The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-01
WAYS OF IRE DIVER
Who Goes Down to the Sea
in Rubber Suits.
GOOD PAY IN THE TRADE
Business Followed by Fami-
lies, Father and Son.

face, while others will work at anywher
from seventy to eighty-ive or ninet!
feet. One sort Of diver does only thu
drudgery of the trade. Ee is merely pu
to piling up rocks or doing the plain worl
mapped out for him, where blasting ha.
been done or deep foundations are to b,
laid. This divers work differs little from
that of the hod-carrier or coal-heave
ashore, except that it is conducted under
water and his movements are somewha
hampered by his heavy dress. The valu
able diver is the one with judgment anC
technical knowledge. He is sent down t
scrutinize the abutments of bridges anC
sea walls, and the foundations of water,
side structures, and decide as to whether
| they need repairing. He has mastered
| the principles of building and stone ma.
sorry before he undertook diving. The
diver Of first rank examines and repaires
vessels without docking, RECEIVERS sunk
/ en- property, and constantly does work
/ that demands fearlessness and persever-
ance. He is educated and alive to the
value OF new inventions. He reads the
! best journals on engineering and scien-
tific topics and watches all new develop
ments with keen interest
! The large wrecknlg companies have
somewhat curtailed the opportunities of
the individual in business for himself.
The paying undertakings, such as the
raising of great liner or removing of
some prominent obstruction eli go to the
organized companies, but tt re is still
much work that demands individual care
and tact, and the diver of recognized
ability is kept busy. There are several
New York divers who have gained a COM
potency in the prime of life and have re-
tired from business. Some Of these are to
be still found for a few hours each day
at their old South Street offices, having
set up in the boat business or some other
waterside occupation. They know the I'M
derwater ways of the harbor and rivers
as Familiarity as their neighbors know the
oity streets, and when there is an acct
dent or a new enterprise that demands
divers services they amuse themselves by
planning the methods to be pursued.
The divers and divers attendants work
ing for the wrecking companies are for
the most part foreigners, many Sweeds
and Norwegians having embarked in the
calling. Every diver has a imam to dress
him and attend his signal rope There
are hundreds of such workers kept ready
at a minutes notice, day and night to
respond to calls. The divers who are bust
ness for themselves are most conservative
and responsible. 1t is a business that ap-
pears to run in families, gnd the son of
an expert diver nearly always trains for
the profession. Such youth will, at the
proper age. be entered at the govern
ment training school for divers at New
port After serving an apprenticeship in
local waters he will go on a voyage round
the world in a United States vessel. Much
knowledge is handed down from father to
son. The father who has been success
fui is proud of his trade reputation, and
as much at home in the water as on
land. In such a family. living down in
one Of the slips by the East River. there
have been three generations to wear the
rubber suit. Tie grandfather was an ex-
pert diver in old Dublin pert for years
before he knew this harbor. The wrecks
that he worked at and the objects he res
cued from them were very different from
the ships and the contents that are res
cued now. His old diving-dress and bon
net are kept as curiosities, and there is
picture of the Anticipated diving-beIls
in which his small boy, father of the
present diver. used 10 be taken down to
view the wonders of the sea. The records
of the family are interesting The old
Dublin wrecker Is dead. But his son is in
active work and keenly interested in the
career Of his oldest boy, to whom he has
given every advantage and gwhom he has
trained 10 his favorite pursuit The young
man enlisted in the late war, scraped the
bottom of the Indiana. and on returning
10 New York did similar work on two
ca9tured transports.
On days when Il IS bitterly cold or IN
usually windy the divers do not work. be-
cause their attendants cannot stand the
exposure The weather would not hinder
the diver perhaps. He would not feel the
cold in his stout armor under water but
for the man who holds the signal rope
and for those turning at the air-pump
and attending TO matters on shore or on
the divers boat it is q serious ordeal II
is on such days. when the master-dfver
is cementing patches on his suit, or fixing
up his books by the hosD'tabl Office
stove. that he can be prev2i ed upon 10
relate his experiences. One spoEe Of re-
cent tip up the East Rivers be7 climb
ing over cables that hang seve eight
and ten feet from the bottom T4f= t-lp
was in quest Of some car wheels thai h q
been lost or a hat-b7at. There wee
thirty-four wheels missing. They were
valuable, and might be found anywhere
between Twency-third street and the Bat
terry. so the whole distance must be COW
ers0. The cables hung 50 high that the
diver might have walked under them. bat
tina, would have interlered with his He
line. So he climbed over every one. and
The man holding the signal-rope IN the
boat had TO exercise great care There
are Wierd tales OF dead bodies discovered
by the diver in startling attitudes. and
tales OF hairbreadth escapes when the
signals refuse 10 work or the air gave
cut suddenly
Not but what It's q good Hfe." the mar
razor declared i've always had the bas.
q health ard occasionally Considerable !
fun our % the business. The most con-
lczl experience came - ne IN Lax. Erie /
when ! -TsHt hunting tor copper IN four /
teen tathoEns OF water. Il was a private /
job. promising good pay TIE copper. - 4
tons % &. had been lost toE thirty years.
according To the MAJ who employed nc 4
to hunk Tor 81 lie was an inventor and a 1
crank OF tAs subject of lost cArEoes- He /
came 20 New York - engage re. ard /
Sad that the instrument he had invented I
zas wsr-zn1ed 20 sh5w TIE exact spo: 4
where the copper lay Al I bad 70 % I
vas % 50 Down a. the Tlscs Indicated. I
strike ihe metal with ny spear. nad ssas /
~ a sample CT rwo 70 prove the quality 4