Evening journal., 1904-12-24
THE LIFE OF A DIVER
PERiLs CONSTANTLY MENACE HIM
WHILE HE is AT WORK.

The Sensations lie Experiences when
Under Water. Incased In His Hid
eous Armor-Four Hours Day Are
the Limit OF His Endurance.
The dangers OF the divers life are
little realized by the world on land un-
I'll one is killed. Some ffty divers are
Mt work almost every day in the wa
fers Of New York harbor. yet as long as
they perform their tasks successfully
they remain as obscure as their dim
hnunts While securing OF barnacles
from ship bottoms or patching boles
in sunken hulls or mending pipes un-
der the East river their work. even IL
visible. is too commonplace ito point
a moral or adorn a tale" Even when
there is a wreck and lives are lost few
think Of the patient, plodding diver.
who gropes through the watery sa-
looms of the steamships and brings
to the surface the pallid corpscs.
When the diver is initiated into the
mysteries Of the deep he is extremely
cautious. Then he appreciates far
more than after he has become accus-
toned 10 his strange surroundings the
perils Of bis new life. AS soon as he
has donned his armor, whose very
hideousness would seem to indicate the
terrors lurking in that unnatural ele-
ment into which he ventures, and has
sunk beneath the surface every sense
begins 10 act IN a welrdly distorted
fashion. lie thinks he sees objects
within reach which In reality are far
remote. He claps his hands with diff
Guilty and hears no sound, yet a knock
on the side Of O ship with his knuckles
gives the ring Of q bell. His body has
an unusual lightness, so that a little
leap will carry him over vast spaces.
His sense Of smell has been annihilat-
cd. The air which puf's into his he'll
met and then, leaking out through the
escape valve back OF one eur, bubbles
up to the surface as II out of the
snout OF a porpolse at first had the
scent Of machine oil. In few min
utes 1t becomes utterly odorless.
There are still buried treasure ships
whose exact situations are known to
mariners, but which are inaccessible
because Of their great depth. Divers
equipped with the present brass and
rubber uniforms cannot go deeper than
200 feet. and even at this depth only a
few can remain more than FIVE min
utes One hundred and twenty feet Is
the limit for most miners Of the sea,
for at this depth they are under a
pressure Of four atmospheres.
For the reason that man can venture
only a few feet down into the sea the
diver Of these practical modern times
| has abandoned his hunt for treasure
and has become a skilled laborer at 80
a day Though his wages are larger
than many kinds Of workmen earn.
nevertheless they are less regular, and
the diver who earns $3.50 month Is
regarded lucky lie is indeed fortu-
nate If he can obtain a steady Job in
J the dock department. for the city EN-.
, ploys eight divers at So a day through
out the year with only four hours of
labor In the twenty-fOur and $l.25 ex
ira for every additional hour
In preparing for his work the diver
must serve long and tedious appren
ticeship For the reason that he vii
be called on 70 do the work of various
trades such as those Of mason, car
penter. iron worker, plumber and mar
liner he must master the principles OF
all these vOcatlons. lie generally
serves three years as a member of O
wrecking crew, and in addition TO ev
erythlng else he studies the character
Of the waters, their depth and cur
rents. IN which he will one day work
He learns to be a divers tender, The
man who holds the life line and all
tube Of the diver. and these are some
OF the signals with which he becomes
familiar;
One pull OF mir hose more afr.
Two pulls Of air houe-less air.
Three pulls OF air hose-pull IL up.
one pull Of life line-haul up working
rope.
Two pulls OF life nne-lower working
rone.
Three pulls Of life llne-haul up diver.
AS the pressure Of the water in
creases on the divers suit at about th,
rate OF one pound for every two fee
the apprentice must learn how to man
age the air pump. lie must memoriz'
the following table and see that th'
gauge Of the air pump tallies to it al
nearly as possible:
Depth Pounds Depth Pounds