The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1911-05-05
Deep SEA DIVERS.
Death Always HoverS Round
Them While They Toll.
PERILS THEY HAVE TO FACE.
The Awful Pressure of Water and Air
That May Bury or Burst Them-The
Helmet Telephone a Wonderful Aid
In Work and In Times of Danger.

uses there are for divers. The navy,
of course. employs many 10 set sub
marine mines and torpedoes and to at
tend to investigations OF the condition
of ships bottoms. Bridge construction
companies use them. as do those who
build dams. waterwOrks and reser.
voirs. Waterworks in large cities keep
diver on their staff constantly.
Wrecking companies need their serv-
ices. and the profession of underriver
tunneling makes many demands on the
time and skill of the man in armor.
Since Smeaton in 1779 designed
pump to supply air to the diving bell
little real Improvement in the art has
been made. save In detail Of helmet
and clothes. until the invention Of the
telephone. The greatest advance ever
made In the art divers will tell you. is
the combination Of the telephone with
the diving suit Before its advent div
ers had 10 depend entirely upon pulls
on the life line for communication
with the surface and upon signs TO
each other when under water If two
wished TO communicate Today the
modern diving helmet Is equipped with
n telephone. and the diver can not only
hear what is said to him from the sur
face. advise those in charge Of his
pump as TO whether the air Is com
ing right" or not. but he can communi-
cate 10 n brother diver and hear the
instructions sent TO him from the sur
face. all OF which facilities are OF great
assistance in the work.
At first thought 1t may not seem so
difficult a thing this going down under
water and breathing air sent In from
pump by tube. But the physical
drawbacks to the work are enormous.
For every ten feet diver descends he
sustains an additional pressure of four
and half pounds over every square
inch OF his body What this means
may be better understood when con
sidering the greatest depth ever made
by a diver-204 feet. His body at that
depth sustained pressure OF eighty
eight and a half pounds TO the square
inch over and above the fifteen pounds
always sustained when in the air.
Divers must descend very slowly,
swallowing as they go; otherwise they
may bleed at the nose and ears ana
even lose consciousness. And they
must ascend even more slowly than
they descend. particularly when com
ing from great depths; otherwise they
may literally burst from internal air
pressure. At the least. too sudden
rise may cause an attack of that ter
ribIe disease known to tunnel workers
called caisson disease, or the bends, in
which air gets into the tissues under
pressure and causes the most extreme
torture
The diver. getting ready TO descend.
clothes himself in very heavy under
wear Of guernsey or flannel, the draw
ers well secured to prevent slipping,
and adds pair of heavy wOolen socks
If the water be cold two such suits
may be worn. If the depth TO be ne
gotiated is great cotton soaked with
oil is put i'm the ears or heavy wooen
cap pulled down over them Shoulder
pads, II worn to take the weight off
the helmet, are next tied on. after
which the diver wrigges into his
heavy suit OF rubber and canvas. Next
come the inner collar and the breast.
plate. which are secured with clamps
to the rubber dress. the utmost care
being taken in this operation not to
tear or pinch the rubber Finally the
shoes are fitted on and the rubber
gloves clamped to rings in the sleeves.
The helmet is the last to go on. and
never before the valves and telephone
have been tested. The attendants start
TO pump as the helmet is clamped
home. The helmet is attached TO the
pump with rubber tube. which is
canvas and wire protected. No diver
descends. after the helmet is put on.
until he has tested the outfit and found
that his air supply is sufficient and
the pump working properly.
He is supplied with life line. with
which he can signal should his tele
phone get ont of order and by which
he may he dra wn to rhe surface should
he become helpless for any reason. He
must take great care when walking
about on the bottom not to foul his
life line or his air tube and for this
reason must always retrace his steps
exactly 10 his starting point II he has
gone into wreck or about any ob
structions. For the same reason two
divers working together must he care
ful not TO cross each Others path.
Sometimes the life line may become
so entangled i'm wreckage that II must
be cut, and then there is danger of the
diver not finding his way back tn his
boat or float. especially II the bottom
Is muddy and fouls the seeing" But
the greatest danger Of all. Of course Is
that the tube be cut or the diver faint
| I'm either case he Is In desperate
straits. II the man handling the life
| line "feels" anything wrong he will
haul the diver up willy nllly and re-
| A