Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-24
DIVING FOR SHELL FISH
Hardy Japanese Who Explore Monterey Bay
for the Abalone.
Men Risk Their Lives Daily for a
Common Fish FOOd-Prepar-
ing the Product.
From the San Francisco Call.


There is probably only one place in the
world where professional divers descend
into the dangerous depths of the ocean for
so humble article as a common food fish,
and it Is rather remarkable that that one
place should be quiet little Carmel bay, on
the northern side of the famous Point
Lobos, seven miles from Monterey. These
men, who take their lives in their own
hands and daily explore the ocean bottom
along this coast for the delicious abalone
are two of the most expert Japanese divers
on the Pacific North American coast-men
who, with no diving dress beyond an ordi-
nary bathing suit and a huge pair of water
spectacles, are able to remain under water
Tor hve minutes at time, and, when equip
ped with modern diving bell and Dress
daily accomplish the astonishing feat of
working under water four hours without
coming to the surface
The fishery is owned by G. Kodani, an
intelligent Japanese, with a very shrewd
eye for business. About a dozen men, all
japanese, are employed in the curing and
packing departments, and they, with the
TWO divers and boat crew, the cook team
sters and other employees, constitute an
estapllshmeEt O nearly twenty-five men.
The factory as Kodani rather inappro-
prlately styles the place where the curing
and packing are done, is situated on por-
ton of the old Rancho San Jose Sur
ChiQuito."
The house occupied by the company, the
drying ground, smoker and picking watts,
stand on an eminence above a blight of
carmel bay, locally known as Saltwater
bay, and just below are the boat house and
landing place for the divers with their
laden boats
Method of Taking.
Every morning at dawn the divers go out
to their work The particular kind of div
ing, the suits to be worn, and whether both
or only one goes depend entirely upon
weather conditions. If the sea is rough
both men embark in a sort of a houseboat
and are rowed out a little way into their
own clam bay or around the point to some
other quiet cove. They don their bathing
suits and water spectacles, sling net re-
sembling butterfly net to their waists,
and with long-handled, pointed knives tied
around their necks, jump overheard. The
boat crew keeps a close watch for signals
from them, but otherwise they have very
lazy time while their companions are in the
water.
The water speotacles fit closely to the
face to exclude the water, and the divers
are thereby enabled to swim below the sur
face with their eyes open and with perfect
clearness of vision. Seeing an abalone,
they catch him unaWares, slip the knife
under his shell before his powerful tentacles
can get firm hold of the rock upon which
he rests, and with quick twist of the knife
pull him off the rock and throw him into
the net. This method of diving is used only
in the shallow water, where the smaller
abalone is to be found, but when deep-sea
specimens are sought the divers go down
one at time. equipped with the heavy suit,
leaden-sol shoes and the twenty pound
diving bell. and work under water out in
the deepest portions of the ocean along this
coast for four hours at a time with perfect
ca SO.
OF course, a great deal depends upon the
boats crew in the case of deep-sea diving
for so long period. The air pumps must
No ,acyl1C cd Fpr ant al
signals from the man below must be care
fully watched Neither of the divers ever
feels the slightest uneasiness, however, re-
garding the part played by the men above,
upon the oceans bottom with total uncOn-
Germ. After remaining under water for
about four hours the diver is hauled up.
relieved of his clumsy headgear and diving
dress and usually eats hearty meal, for
there is something about the work that
makes him ravenously hungry. An hours
rest and refreshment prepare him Tor an,
other four hours trial of the depths, and
upon his second coming to the surface his
work for the day is done.
Process of Preparing.
The abalones thus caught are brought
ashore, taken from the shell and thrown
into a strong brine, where they remain for
several hours. They are then put into
vat and boiled hard for three or four min
utes, after which they are laid out in trays
this time five minutes, is undergone, ana
another brief drying period; then for the
third time they are thrown into the boiling
vat After the last cooking they are laid
out in trays and put into a smoker for
several hours They are then placed in the
air to remain two months, and occasionally
even longer If damp weather prevents Il
thorough dry ing in the usual length of time
When the last drying IS finished the aba
lones are pa, ked in boxes and shipped to
San Francisco, from which point they are
reshipped TO Japan, where they are hlghly
valued an article of food.
The shells, of which there are huge piles
about the drying grounds, are all bought
by Los Angeles button factory to be cut
up into fancy buttons, knife hanuieS ana
OF her ''mOther-Of-pearI' articles. The shells
are shipped in sacks like coal by steamer
from Monterey. There are at the present
time 1000 cubic feet of shells at the fishery
ready for shipment.
That these industrious little men do
thriving business Is readily seen by the
large shipments, averaging over two tons
per month of the cured fish.
Looking at the small men who wear the
cumbrous suits one invOluntarily wonders
how they dare cope with the dangers Of the
deep-the strong undercurrents that are so
difficult to battle against. sharks. octopi
and other monsters that make diving in the
Pacific anything but a holiday excursion to
even the most expert divers In speaking
of this phase of his work, one of the little
men said:
Il don't scare. Shark he run way very
quick. Devil fish he very bad. l fight one
one time very big. So big" waving his
arm about in way to indicate an octopus,
the size no other mortal man has ever be-
held. / have very big fight. He want hug
me. l stick my knife in him middle; L kill
him"
The little brown proprietor is very pleas
ant and ready to tell in his peculiar English
all about his work and his boys" and is
perfectly delighted to have himself or any
of his boys" photographed. He does not
rnrly h &c
doing unusual either in endurance or as
regards the peculiar booty for which they
dive, and when the experiences of the two
men is remarked upon he says:
Yes; my boys very good dive They
catch ma-any ab-lone."
AUCTION SALES.