Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1898 — CONVINCING THE SPANIARDS. [ARTICLE]

CONVINCING THE SPANIARDS.

An English Diver Brought Proof that He Had Visited a Eunken Vessel. James Cassidy, In the St Nicholas, has an article about diving, entitled “Under the Sea.” Mr. Cassidy says: Some of the experiences of the divers are well worth recording, as we soon discovered by a chat with one of them. “I don’t kno that I’ve anything tlcular to tell ypu;” he began, “nothing that you’d consider .exciting; now, if I were Lambert, the famous British diver, I could tell you many stories of adventure under the water.” A little coaxing, and we soon prevailed upon the brave fellow to talk about the submarine life. “I take it,” he said, “that pluck and luck help materially In the making of an efficient diver. Some time ago Mr. Lambert and I—Lambert was then Messrs. Slebe & Gorman’s chief diver—were sent out to survey a wreck supposed to contain a considerable amount of specie. Spanish divers—brave fellows, and capital men at their art—had been trying before us, but declared that it was quite impossible to reach the hold of the wreck, or even her deck. ‘lt’s a sheer impossibility,’ they said. “ ‘Well, it may be,’ said Lambert; ‘but I mean to have a try, at all events, now that I’ve come so far;’ and so, dressing, he went down. Forty minutes expired, and then came the signal, ‘Haul up,’ and he was brought to the surface. “ ‘lt’s all right,’ he declared; ‘the gold is there; but there’ll be some difficulty in recovering it.’ “Meantime the Spaniards were talking together rapidly, and one of our engineers heard their discourse. ‘Do you know what they are saying?’ he asked. ‘lt is that Lambert never reached th© wreck at all—that he is only pretending to have done so.’ “ ‘Oho!’ exclaimed Lambert, ‘so that’s their idea, is it? Well, we’ll soon correct that’ And in spite of entreaties to the contrary, and the fact that he had been forty minutes under water at an unusual depth, he put on again his diving apparatus, and made a second descent the Spaniards looking oh in amazement “Forcing his way to the steward’s pantry, he took from a rack a tea-cloth marked with the name of the ship, and, pushing it into his belt, gave the signal, “Haul up!’ I was keenly watching, and espied the doth in his belt. Seizing it, I waved it around my head; and the Spaniards, understanding in a moment what had been done, cheered and applauded lustily, subsequently thronging around Lambert and begging a thousand pardons of the brave fellow for their former skepticism. And so belief in English pluck was confirmed.”