Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-09-13
SEES MANY WRECKS
Diver Dick Ferris Relates Inter.
esting Experiences on the
Mississippi.
THE DUBUQUE his HARDEST JOE
Remains of Hundreds of Boats
Lie at Bottom of River,
He Says.


won fame by his wonderful work
during the operation of raising the
sunken steamer Dubuque. aud who
has been diving for the last 20 years,
has the following to say regarding
his many interesting experiences:
'I started at the business almost 81
years ago and have worked at that
kind of work almost. continuously
ever since. with the exception of
wnat time have spent as steam boat
captain. 1 have run on steam boat,
but the greater part of my time has
been taken up by diving. l worked
a part of last season on "A steamboat
and ran an excursion from Davenport
to this city year ago the fore part of
last July, when we sank q barge up
the river on Hog island. After the
season was finished | went south with
it for while and then started to
work on the government canal near
Keokuk, where L worked all winter.
eyes, we can work all winter. but
our dress is somewhat different in the
winter, as the water is so cold that
we have to dress warmer. There is
not one in a Thousand who wants TO
follow this kind of business; that is
the reason why there are so few divers
nowadays. l believe that | am the
only one between St. Louis and st
Paul. There are few men who can
stand this kind of work and who
would do it if they could stand it. A
man must have strong lungs and
good heart for this kind of work, as
the air is hard TO breathe when it is
pumped to you.
Must be Mechanic.
"a man must also be- a mechanic
70 be n diver, for he must know any
thing that might come up There is
peculiar sensation comes over q
man when he first goes down, but of
course a man will become accustomed
to it in time. L am only IL years of
age and my hair is quite gray and Is
slipping pretty freely, on account OF
sweating so mu' b.
ITO be a diver a man must start
Jut and follow a diver as q tender.
about the same as an apprentice in
my other profession. Gradually he
learns it so In a case of necessity he
is sent down occasionally and finally
becomes competent to do that kind of
work. 1t also takes considerable
money for a man to get a start at the
york, as a good diving suit costs
81, 100. or if it is rented costs s. n
day. A man. if he can stand it and
once becomes accustomed to it, will
live about the same length of time
that any one else will. There is q
trenchman in St. Louis who is nearly
20 years old and has followed diving
continually for S5 years. The first
Job ever had on my own hook was a
government job. and the second was
the steamer Inverness, lying just be-
low Keokuk. This was in the year
$780, since then / have had many.
and quite a number of them were i'm
portant jobs.
The Dubuque Job.
THE Dubuque job was the largest
and most important Job that ever
mad that was successful. In fact, IL
was ever a success There have been
others that were worse, but they were
not successful. Two of them were
the City of Cairo and the Belle of
Memphis. Although many men do
not want to do this kind of work ow-
ing to danger. the fact is there are
very few lives lost by diving, as great
care is exercised by the men and
everything is thoroughly tested be.
fore they 20 down. only know of
two men who lost their lives and that
was along the coast, where they went
down too deep with just q common
divi' g outfit. They went down 500
feet, and 1876 is as deep as man can
20 without using what is called bell
diving suit. l have worked rs feet
under water. This is a hard life on q
man and | do not know how long
shall work at it. While at work a
man never wants to think of the dam
ger he is in. but must keep his mind |
on nothing but what he is doing. For
common diving / wear shoes that
weight 124 pounds each and other |
garb in proportion"
When asked about the wrecks in |
the Mississippi river. he said: "As
to the number could not say. but
there are hundreds of them There |
are wrecks that have been lying on |
the bottom of the river for years and
years. some of them ever since the |
first steamboat waJ on the river.
Treasures In Wrecks.
Regarding the finding of treas
ures in wrecks and in the bottom OF
the river. " said Mr.. Ferris. Il have
never found any only in cases when
| was sent after it. such as safes and |
such things that have gone down in
the boat, but never found anything
else"