The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1911-10-04
DEEP SEA DIVERS.
Death Always Hovers Round
Them While They Toll.
PERILS THEY HAVE TO FACE.

That May Bury or Burst Them-Ths
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 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
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 mar in armor.
Since Smeaton in 1910 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 eve
made in the art, divers will tell you, is
the combination of the telephone with
the diving suit. Before it's 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
a telephone, and the diver can not only
hear what Is said to him from the sur
Aon4 oHvyieo fhnco IN oho roo nf h}c
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
water and breathing air sent in from
q 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-2O4 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 ven mor 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 q
rise may cause an attack Of that ter.
rible disease known to tunnel workers
called caisson disease, o r the bends, in
which air gets into the tissues under
pressure and causes the most extreme
torture.
The diver, getting ready to descend
clothes self in very heavy under
wear o. ,,Arnsey or flannel, the draw
ers wei, secured to prevent slipping
and adds a pair Of heavy wooden socks
II the water be cold Two such suits
may be worn. If the depth to be ne
gotiated is great cotton soaked nth
oil is put in the ears or a heavy wooler
cap pulled down over them. Shoulder
pads, ii worn to take the weight on
the helmet, are next tied on, after
which the diver wrieales info his