Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-08-01
OCEANS BOTTOM TRAVELEDBY
NEWSPAPERMAN, Who G|VESA
GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF TRIP

4, body. that somehow Jagged Dack, al
most overwhelming, behind them, pro
gress was as uncertain and indefinite
as the seascape-ff it should be call
ed that-rOund about. One felt like
| an egg in basin Of water or drunk
IN duckling tugged along by string.
The helmet glass did not blur at all.
one of-the men, mad dipped it in salt
water to prevent hlur!ng-so that the
diver who did the guiding or towing,
with his queer gpggle-eyes and strings
of bubbles, was clearly visible, but
there was no seeing more than feWi
feet beyond him. Every few minutes
he would exchange the albright" sig
nal with the new chum. and now and
then, halfway down some descent the
latter would call a halt, till his head
cleared. There was no possibility Of
independent exploration; all one could
do was to struggle blfndly-but not
too fiercely, for fear Of fouling life
lines. or causing some other break,
age-to force rebellious legs and bo1v
forward in somewhere near the d.
rectiOn the old hand seemed to want.
There was no sense of direction
just a feeble. clumsy but distinctly
interesting and rather exciting strug-
gle along in the dead silence Yet
suddenly, 1t appeared that it was not
dead silence after all. The continual
sound of the rushing air through the
pipe far above, rnnOticed at first in
the excitement of descent. now float
ed up from the hack of the brain.
soon to be forgotten once more AS
distance Increased from the place of
descent. the water. cleared little;
the face Of rock along which the,
blasting had been carried out showed !
up fairly clear and some dim sand
stone boulders. Fine floating particles
drifted across the helmet glass, and
then, on a further descent, with slip
perry feet, up poured brownish cloud
of silt rolling over the rock surface
like dirty mountain mist. The lead !
ing diver" dragged the others hand i
down-efforts at self-imnulsion did not
seem to make much difference-until
it was holding something like. bar
of metal; this was, in fact. a pick. A
stroke or two were remarkably inaf- !
fectual. and it was explained after !
wards that the pick was used more for
pulling out stone that had been Ioos-
ened by the blasting, than for actual
pick work. "*- -.
. Finally, another slippery, indefinite |
journey. which must have tended back |
on the first tracks, for the next OF the |
constant signals from the guide con-
sisted. not of the "all right" ques-
ton, but of the four jerks for pull |
up The new chum repeated this on
his own line, and in few seconds |
felt the sea bottom drop beneath his |
feet. Progress up was slow again, /
because Of the changing air pressuresI
that one had to grow used to, but 1t |
was not long before enormous weight |
began to settle again on shoulders |
and climbing feet as the water was
left beneath. And now. a few un-
steady steps, and the unscrewing of |
the helmet glass. ....
Not so bad, for a new hand" said |
the other diver, smoking, with his
helmet off. well, / must be getting
back to work" II. ..#"
A look back. he was climbing heav-
lily down the ladder again, while the
men at the capstan let out his line and |
tube. -. ..s-