Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1911-06-08
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.

Helmet Telephone a Wonderful Aid
In Work and In Times of Danger.
1t is surprising to learn how many
uses there are for divers. The navy,
of course. employs many to set SUBJ
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
a 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 1919 designed a
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 diving suit. Before its advent div
ers had to 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
q 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 to a 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 it may not seem so
difficult a thing. this going down under
a pump by a tube. But the physical
drawbacks to the work are enormous.
For every ten feet a diver descends he
sustains an additional pressure of four
and a 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 a 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 and
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 a
rise may aus an attack of that ter
rible 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 we'll secured, to prevent slipping,
and adds a pair of heavy wooden 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 in the ears or a heavy wooden
cap pulled down over them. Shoulder
pads, II worn to take the weight off
the helmet, are next tied on, after
which the diver wriggles 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 a 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 a life line, with
which he car signal should his tele-
phone get out Of order and by which
he may be drawn to the surface should
he become helpless for any reason. He
must take great care when walking
about on the bottom o to foul his
life line or his air tube and for this
reason must always retrace his steps
exactly to his starting point If he has
gone into a wreck or about any OBJ
structions. For the same reason two
divers working together must be care
full not to cross each others path.
Sometimes the life line may become
so entangled in wreckage that It must
be cut. and then there is danger of the
diver not finding his way back to his
boat or float. especially If 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.
In either case he is In desperate
straits. If the man handling the life