Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-23
Painting Under Surface of Sea Is Held in Octopus Grip

Of the studio" was now In total
darkness.
There was absolutely nothing I
could do. The rays of the hashlighr,
OF course had no effect at all. Knock
ing with my hands on the windows
unless with force enough TO break the
glass, would accomplish nothing.
though tapping had been effective in
driving away sealions. II signaled
10 my mozos to hoist the diving bell,
| should proba bly, face one Of two dis
astrous results-either the octopus
(Which I realized must be of huge sizel
would he able to hold the bell down
until the lifting equipment broke. or.
II dragged to the surface. the men
might become so startled at seeing
thlS horrible monster rising from the
depths as to drop me hack off the
iedSe into goodness only knew how
many fathoms of deep Pacific water.
FRANKLY, did not know what to do.
stories | had read and heard about
the octopus united i'm the statement
that once II grips anything the devel.
nSh never let's go until it's tentacles
are cut of or its captive IL dead
Nearly half an hour went. by while |
studied the situation from all angles.
The tentacles had not once moved
from the windows. and I could feel
others of the great arms moving about
over the diving bell until | imagined
it must be encircled on all sides
Every now and then the bell would
rock few inches either way. Evi.
IDENTIFY one OF the arms was endeavor-
ing to find a way beneath the steel
box.
Finally. 1 signaled to he man Mt the
pump TO cease pumping air to me.
had enough air in the oell TO last me-
probably half an hour possibly longer
| closed the outlet valve which per
mits the used air to escape from the
top of the diving hell. and then shouted
M the air pipe until I attracted the
attention of the man at the pump
After a while he unfs stoned his end
of the hose. and using il as speaking
tube | gave him certain instruct ions
II is owing TO the fact that he carried
these out properly that / am alive
today.
In camp We had a freshly killed
lamb, weighing about IS or 40
pounds. This the men brought to the
cliff, tied a line loosely about one leg
and made a rope ring around the lift
ing cable of the diving bell Through
this ring they drove the rope fastened
maneuvering they could make the car
cass follow the lifting cable down 10
the top Of the diving boil. After what
seemed an interminable time, heard
the lamb strike the top Of the bell and
slide down to a point at which IL was
evidently stopped by one of the ten.
tacles of the octopus.
Then came another period Of anx-
ious waiting. Finally. very slowly. the
arm which had spread across the front
window was withdrawn. | could hear
| it humping and slithering across the
| top and along the side of the bell
| Then the other arms were removed
from the remaining windows. As the
light came flooding back l signaled
that all was well. called for fresh air.
opened the expulsion valve, and looked
again out of the windows.
was just in time TO see the hideous
| sack like baby of the octopus with
| drawing into the cavern with the car
| cass of the lamb gripped in three of
| the huge tentacles. | endeavored TO
compare the length of two of the arms
which lay spread out on the ledge
while Others carried the horrible mon
ster into it's cave, with the width OF
my diving bell. According to this
comparison. which was made slowly
and carefully. these tentacles were at
least IS feet long and proba bly, more.
Where they joined the bag-like body
of the devilfish they were as thick as
a mans leg at the thigh.
| SILVER even now when | think
what might have happened had I lost
my head and signaled to my mozos TO
lift the diving. bell and myself out of
| the lair of that awful monster.
tCopyriEht. 1877