New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-18

II can readily be understood that
diver may occasionally forget his
lines" when acting part upon the
floor of the ocean. ] recall one diver,
who was not as experienced as the rest
and who became overcome with stage
fright at a depth Of more than fifty
feet below the surface. He became
separated from his fellows and could
not locate them. He looked every
where for them, scampering over large
mounds and coral formations, glancing
down every little ravine that he saw,
growing more frightened with every
second Of his search, but never once
thinking Of looking toward my cham
Der, when he could have located his
comrades in an instant from that point.
At last his terror at the thought of
being alone under the sea seemed TO
oyerpower him. saw him reach for
his ascension valve. Realizing that
his ascent would spoil the scene, in any
case. turned the camera on him and
tried by means OF the tilt TO picture
him as he rose. But he went too fast.
That chap wasn't posing for pictures
about that time. He let all of his COM
pressed air into his suit, distended like
a balloon in q second. and shot upward
with he speed Of skyrOcket. He
looked for all the world like a jack-in-
the-boX as he beat il for safety, scared
white for no reason save his own spell
Of stage-fright laughed till my
cramped limbs ached, and when we
gathered on the barge later the direc-
tor had something 10 say about nerve"
and nerves"
So adventurous are the parts assigned
TO divers in undersea dramas that even
safety devices are in themselves a
source of danger The latest diving
equipments do not require tubes filled
by machines on the surface 10 supply
air TO divers. Each man has small
tank hung upon his breast which con-
tains oxylite, preparation which
unites with the air in the uniform and
creates oxygen. On his back the deep
sea actor carries small can OF COM
pressed air, which he can let into his
suit, initiating it at will, and so float 10
the top whenever he wishes 20 ascend.
Armor ike this, however, is little
help when one encounters that terror
of the deep, the whip-tail fish. This
creature is about four feet long and
has a whip-like tail, some two and
a half feet in length. This weapon is
a truly terrible one. The great fish
whips about an object and in drawing
away with incredible quickness the tail
cuts like razor.
One Of our actors was engaged IN
looking over a spot Of ocean floor for
scene when he was attacked by one of
these terrible creatures. Its tail struck
him on the arm and across the waist,
cutting his heavy rubber suit as though
it had been paper. The monster re-
treated at once, as whip-tail fish al
ways do after delivering a blow, and
the diver. realizing his peril from
drowning in water-flled suit, inflated
IL from his compressed air tank and
rose TO the surface, which he barely
gained before his equipment filled TO
the sinking point. Had he been less
alert nothing could have saved him
from drowning in his own helmet
The divers who hunted their prey
undersea on this occasion were men ex-
periencod in ali the perils Of the deep
and who have been regularly employed
bv the United States government. They
were versed in all the lore Of under
sea life, and TO picture them as they
acted their parts on the floor OF the
ocean was, TO me, like taking part in
the panorama of a fairy tale more
marvellous than any the mind OF man
ON an earth stage has ever conceived.