Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-03
SPONGE GATHERING.
PeriIous Work BY Divers In the
Aeqean Sea.


many people are there who are aware
of the fact that possibly the price of
that sponge is a mans life? One IF
the most dangerous of occupations is
that followed by the men who gather
sponges.
The best kind Of sponges a." those
coming from the Levant, whore somr
5000 men are kept busily at work.
1t is in the early part Of the spring
that a tremendous amount of activity
is apparent among three of four Of the
chief islands of the Aegean, as it is
then the sponge fleet start for the
yearly cruise.
The sponges. Of course, grow on
rocks under the water, the best of all
being obtained at the detached heads
of rock i'm at least eight or ten faith
oms of water. 1t is the object of the
men to obtain these sponges without
tearing them.
There are three ways of fishing for
sponges adopted in the Levant. One
is simply by tearing off the sponge
with sort of grapnel, though this
is only used in the case of inferior
sponges.
Another way is by means of what
is called the "gungava," which is lit
tie else than an adaptation of the Brit
ish dredge trawl. The trawl is tri-
angular shaped. the bottom bar being
sharpened so as to detach the sponges
from the ground, while the movement
of the boat naturally sends them into
the bag singing behind.
The third and most popular method
is that of diving. The diver carries
a heavy stone in his hands. He dives
down. the weight of the stone helping
him in his descent; having found a
good sponge. he tears it off and then
releases the weight. The lightness of
his body causes him to float to the
surface, leaving the weight at the bot
tom.
Many curious stories are related by
the sponge fishers in connection with
this diving. For instance, on one oc-
casion a young diver found himself
descending to the jaws of shark
With great presence Of mind he al
lowed the stone to fall into the sharks
mouth, while he skilfully turned
round and ascended to the surface.
Today, however. the old order of
things has passed away, as the ad-
vent of the diving dress has altered
everything. Huge syndicates are now
operating the fisheries, as an extra
ordinary state of affairs extends
the industry. There is
state of corruption in connection with
the sponge fishery which is not real
lied in this country and which is a
disgrace to civilization.
1t is we'll known that in diving at
great depths the descent must be
gradual in order to allow the body
to become accustomed to the pressure
of the water. When the diving dress
was introduced the Greeks found that
W
stay i'm the water for a minute to a
and half he could now re-
main for half an hour.
The owners were unwilling to waste
the time which should be allowed for
the descent when diving is carried on
under proper conditions. Instead,
therefore, of lowering man a fathom
Il minute they decided to throw him
overheard, allowing him to sink like
a log. So general is lis disgrace
ful state of affairs that about so per
cent of the sponge divers suffer from
paralysis. eventually total paralysis
being their fate. One would imagine
that i'm a civilized country either the
government would have adopted
measures to prevent this or the divers
themselves would have shown them
selves reluctant to undertake such a
hazardous profession. Such, however,
is not the case. 1t should be mention
that Turkey has forbidden the use Of
the diving dress for sponge fishing.
\ few days preceding the depart
ure of the sponge fleet a lamentable
spectacle is provided. The divers
like the gladiatOrS of old, are aware
that they may never see their native
shores again, so they go in for Il
course of unrestrained debauchery in
which they are encouraged by the
huge prepaymentS which are given
them as bribes for their services.
1t is commonly understood that a
diver will receive 5000 dranchmas
(abOut E100D for the summer fishing,
| 500 of which will be paid him before
he sails. He gathers unto him his
boon companions and after three or
four nights of drunkenness wakes up
with splitting headache to find that
he is already far out at sea. with the
prospect of serving under Il rutIianly
master and never getting the re-
mainder of his pay.
To do the captains justice, if they
can be said to deserve such, ! must
admit that they themselves are Op-
pressed by the syndicates. who let out
the diving suits with provisions and
nets at an eXorbitant rate of inter-
est, so that ii is practically impOs-
Sible for the men to secure anything
but the smallest profit. If they paid
their men full wages they would
speedily be ruined.
One may wonder that the men do
not mutny against i'll treatment. but
it must be remembered that the skip
per. or maestro as they call him, is
always accompanied on board by Il
number of his cousins or near rela
lions. VINO are always well armed. and
so have the whip hand.-PearsOn's
Weekly.