The copper era and Morenci leader., 1917-07-06
MORE WORK FOR
 DEEP SEA DIVER
His the Job to Clear Mysteries of Graveyards of
 Seven Seas.
IS DANGEROUS AND DIFFICULT l
Must Survey Ships Sunk by Subna. rines, Mines and Shells in the Last Three Years t50
 Feet Is the Limit.

With the Grand Fleet.-Submarines, mines and gunfire in the last three years have added more victims to the graveyards of the seven seas than in any other period of the worlds his tory. It will remain for the diver to clear up the mysteries that surround r,any of them. Even now the duties of these men, so little brought to pub lie attention, is one of the most ex- acting of the war.
 I have had an opportunity of talk ing with diver who has had wide ex- Terience, and who, when I saw him. had only shortly before completed the survey of a wreck. It was a difficult piece of work, and one illustrative of the hardships of the profession. He had found the wreck, but fully a mile and half from where the vessel had foundered. A strong current had swept it that distance.
 "Will it be possible to go down to the Lusitania?' I asked him, recall ing the discussion in American marine quarters as to the possibility of saw ing the vessel
 q believe the water is too deep where she went down for any diver to reach her." was his answer. "Of course there have been many notable diving featS in recent years and new applicances are always being expert mented with, though there seems nOth- ing at present which would warrant the belief that a diver could go down to the great liner. It is possible to work at a depth of 150 feet, but no | further
 Crab Got Two Fingers. He told me Of one of the most re | cent of his diving exploits.
 "I was sitting on the blade of a ships propeller trying to release a cable which it had fouled as she went down. As I finally got the cable free | the propeller began to move and 1 pitched me off. It revolved several times. I thought my number was up, | as I believed the blades would cut my l air communications, and it was impos- sible to get to the top. The water was very deep. It didn't, though, and my 1 only trouble was in regaining my feet again. It is extremely difficult to get footing once you have lost it. Some times you come up legs first. It was a narrow squeak"
 One of the navy divers recently lost two fingers when nipped by crab which, he said, measured fully two feet | across it's back. There are many stories about divers which they them selves cast suspicion on, but this was not one of them. The fingers were gone when the man came to the sur face in an exhausted condition. 1 But working in the cold seas, where much of the diving of the navy now goes on, there are no such menaces as the octopus of tropical waters.
 Much Work for Divers.
 While many craft now lying in com paratively shallow water may bt patched up and raised when the war is over, it is certain that divers will prin cipally be engaged in ascertaining the whereabouts of wreckS, the causes which led to their destruction, and tho repairs necessary to attempt any re covery of the vessels. The profession has been largely augmented during the war. There are great difficulties il surveying ships, particularly if the. lie in northern seas. where the water is very cold and where they are at z depth of from 125 to 150 feet. At tht 150-foot depth the pressure is so grea that before divers are brought to tn, surface they must finger in a sort O. twilight zone" at depth of 120 feet or slightly less, so their lungs can ge in proper shape before they can b. brought to the top.
 One case of the sort which has jus been brought to my attention is tha of diver who had gone down t' fasten a cable to an anchor which haC been lost in water more than 12O fee deep. It was very cold, and his hand became so numbed that he was unable to "carry on," and had to be brough to the surface. He was rubbed ant brought back to good condition agail and once more was lowered to tn twilight zone" where his lungs coul, go through the process which has beel found absolutely essential in bringin; their cells back to normal condition It has been found that where treated otherwise the diver becomes eaSil. subject to tuberculosis.