The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1912-08-02

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! only does a diver work
! in an element foreign to
71 his own, but he faces a
score OF more OF dangers,
any one Of which might be fatal Not
only are there the dangers OF acci-
dents under the water, but the divers
| life Is always In the hands OF his
helpers, who must, while he is below.
not fail for a moment TO keep the
life-giving air pump going, but they
must be able TO comprehend his sig
mails and act accordingly and prompt.
ly.
Scores OF stories OF the work OF
divers have been written. Some OF
them are true, some are fiction. but
whether real or imagined, they do not
in the least detract from the romance
that seems to shine like halo around
those who perform their work deep
under the water.
Usually divers are associated with
sunken treasure, wrecks, the gather
ing Of shells, pearl oysters and
sponges and but few give a thought
to the fact that the diver is engaged
In numerous other, and less romantic,
occupations in which risks far great
er than the mere going into a wreck
are taken.
In bridge building, for instance, d.
vers are frequently employed to lay
the foundations for the great pillars
OF stone and concrete that will sup
port one Of the spans Of the structure.
A notable piece Of work of this char
acter was done on a bridge that was
built a couple of years ago at Cape
Colony. There it was necessary that
a foundation be laid in $50 feet of
water.
One hundred and eighty feet OF wa
ter is a depth that is very seldom at
tanned, and there are but few in
stances on record, yet the foundation
was laid
1t is said that the record is held by
Hooper, an Englishman, who descend |
ed 2O1 feet to the wreck of the Cape |
Horn, lost off South America In 1896 |
A. Erostarbe went down 1870 feet to
the wreck Of the Skyro, off Cape Fin
isterre, and sent up bar silver valued |
at $45O,OOO, after first having blown
tie ship partly to pieces with dyna-
mite.
Another deep-water record was es.
tablished by Alexander Lambert, who
recovered $35O,OOO in gold from the
wreck Of the Spanish mail steamer
Alfonso XII, which was in 1SO feet
of water. It is said that the last time
he went down he remained four hours,
this in itself being a phenomenal rec
ord, as two hours is regarded as about
the limit Of any divers endurance.
Diving is a peculiar work and there
are not many who can do it. 1t not
only requires soundness Of body, but
one must be something Of a mechanic
as well, especially If he is going to
engage in underwater building. Be
sides that he must be a man who is
willing to take chances, must be able
to keep his head at all times, no mat
ter how scared, and then, maybe, he
will die in bed.
A diver named Donovan recently
cIme very near dying in Baltimore
harbor, but he did not know of It at
the time. He was working in 25 feet
Of water directing piles that were be-
ng driven by a 4,000-pound hammer.
In some manner the hammer was re-
oased and the great weight plunged
% the bottom of the harbor. Dono-
yan was directly in the path Of the
luge weight, so close that it struck
lis afr hose within two feet of his
helmet.
Fortunately the force of the blow
hurled the diver away from the
weight, instead of under it. In the
meantime the men above were almost
rantic with fear They knew that
he diver was directly under the ham
ner and they naturally supposed he
lad been struck There was terrific
ommotion and the lifeline man be-
;an to jerk and pull as hard as he
.ould to ascertain whether Donovan
vas caught or free. The suspense
or a minute or two was fearful.
In the meantime Donovan didn't
NOW just what it was that had
brown him. The water was so mud
ly and dirty that he did not see the
weight; IN fact, he was astonished by I
,eing jerked by the lifeline, and as :
oon as he overhauled his air pipe I
o prevent fouling It he tugged the
ignal to be hoisted Up he went 1
md it was with many sighs of relief
hat his big, round helmet was sight !
ID at the surface. He climbed partly
nut of water and rested on the gun |
vale of his punt while his helper un-
crewed the helmet
.eWhat the deuce is the matter?'