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THE DIVING DRESS.
IT is often necessary to go down into the ocean and lakes and rivers to get things that have been lost, dropped from some boat, or gone down in a wrecked ship. And then, too, people like to know what there is in the deep water, how the fishes live and how they act when at home, what kinds of plants grow there, and many other useful things, which we might otherwise never know.
Now, in order to find out all these things, one would have to stay under water a long time. No one could do this, so men have invented the diving-dress that you see in the picture. It is made of rubber cloth, which keeps out all the water. The head is covered with a copper helmet, which has in it glass windows covered with wire.
Through these the diver can see all that is going on around him. The tube fastened to the back of the head is to let in air to him so he can breathe. It is forced down by an air pump on board the boat from which he has been let down into the water.
He always holds in his hand a small cord called the "life-line," and the other end is held by a man on the boat above. When the diver wants anything, he pulls the rope, and by certain signals the man on deck knows just what he wants, and sends it down to him.
These divers are often hired to go down and get money and jewels and goods from ships that have sunk. It is a very dangerous business, but they get a great deal of money for doing it.
When bridges are made over wide, deep rivers, it is the divers that build the great stone piers that support them. They also go down and blast out large rocks in the bottoms of rivers, so that boats can sail safely through narrow channels. In this and many other ways divers are able to do a great deal of good.
It must be very pleasant to be among the wonders of the waters, for there are strange and beautiful things in the ocean as well as on the land.
Bright flowers grow there, and many different kinds of plants. The fishes often come up to the diver, and seem to wonder what he is, and where he comes from. They seem not a bit afraid of him, and will sometimes be so bold as to pull his sleeves. They are as playful as kittens; and when he pulls up anything from the mud, they will dive in to catch the worms and other little creatures hidden under it, just as cats jump for mice.
A story is told of one diver who, pleased with the unexpected friendliness of the fishes, brought food with him the next time he came, and fed them from his hand as one feeds a flock of chickens.
Sometimes two would get hold of the same morsel, and then came a struggle to see which, should have it, the strongest of course coming off best.
Though many large books have been written about the wonders of the ocean, and the curious creatures, which live there, much still remains to be told. The wisdom and skill of the great Creator are shown in all his works, whether in the sea or on the land.
