The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-05-11
On the Bed Of the Sea
Weird Adventures of Diver on the Floor Of
The Deep.

he takes the leap into the sea. his every
neart beat is in the hands Of the man
at the lifeline.
For eighteen years." said PhaIberg.
my lifeline was handled BY the same
man. He was quite an old fellow. and
+ had been all his life a pearl diver. He
knew the sea by heart, and was always
alive 70 his awful responsibility. Since
I his death" said the veteran diver. with
a careless smile, Il let anyone handle
my lifeline who happens 70 be about"
Equally Indifferent is Phalberg to his
I diving suit picking out one at random
I from the varied assortment that hang.
/ like grim spectres. in the dressing room
I Of the master divers wrecking wharf.
Curious is the fact that It is through
1 the sense Of touch rather than sight
that divers identity objects at the bot
/ tom Of the sea. Before diving in
/ search of a lost vessel the diver learns
/ the class to which she belongs The
/ expert is familiar with every detail in
I the construction OF all kinds of water
I craft. He carries In his minds eye to
/ the bottom the picture Of the sunken
/ vessel, and when he reaches her he
| measures every part to tell upon which
side she lies and whether she struck
I fore or aft and the extent of her dam
/ ages. Every fact he records in his
memory. He has no other tablet.
4 When he signals to be hauled up he
| has as detailed and accurate an ac-
count to submit to the authorities as
I if hours had been spent figuring it out
/ on paper.
/ Il have never got over the childish
/ habit" laughed Phalberg, "of putting
my finger, when I hurt Il, into my
mouth. Often in blasting rocks l strike
my finger. and to ease the pain 1 at
| once raise it TO my mouth. only to be
/ reminded that it's we'll hid behind the
! irOn-barred glass window at the front
/ OF my helmet. through which the eyes
alone look out. The heavy gloves We
/ are obliged to wear from October TO
April are very cumbersome and make
/ work slow and awkward. It's always
/ cold at the bottom OF the sea in winter
/ Before put on my diving suit dress
I In heavy fiannels. as if I were about to
strike for the north pole. We never
( know at the bottom when there is a
/ storm on top. The deep remains I'M
ruffied.
/ NO, sharks have never troubled me"
/ smiled Phalberg. Excepting the lob
/ ster, I have found the inhabitants Of
| the deep peaceful Iaw-abiding citizens.
I 4
world and I have never met but one
who had trouble with a shark; that
man was forced to hide two hours in
/ the cabin of a sunken ship to escape
one. often in breaking rocks / have
/ killed small fish, which the larger
would eat out of my hand. The fish
know me and know them" said the
old diver, and upon the whole we are
pretty good friends"
Like all men who live close to ma
! lures heart, PhaIberg is as simple as a
/ child. His comfortable land home at
/ New London, Conn, Is rich in treas
ures he has brought up from the deep
/ No man in the world, perhaps, has 50
unique a library as this old Swedish
| diver. It consists OF ffty-twO volumes,
all OF his own writing. Time-stained
notebooks for the most part con-
/ tain many weird stories OF the
4 hours he has lived at the bottom Of
/ the sea. In all that time he has not
missed a day that he can recall. Al
< lowing five hours day under water
/ and the honest old Norseman says that
! figure is far below his average-mOre
I than $4,000 hours Of his life has been
! lived on the bed Of the ocean.