The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-04-26
SHARPSIGNS.
". F. DILLINGHAM;
IN NEW YORK

The New York Sun OF April con-
tains the following report of an inter-
view with Walter f. Dillingham;. 1t
is headed Oliver Who Fights Sharks
Incidents of Work at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii-Lund, Who Lays the Blasts,
Now Carries a Spear with Which 20
Keep Them Away-O1d Shark Trap
Built on a Reef Done Away With by
the Work.
w. F. Dillingham;, who is in charge
of the work of developing Pearl Har-
Dor, Hawaii, which the Federal Gov
eminent expects to make one Of the
finest naval stations in the world, ar
rived at the Holland House yesterday
from Honolulu on his way to Wash
| ington,
Mr.. Dillingham; is the manager Ct
the Hawaiian Dredging Co., which is
building the dry dock. He was born
in Hawaii but was educated at Har-
ward.
"The contract for the harbor dredg
ing was let in December 1908 and
calls for the removal of 100000 cubic
. feet of coral rock and sand from the
lreefs which project into the harbor,
making the channel too tortuous for
any but small vesse1s to get in" said
Mr.. Dillingham; yesterday. "The har
Dor basin now has an area and depth
of water sufficient to float all the ma
vies of the world Up to date no
! machinery has ever been designed
for digging coral in a seaway, and
there are about 100000 cubic yards
of it at Pearl Harbor that comes out
in the reef section, where it is eX-
posed to the surf.
Glow is the work done? Well prin-
cipally by means of divers, high grade
powder and blasting gelatine. We
have two experienced divers, one a
native Hawaiian and the other an
+ American. The latter has had good
deal of experience on the Pacific coast
and also in Hawaii. And his work
requires not only skill but bravery
His name is Martin Lund. He is a
, giant and in his diving suit must
weigh close on to 600 pounds. Lund
works eight hours a day and sets Of
about eighteen blasts in that time
Sometimes he carries on his work
, with sharks all about him. He often
, has to fight them.
''You see, the blasts kill large num-
: bers of smaller fish in the waters and
every day as soon as the blasting
starts the sharks come around look
ing for food Some times you will
see as many as twenty of them at one
time.
"The whole outer section of the
8 harbor has been laid out like a check
er board and we shoot in squares
Lund or Olepau the Hawaiian, lays
" the powder or gelatine on a ledge and
| fixes the electric connections. No
| boring lis necessary when the pres
!. sure of thirty to thirty five feet OF
e water keeps the blasting material i'll
position. When there are only two
: or three feet of water above it is
} blown up from 400 to 500 feet in the
air, but at thirty feet there is hardly
' lift of the surface or the water.
: when Lund had his first battle with
1 the sharks he was armed only with g
knife. He had told some of the div
, ing crew that there were lots OF
: sharks about, but they thought he was
= only trying to make it appear that he
. had particularly dangerous job. One
r day they felt jerk at the line anC
p hauled quickly and there was Lunc
} slashing away at something near his
= feet. When they had hauled him il
/ a dead sharR came up to the sur.
n face. Then Lund had a spear made
e I was rather afraid that ne woulC
3 decide that he didn't wish to con.
4 tinue the job, but when l spoke tt
y him he grinned and said that as sooI
as he got his spear he wouldn't care
a how many sharks there were about
All he wanted was something to keel
" them away from his feet. He has
4 got so that he pays no attention t.
e them unless they come right down a
him.
About three weeks ago Lund was
laying charge of powder and was
i wiring it up for a blast when some
thing made a turn around above hin
and looking up he saw a big white
belly overhead. He picked up hii
spear and attacked it and it rose t.
= the surface. The crew in the boa
/. were startled to see the shark appeal