Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-02-09

twenty-five, east. TIL figures III Tray
Ignacio's document Had been II de-
gFees 80 minutes 20 seconds north By
ia degrees % minutes no seconds
east. So the approximate position Of
the wreck was one nile farther cast.
and two and a hal miles 20 the
s'uth'ard, from where | was. From the
drag of my lead on boi ON, Icaiculated
the Roadway to be about six miles an
hour, and steered due outh for twenty
minutes; then / headed east until il
seemed as though the proa had gone
an even mile, and was just about TO
stow away the sail. when the lead-line
flashed over the side Ike lightning. as
if a shark were mailing Off with It.
But upon grasping the coil / found
only the natural resistance OF it, own
weight. and knew must have reached
the weather side OF the ledge paid
Out the whole thirty fathoms. bat the
pull was as strong as ever. Then. TAX
ing the linen line from the chest, bent
IT on 10 the other and kept paying out
for several minutes; but no bottom.
Being afraid I o lose it. began hauling
n, measuring on the gunwale as | did
so, and found that ii had gone down
over nine hundred feet. Well, when
man is alone in mid-ocean. on nothing
but a few sticks, and finds himself over
an unfathomable abyss. the sensation
IS something like that of worms crawl
ing around in his gizzard--a sort of
81, e hfa eli
Heading out to the west ard, crept
slowly back over my course, leaving
the lead fathoms under water. In
three minutes it struck bottom and
dragged. Then / lowered away the
lump Of coquina which served as an
Misunderstanding fifty feet OF slack line,
which | secured to the mast with rum
ming loops-after which / ate an
orange. took few swallows of wine,
and fished out the diving-suit.
/ remember once, when a boy Of IS.
being invited to a very swell ball at
which / expected TO meet a girl who
had produced a strong impression
upon me, and spending, in consequence,
nearly two hours over my toilet before
I was satisfied with IT. But that
wasn't circumst ance to the care with
which ! got into that diving suit.
though the time consumed was APP
preciablv less. The recollection of my
sensations when first trying it on gave
me a feeling of apprehensiyeness
which II was impossible to shake off.
| pumped air into the knapsack until
Il wouldn't stand another inch. ex-
=
seam and strengthening hoop, before
putting ii on. But at last l was COM
pletely bottled up, with the sole ex-
eeption Of the lens in front of my face
This | left open TO get another bite of
orange and at least half the bottle of
wine. realizing that no matter how
much | might want either, under wa
ter they would be simply out Of the
question.
Then | screwed on the lens, opened
the valve from the lnapsack, and start
ed TO step over the gunwale; but my
feet seemed glued fast; / had for
gotten that the leaden soles Of my
shoes weighed IS pounds each. and
that there were weights attached TO
MY shoulders and belt as well. They
got themselves over ait last, however.
and letting the line slip through my
hand, | sank rapidly o the bottom.
At first the sensation was similar to
diving. naked, in deep water. There
was the same bubbling numbness in
he ears. ;he impression of light, faint
ly penetrating through an opaque
green substance. and erotesque shad-
owy objects which caught at the feet
and made it difficult to step. The abb
sence Of buoyant feeling was strange
and very uncomfortable. Had it not
been fo- Halsteads preeaution in max
ing ma the suit on, | might easily
have lost my head during the first five
minutes. There was rushing Of air
from the lnapsack which made me
gasp for breath. and the continual
pop pop-pop-popping of air-bubbles
from the top of the copper helmet
filed me with horrible dread that
the water was pressing in upon me
through some unsupported leak in the
armor.
Presently, however, it seemed evil
dent that l was neither drowning nor
suffocating yet, and l tried to look
about me. Everything had the shad-