The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1902-05-09

very humorous about their little pry-
ing inuuisiliveness Once in the Med
iterrancan one gave me half hour
which thought would leave me gray
headed. j asst how near it was to being
nv last dive Ill never know
1T happened in the end of the sum-
mer, when Id been on that job near
Shanghai, and was coming home by
the way of Suez when | got wile at
Port Said from headquarters directing
me to take my gear and side-track my
self direct to Palermo, Sicily. When
I got ,hcrc-and | didn't lose any time
making connections-I found that
badly moor,d liner had punched a big
lighter between herself and the mole
the long stone wharf and break-water
the Palermcse are so proud of-and,
smashing it abeam, had sent it to the
bottom. 1t was government lighter,
and its cargo was an unusually valu
able onc-would run $4,000 or $780,
900 in our money-and | was to do
what could toward hosting good
fat salvage out it.
at was simple, easy work. There
were two or three hundred medium
sized cases to derrick up, and for me it
wasn't much more than snap to the
chain hooks and give the word TO haul
away.
"In fact, there was only one thing
which kept the job from being exactly
the kind / like; l couldn't seem to
make good tenders Of the Italian sea-
men they'd given me to work with.
They would pump steadily enough,
but had no head at all for signal taking;
and before long was practically regu-
lating my air supply, and timing my
descents for myself.
81 never got too little wind, and
when | got too much | simply opened
wrist band and habbird out in no
time. Then, too, | had a loaded cable
ladder dropped from tie side of the
mole TO the deck of the lighter and l
climbed up and down that without any
useless telegraphing. After the first
week | told them not to bother looking
for any signals but those to let down
and haul up the hosting tackle.
"For all the Italians were stupid
about diving hose and line they
were mighty good fellows; and in the
evenings, when they could get eff. |
had great times with them and their
frien's. Queerly enough, too, most Of
my fun was in going fishing for the
squit. The way Of catching it was a
new idea to me. They take twenty
foot cane poles and fasten punches of
sturgeon hooks to the ends of them,
like so many lashes on very long whip
stocks; and they managed to get Sig
nor Pulpu'-as the polite Palermese
call the beast-tangled up in them
pretty badly.
"They do their fishing on nights
when there's a moon, for squid make
it their habit to spend their day out at
sea and to come back inshore late in
the evening. When it is moonlie bit
they can be spotted very easily, for
they swim just below the surface, and
their pinwheel motion roughens up the
water above them till the bright silver
is in oXidiZed whorls. AS soon as a
pulpu has circlcd himself into striking
distance a bunch of hooks is slid under
him, and one fine Italian twist and jerk
does his business before he knows
what's killed him.
"And they're not slaughtered wan
tonly, either, but for the pot and oven,
like any other fish. Although l was
naturally rather stand otlish about them
at first, after Id tasted them boiled In
oil and carraway seed, and lathe:ed over
with egg plant sauce, couldn't help
owning that Americans aren't the only
people who know what's good.
Il suppose, too, my eating them
changed my way o. lookin. at squid a
To-; anyhow, even while we caught
most of them off the very mole that 1
was working beside, | don't think l
gave two anxious thoughts to them
when | was in the water More than
likely that was because those Ill seen
caught never weighed more than %
pounds, and L,cause | took it for
granted that they were all out at sea
i'll my working hours. Well. they
weren't all under % pounds, or all out
at sea at day light, either!
IL learned this one afternoon when
something went wrong with the jerry
llSptu VcIIlCh We Nclc uSlHS. i oI
half on hour no tackle had come down
to me, and at last | got tired Of doing
nothing Id never been between decks
at all, for as the boat was common
lighter, everything Id had to handle
was piled up above; but now that |
had the time. thought I'd like to see
how the Sicilian liyhterman had his
living quarters furnished. SO |
climbed down the hatchway ladder.
You often hear people speaking of
black darkness, ard, as I've had cause
to know, it's possible for some caves
and mine cuttings to be pretty pitchy;
but they're nothing to what the hold
of a wreck can show. When you're
down any depth to speak of, there's