DOWN AMONG THE SHARKS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 41, 17 February 1874, Page 2

DOWN AMONG THE SHARKS.

The following adventure is related in the Melbourne ' Herald,' by an old submarine diver :— • Mr Manning's steamer, the Kiama, had run ashore between Sydney and Twofold Bay, and sunk in about 104 feet of liwater. Tnere were known to be two corpses on board, and valuable property, so as the weather looked unsettled, two other divers were told off to attend me for quick despatch. Down we went, and everything looked much the same as if the vessel had been afloat instead of below. It 'seemed almost difficult in that clear water to believe she never would have steam up again. But we went to our bitter task, and and a more touching scene I think I never beheld, before or since. The cuddy door was swinging backwards and forwards with the motion of the water, just as it might have done before by the vessel, and we pushed it open and entered. Apart from the misty appearance everything below decks had, the cuddy had not altered at all. A double glass, a parallel rule, a pair of compasses lay on the table; the charts had drifted away. But in the middle of the saloon stood two figures that I shall never forget as iong as I live. They were those of an old lady and an old gentleman. J = The old man had one arm tightly twisted round one of the cabin stanchion^ while the other was embracing his wife's neck, She had her arms tightly clasped round his body, and so they stood erect, as when the waters had come and. deprived them of life. Our disturbing the water had the effect of making the bodies slightly undulate, and the poor r gentleman's long white locks seemed to wave with a painfully life-like motion. As they had fallen asleep, they had evidently gazed their laaf look upon each other. Their eyes were open; and looks of tenderness, almost of happiness were printed on their countenances. They were pale as white marble, but had nothing of the appearence that we onshore habitually associate with death about them. No fallen. jaws, no sigus of decay (they had only been down two days), and the eyes in the water glitter-

, ing as in life. If was, hard work for the three of us to get the poor old man's arm clear of the stanchion. That grip had stood the rush of water, and ., all we dould do was to disconnect if.> But as to -getting them clear of one another the thing was utterly impossible. True to one anotherin death, as 1 have no douht in life, it seemed cruel to partthem, so wjb maidle them, both"' last to the samß Kney and they' wenik^ aloft togeuer, as I hope and believe their spirits had already done. I believe there was a photograph token of them ashore before they were buried, but I never saw it. Anyhow they were as handsome an old couple as ever I saw. These two, though affecting rough men like us inured to such spectacles, even to tears^ (I know my helmet got wet inside somehow, but I will "swear ft could'nt leak), it was nothing to the frightful spectacles we are sometimes the unwilling spectators o£ Jn the SDmeryear ihainhe Dunbar was lost, the 'Catherine* 7 Adamson went dowflj : , and thirty - six unfortunate wretches,, besides the pilot, went to their last account together, and I had :to t fetch- them up from below. It had been blowing hard for some days, when she was wrecked, and even the water below was turbid when I went down, and I found it a matter of some difficulty weighted though I was to keep my feet on the bottom. I found remains of these unfortunate persons spread over an area of quite ten acres, in every possible contortion and attitude (some in pieces) between the crevices of the rocks, and in and under the wreck. Some smashed up beyond recognition as human beings, and some comparatively unhurt. Some women (of course after death) had every particle of hair washed or torn from their heads by the furious waves, and against the jagged rocks. Nearly all were .divested of even a : shred of clothing, These are some of a diver's experiences, but they are not one hundredth part of what I had to undergo. When you see in a newspaper an , account of wrecks with loss of life, and notice the short paragraph that : states ' a diver went down and recovered the • bodies,' just think of what I have told you, and remembering that divers are -but men, ask yourself how you would like to be in their place. You ask what is the largest shark I have! seen below. "Howdolknow? Why 'because they, caught him while I was down and measured him. This was in Sydney harbor. Now I "think I have* told you -all. .■■■■- ■•■■■:

The following strange discovery which speaks volumes in favor of the ingenuity of the convicts at Sing Sing prison in the United States, has just been made at that establishment. It seems that for some time past the convicts have occasionally been noticed to be under the influence of strong drink, but all efforts on the parts of the officials failed to elicit from them where the liquor had been obtained. The other evening, however, an incident occurred Which ultimately led the prison authorities to the fountain of convict bliss; as one of the night-guards was paciDg the galleries his attention was attracted . to a ■ cell occupied solely by a prisoner known by the name of. 'lrish Tom.V This captive appeared to be talking " in a conversational sort of way" to some person near him, whom he alternately chided and caressed, using ; such terms as a man und'erconvivml circumstances might address, - to-V a .bosom 7, friend or benefactor. On - v opeiajlng; Tom's ceil the guard found him in a glorious state of intoxication, giving some affectionate '■ to a black bottle, ! the;cbn tents of which were almost exhausted. '; ], "Next morning, on being threatened with severe punishment unless he confessed where he procured the liquor, Tom, after some hesitation, stated that he had obtained it frpm another named John Short, who was working in the marble quarries. Without informing Short, a search of the i quarry ■ was immediately instituted, where, in a secluded corner, sheltered by a few l'ougb. boards, was found one of ' the . most remarkable contrivances on recprd for the manufacture of whisky; aoouple of the prison, tubs holding perhaps twelve or fifteen gallons each, contained the mash, which was composed of potatoes, scraps of bread, a sprinkling of tomatos, with some corn and coarse , meal collected in the prison stables; an iron kettle answered the purpose .of a still, while a seotion of half-inch gaspipe artistically bent formed the worm, thus completing an apparatus which it. . is. understood was capable of producing five gallons of homespun spirits, daily. ! This frightful liquor was retailed, by Short to his fellow-convicts in. sarsaparilla bottles at the moderate price -,0f..; ode dollar each. Before Short was informed of the seizure of his distillery he was searched,- and on his person was found a beltcontaining over 600 dollars, being the proceeds of sales from his illicit business, which he has, for a time at least, been compelled , to relinquish.