The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-06
HAZARDOUS TRADE OF dying.
HOW MEN ARE TRAINED TO OVER
CONE ITS DIFFICULTIES.

Danger Great, but Rewards Often Large
-COnvenicnces for Divers Work
achievements OF Experts-Instruc.
ton Furnished by the British Navy.
Diving used to be reckoned among the
dangerous trades. Most people would,
perhaps, call 1t dangerous still, says George
Turnbull in the English Worlds Work, but
really there is little or no danger involved
If the diver is physically fit and takes ordi-
nary precautions. He moves about under
water almost as freely as we do on shore.
and uses knife, hammer. chisel and all
sorts OF tools ever so cunningy.
1t is a very old calling. diving having
been practised for useful purpose in
that part of Homers Iliad in which he
compares the fall OF Hectors charioteer
to the action of diver. Thucydides re-
lates that divers were employed during
the siege Of Syracuse to saw down the
barriers which had been built below the
surface of the water to obstruct Grecian
warships attempting to enter the harbor:
and Livy records that at the time OF the de-
feat OF Perseus, last king OF Macedonia, by
the Romans, considerable treasures were
recovered from the sea by men trained in
the art of diving.
You may be a diver in a diving dress
pure and simple, or you may be a diver
shut up with others inside a diving-bell.
Both have their we'll defined spheres OF
work in the waters that are under the earth.
The earliest mention Of any appliance for
assisting divers occurs in the works of
Aristotle. who speaks OF sort OF vessel
for enabling divers to remain some time
under water"
But the first really practical diving
bell was that designed by DR.. HALEY. secre-
tary to the Royal Society am.
Twenty years later Augustus Siebe in
vented the "open" diving dress, which
continued in Use for over ten years, but
a great drawback to II was that 1t was
necessary for the diver to maintain his
body in a vertical position all the time
he was under the surface In order to keep
the water below his chin. otherwise he
would have run the risk OF drowning. In
1870 Siebe invented the close" dress, which
present improved diving apparatus Is
the outcome. enabling the diver to work
in any posture. sitting, kneeling or lying.
The diving bell and airlock bell have
their advantages on harbor and break
water construction in the work OF dwelling
the sea bottom 80 as to receive the con-
crete blocks which are laid by divers In the
diving dress, but many engineers have
disc arded the use Of diving bells in favor
of the diving dress, for the reason that
with the bell the men working In It are Inn
tied to the area II covers, whereas with the
dress the divers can be distributed over
different parts of the contract and work
quite independently OF one another.
English divers are the best in the world.
They are trained by the navy, every vessel
in the British Navy recurring at least one
There are schools at Portsmouth. Sheer
ness and Davenport. The divers are put
into shallow water first then the depth
is gradually increased, but not beyond
40 feet, which is the limit required by the
navy. At the submarine mining school
in Chatham. for example, about 200 men
are trained every year for coast defence
work-that is, submarine mining and de-
fence electric lighting. From among that
number few, about twelve or fifteen
every year. after completing their young
The training lasts from three to six
months or more. the men being practised
to work in depths up to about ninety feet
and to work singly or in pairs. They are
taught to communicate with the men at the
the life line and by means OF the telephone
ftted in the helmet of their diving dress.
These men are useful for underwater
lire repairs to the submarine mining yes.
sells. such as clearing proPellers foul Of
for lost stores and for any special
work, such as blasting, repairing slipways
or laying and examining moorings. But
while the diving course Is practical and
popular, 1t is not compulsory; only vol
unteers are taken aho 'ne hen arS sthrioe
being allowed to 60 down IN over sixty
feet OF water.
divers dress is a most elaborate, II not
a gorgeous affair, and costs from Zoo up
ward The and Ss the
There is first the heavy waterproof costume.
composed OF two layers Of tanned twill,
with India rubber between. This Is made
in one piece, with a large enough open
ing at the neck to allow the body to GO
the air pipe and tho life line, Is the next inn
portant item. 1t is tightly screwed to
the shoulder OF the diving dress. The
helmet is Of copper and weighs thirty six
pounds 1t is furnished with glass sights;
and an important feature rs the valves,
which nre SO contrived that In the event
Of an accident to the air pump or tube
the dress retains sufficient air to enable
the diver to reach the surface In safety.
From the compI essoI aooye me ar IL
lei over his face BY means Of the regulat-
.nu outlet valve the diver adjusts his supply
Of air according to his needs. The pipe
down which it is pumped y o. canvas and
~ The divers dress are subjected In the
making to tests many times greater than
nnr tbev ever have to undergo. II diver
Wants to retain all the air he closes the inlet
valve tightly This causes the dress n 70 N.
ascends to the surface, II necessary. with
ont assistance. 4 pair Of stout boots,
each weighing seventeen pounds. and
two weights Of forty pounds each which
hang over the shonldsr complete etc, the outer
s,,;t Of underclothing, consisting Of guern:
sev. pants, stockings, neckerchief and