tried to proceed with my work, but
was so much unstrung that a fish
swimming by or the air hose tapping
against me gave me such painful starts
that | had to be signalcd to be hauled
to the surface, and it was Il long time
before | could ummon courage to 20
down again. Never after that could
so down IL hatchway into the cabin of
Il smnkcn vessel at such times without
s%huddcring over the thought that per
haps some poor victim Of the wreck
was imprisoned there. and that he
would suddenly be released by the
lurchings of the hulk and appear to
ne in all his swollen. wild-cycd hor-
ror, notwithstanding that all the time
| followed diving after my first start
ling experience | never came again
face to face with an unexpected
corpse. The one | encountered on
that occasion must have been the
corpse of an unfortunate stow-away,
for none of the crew knew the dead
man nor Of his presence on the vessel.
Lake divers get big pay for their
work, but as there arc a good many in
the business. and jobs are sometimes
far between, they do we'll if they
average more than fair wages, taking
the year through. have made as
much as 81 900 in a month, but there
were n good many months during
which | did not make IL dollar. Full
Of peril rs the life Of IL lake diver is,
it is safety itself in comparison with
the life Of Il lake sailor. i would
rather take my chances. nine times
out of ten, in going to the bottom and
working there among the cvcr-prcscnt
dangers that beset the diver thnn to
sail before the mast on the great lakes.
didn't 'iuitthe life of diver hecause
of its pcrils OF its h~ardships. fol-
lowed the calling ten years, and after
escaping with lily life by the narrow
est chance from threatening and i'm
minent dangers on the uncanny bottom
of the lake, fathoms and fathoms
down liz the subtcrranean gloom, |
was compelled to abandon diving by.
an accident that happened to me in
the full light of day and while breath
Ing the free air of heaven. with no
sign of danger nigh. | was preparing
To &C down to search IL wreck off
Toledo. Before | was ready to de-
>rcnl Il kcavy chain fell from the
derrick of the wrrcking scow ! Was on,
Jus, missed my head and striking me
on the r!-ht shoulder, crushing every
bone ~ it. The accident crippled me
so that wa united to resume work
as Il diver and reluctantly abandoned
the profession that had so much fasci-
nation for me. The diver who went
down in my place Oh that wreck hav-
ing been down long beyond the time it
was possible for any one to remain in
that water. the men above hauled him
in. He was dead, his life line having
been cut by a jagged piece Of iron on
the hull. l don't know whether that