The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1910-02-26
Adventures of a Deep Sea Diver.

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cargoes that he has brought up from
the bed of the sea at different points
on that stretch of coast. He is the
oldest and best known diver in the
country and has the reputation of be-
ing the most expert one, too.
Two years ago he was selected by
the National Government from among
all the divers of the United States
as an inspector to oversee the laying
of a large main trunk sewer for the
city of Washington, that was run for
some distance under the Potomac
River, and he supervised the opera
lions of three different gangs of
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 quarter of 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
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 If he had had any adven-
lures with these marine beasts of
prey. 1T was off the South Carolina
coast several years ago that l was
forced to hide in the cabin of a
sunken ship on which 1 was at work
to escape one. He was of the man
eating kind, and he kept me a pris-
oner in the cabin for couple of
hours before I managed to get out
and be hauled up.
with the exception of Holsters,
have found the Inhabitants of the
deep very well 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 searcklight under
water" continued the captain, be
cause a searchlight is no good down
there. Some water that I go into is
pretty clear, and can distinguish
objects fairly we'll, but most of the
water at the bottom of the sea is
densely black. It's like entering a
dark cavern to dive into it.
"You can see nothing, so the hands
must do the work of the eyes, for it
is through the sense of touch rather
than sight that divers identify objects
at the bottom of the sea. l feel for
everything, from ship to trunk,
just like blind man, measure it with
my outstretched hands, and work
away from there in the darkness with
out seeing q thing.
"Three or four hours is the aver
age time that diver can stay under
water without coming to the surface.
frequently. however, have 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 60 any deeper than that, for the
pressure OF the water is too great.
He couldn't possibly stand it. Even
at 100 feet the pressure of the mighty
body of water above and about you is
something 50 tremendous that diver
can't stay down that depth any great
length of time without coming to the
surface.
"Yes. I frequently do down in the
winter, but the water is pretty cold
then at the bottom of the sea. I 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- |
peared in that November storm of
1898, ana has never been heard of |
WINNER OF A Y