Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-05-22

often bring. up the teeth of sharks
from depths Of five and six miles, al
that remains Of monsters that died,
maybe millions Of years ago.
Sir John Murray tells in one Of his
books what happens to the body of a
man that sinks into the ocean abyss.
He explains the crushing pressure of
the water; how one by one the bones
would be broken in-implosion,
science calls it-how the flesh would
be crushed into the interstices of the
bones and the clothing fattened over
them, until ON reaching a depth Of
two miles the body would probably
not be larger than mans wrist.
I The pressure of the air at the sur
face Of the sea and earth and upon
all bodies upon them is fourteen
pounds to the square inch. The
pressure exerted by the sea water is
one ton to the square inch for each
mile Of depth. Thus the pressure
at the 2mile depth where the Titanic
Lies is two tons to the square inch.
The greatest depth ever reached in
a diving suit was two hundred feet
and there the pressure was eighty
eight pounds to the square inch.
The living creatures, moving AMI
unmovable, that inhabit in countless
numbers the ocean floor, are built to
withstand this pressure Of two or
more toms to the square inch and
none Of them may venture to swim
upward out of its depths. 1t some-
times happens that deep sea fish,
chasing it, prey, gets out Of it's depth
and goes tumbing upward. As the
pressure is relieved it swells and
bursts and their bodies are often
found, torn and mutilated, floating
upon the surface. When brought to
the surface in the deep sea dredges
these fish are always dead; they fall
to pieces.
On some parts of the sea floor are
vast fields of creatures crowded
closely together; crinoids, living rep
resentatives of the stone, lilies Of the
biologists, grow in profusion there.
Eel-hke sharks, long serpentine
creatures; ribbon fish, thirty fest
long ami weighing eight hundred
pounds, with scarlet plumes like a
name from head to tail; giant squids
The favoritc tidbit Of the sperm
whale, some of them one hundred
feet long, crawl upon the bottom.
No more hideous creature can be
imagined than the giant squid. It's
body is barrel shaped, it's tail is like
an arrow head, hard and sharp, its
eyes are large as saucens, hypnotic
and staring; ten arms are attached
to its head from ten to twenty feet
long and two fifty feet long with
suckers the whole length. ITS mouth
has two parrot like beaks. This
weird creature, weighing tons, has
the power to change color like the
chameleon.
| Once the dredge net was swung
+ alongside Of the Albatross when its
meshes We're literally strung with
long, slim fishes Of feroc;cus appear
lance.
No hand will ever touch the wrecS
Of the Tita1ic nor no contrivance y;
man ever raise any part of her MOI
/ her dead. The abyss in which they
Ilie will forever defy the ingenuity OF
mankind, The limit of deep sea div
l ing is two hundred feet and instances
In which th;.t depth have been reach
| ed are rare. "
/ One of the greatest feats of diving
I was done in the recovery Of specie
, from the steamer Alfonso XII, whic.
i sank in 1885 off Point Gando, GRAND
: Canary Islands. The Marine Insur-
t ance Company sent out three divers
3 with a promise Of large percentas 4
; [of what might be recovered. At 8
5 depth of 160 feet they found ant
sent up nine Of the ten boxes Of
specie. The reward Of one di, er was
:, $4,000, Of another $1,000. On
+ was stricken with paralysis from
:. water pressure and was months il
e getting we'll. Another went dow,
' again for the tenth box and wa!
: squeezed to death by the pressure
5 Redwood Falls Gazette. 5..