The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-12-22
Adventures Of a Deep Sea Diver.

divers that were engaged on that i'm
portant work for seven months.
When the memorable wreck OF the
steamer City of Columbus occurred
In a terrible storm off Gay Head,
about a quarter of a century ago, and
200 or more lives were lost, he was
the first diver to go down to the
foundered steamer, being engaged to
make an examination of her. With a
few brief respites he was under water
for twenty-four hours on that work
without sleep.
"Sharks have never troubled me
but once" said Captain Olsen, when
asked II he had had any adven-
lures with these marine beasts of
prey. at was off the South Carolina
coast several years ago that / was
forced to hide in the cabin of a
sunken ship on which was at work
to escape one. He was Of the man.
eating kind, and he kept me pris-
oner In the cabin for couple of
hours before l managed to get out
and be hauled up.
with the exception of Holsters,
have found the inhabitants of the
deep very we'll behaved things. Lob
sters, though, are oftentimes very
troublesome when they get to crawl
ing over me and become fastened In
my diving suit, when l have hard
work to shake them off
II don't use any searchlight under
water" continued the captain, "be-
cause a searchlight is no good down
there. Some water that / go into is
pretty clear, and l can distinguish
objects fairly well, but most of the
water at the bottom of the sea is
densely black. It's like entering a
dark cavern to dive into 1t.
"You can see nothing, so the hands
must do the work of the eyes, for 1t
Is through the sense of touch rather
than sight that divers identify objects
at the bottom of the sea. | feel for
everything, from a ship to trunk,
just like blind man, measure 1t with
my outstretched hands, and work
away from there in the darkness with
out seeing thing.
"Three or four hours is the aver
age time e-that a diver can stay under
water without coming to the surface.
Frequently, however, | hare worked
seven hours under twenty-five or
thirty feet of water without being
hauled up.
"Twenty fathoms is about the limit
Of the depth of water diver can
work in. That is 100 feet, and he
can't so any deeper than that, for the
pressure of the water is too great.
He couldn't possibly stand it. Even
at 120 feet the pressure of the mighty
body of water above and about you is
something so tremendous that diver
can't stay down that depth any great
length of time without coming to the
surface.
"Yes, frequently do down in the
winter, but the water Is pretty cold
then at the bottom of the sea. ! al
ways dress in heavy fannels before |
put on my diving suit, and wear heavy
rubber gloves to keep my hands from
freezing. In fact, I'm always ready
to go down at any hour, day or night,
In storm or calm, winter or summer.
"A divers life is such that he
can't always choose the time to take a
plunge to the bottom Of the sea.
When the steamer Portland disap-
reared In that November storm OF
1898, and has never been heard of
since, put in fifteen days of pretty
cold weather searching the ocean bed
off the tip of Cape Cod for some trace
of her. We never know at the bot
tom when there is a storm on top,
for the water remains unruIlied down
there"
Captain Olsen has a comfortable
land home at IA Fairmount avenue,
West Somsryille, where he lives with
his wife and three children when out
of the water, which is only about half
the year. He says that during the
thirty-six years that he has been div
ing he has easily averaged six months
of every year under water.-Inter-
Ocean.