The Washington bee., 1912-02-24
Death Always HOVeTS Round
Them While They Toll.
PERILS THEY HAVE TO FACE.
The Awful Pressure of Water and Air
That May Bury or Burst Them-Ths
Helmet Telephone a Wonderful Aid
In Work and In Times of Danger.

marine mines and tOrpedOes and to at
bsnd 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
q diver on their staff constantly.
Wrecking companies need their serv-
lees, and the profession Of underriver
= t1nneling makes many demands on the
time and skill Of the man in armOr.
Since Smeaton In 1779 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 combination Of the telephone with
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 communicates 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
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
1ace, all OF which facilities are OF great
assistance in the work.
At first thought il may not seem so
dffhcult thing, this going down under
water and breathing afr sent in from
8 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
NAV 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 cause 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 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 wOOlen socks
If the water be cold two such suits
may be worn. If the depth to be ne
gotiated is great cotton soaked will
oil is put in the ears or a heavy wOOleI
can pulled down over them. Shoulder
pads, if worn to take the weight of
the helmet, are next tied on, after
which the diver wriggles into his
heavy suit of rubber and canvas. Mex
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 tt
tear or pinch the rubber Finally tht
shoes are fitted on and the rubber
gloves cIamped to rings in the sleeves.
The helmet is the last to go on, ant
never before the valves and teIephon;
have been tested. The attendants star
to pump as the helmet is clampe(
home. The helmet is attached to tn,
pump with a rubber tube, which i
canvas and wire protected. No dive
descends, after the helmet is put on
until he has tested the outfit and founC
that his air supply is sufficient ant
the pump working properly.
He is supplied with q life line, wit
which he can signal should his tele
phone get out of order and by whicI
he may be drawn to the surface shoul
he become helpless for any reason. II
must take great care when waIkin
about on the bottom not to foul hi
nfe line or his air tube and for thi
season must always retrace his step
exactIy to his starting point if he ha
zone into a wreck or about any OF
etructions. For the same reason tw
divers working together must be care
fuI not to cross each others path.
Sometimes the life line may becOm
50 entangled in wreckage that it mus
be cut, and then there is danger of tn
diver not finding his way back to hi
boat or float, especially If the bOttoI
is muddy and fouls the seeing" BU
the greatest danger of all. of course,
that the tube be cut or the diver fain
In either case he is in despeTat
straits. If the man handling the iii
line "feels" anything wrong he wi
haul the diver up willy nilly and r
gardless Of the severe bleeding at nos
and ears which will result from tC
rapid a rise to the surface. But if Il
diver be inside a wreck or If his Iii
line gets tangled in wreckage sue
hauling would do no good. It is in 81
nations ike these that the slender CO
Meeting link of telephone wire meal
so much to the men who risk the
W-as FOR bpupafb fhp surface of II