The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1910-03-30

ed The methods of the divers are
exceedingly interesting and are prac-
, tically the same in G;ecian waters az
they are off the coast of Florida These
who dive without specially constructed
suits are naked. They can go into as
much as Is fathoms of water They
put the sponges they tear loose from
the rocks. A rope is tied about their
waists, and tug on the rope tells
those above that it is time to haul the
diver up
The sponges are coated by a sort of
submarine spy glass. This is a big
bucket like affair with a lens in the
bottom. The user places it in the water
and puts his face into the top of it.
This permits him to see the formations
on the bottom. When the undressed
diver begins operations at the conf
mencement of a fishing season he
Deeds at the nose and ears when he
comes from the water. The uninitiat-
ed regard this as a terrible thing, but
no experienced diver will begin regular
operations until this bleeding sets in.
for it is takes as a sure sign that the
diver is fit, and it's absence means that
he is not in diving trim. After the
first few dives the bleeding stops. The
sponge diver may work in IS fathoms
of water while eight fathoms would
crush the unframed diver to death
The Grecian divers learn to dive al
most as soon as they learn to walk.
Waste of Product.
The prodigality that characterizes
the waste of the sponge resources is
viewed with much concern by the bur-
eau of fisheries. 1t is said that thous
ands of commercial worthless small
sponges are gathered and thrown
away; and that if such sponges were
permitted to stay only six months long
er they would add a full hundred
thousand dollars to the total valu. of
the annual output of the Florida fish
cries. In one case a dealer stated that
some fishing men had brought him a
lot of sponges for which he paid only
IS. and that if they had been left only
six months longer they might have
| been worth fully $500
Substitute for Asbestos.
In the waters of the Pacific there
is a sponge which serves in lieu of
American asbestos. IT is one Of the
| most beautiful of all sponges. 1t has
a sort of bony frame that will not
break if it falls on a tile floor but
which will be crushed to smithereens
| if stepped on. This frame is encased
by a covering of long fibre which IL
! used to make nonheat conducting ma
! terial which is used as a substitute
! for asbestos
Sponges have enemies as well as
other animals, and they try as best
| they can to protect themselves One
| of these parasites is a long sea worm
which gets into the outward flowing
| canals of the sponge. 1t makes for
| itse kind of paper tube in which to
| live, the walls of the tube being very
thin, and resembling paper when dried.
i 1t gets into the sponge by boring up
| through the base attached to a rock
Some of them measure as much as two
| feet 'ong, and almost dam up the out
going canals.
With all that is known about the
sponge there is still much information
| that is wanting. How to handle them
so as to propagate them in other wat
{ ers than those in which they grow is
! a problem more than one government
would like to solve. If this could be
/ done, the $50 pound Grecian sponge
might be transplanted into Florida
waters and fortunes would be made