1899] The Life Line 803 that Kluckwan has always been considered on United States territory, and refused to give it up. The line has now been settled and gives this village to the United States and makes the Canadian line fifteen miles above tide water. The War Department has just completed arrangements for sending reinforcements to General Elwell S. Otis. About 1,700 men will sail In the Philippines. within a few weeks, and it is hoped these men may be sufficient to complete the subjugation of the Filipinos. Submarine Diving. IN deep-sea diving no one sings "Throw out the life line!" On the contrary, the command is " Haul up your line!" It is an anxious time when the cry is raised, for it means that the diver is in peril. Instantly the assistants haul in the half-inch manilla rope, not knowing in what state the submerged man will reach the surface. Before the telephone was used one The Life Line. jerk from below meant "Haul up quick, something wrong!" Two jerks meant "I want more air." Three jerks meant "I want less air." The quick signals were the vital ones. It was a fortunate thing that this instrument lent itself to submarine use. Its application for this purpose is of great benefit. There is no reaThe Telephone. son why a protected speech transmitter should not work well under water, and a recent invention made the plan entirely practical. It is an immense improvement upon signals with the life line. A whisper breathed ten feet from the transmitter can be distinctly heard inside of the submerged helmet. A message sent by the diver is readily understood above the surface. He could not hold the receiver in his hand, hence it is strapped over his ear, as a cut in a future issue will show. The helmet being much larger than the diver's head, admits of free movement and the placing of the telephone apparatus inside. This clumsy part of the outfit always amuses onlookers. They are made of strong leather and have cast-iron soles two inches thick. The Shoes. Their total weight is 27 pounds. They are fastened by buckle straps. This is made of lead plates which weigh in all 122 pounds. Shoes would not last long if soled with The Belt. lead, as it is too soft. But lead answers well for the belt, as it is not subject to great wear. There is not much difficulty about it, for under water objects are visible for a short distance. In tropical waters boating parties often see objects forty feet below the surface. The case is different in muddy waters or when ex How does he see? PLATE IV.-ASSISTANTS SCREWING DIVER'S BREAST- In the early ploring the interior of sunken vessels. days a diver had to go more by touch than by sight. Nowadays darkness is made light by means of a strong arc lamp, which renders objects distinctly visi ble at a distance of several feet and enables a diver to work steadily. After the various operations shown in the plates which illustrate these special articles have been performed, the diver steps off the rail Beginning Work. of a boat onto a short ladder which is suspended over the stern, or side. He goes down the steps and then lets himself drop. He does not, however, sink straight to the bottom, as a cannon ball would, but settles gradually, on account of the buoyancy of the inflated armor. In a few minutes he touches bottom and is ready for work of all sorts. (Will be continued in next four numbers.) Where the Caribbean Breaks. FOURTEENTH TRAVEL PAPER. ORA CABESSA-HARDWOODS-A REMARKABLE COCOANUT GROVE PORT MARIA AND ITS STORES. TRAVELING along a plateau, we pass Salt Gut, a place with but few houses and some scattered fishermen's huts, nets, and canoes. Near here is Boscobel Chapel. We next climb a steeper hill than any encountered, and on its brow rests lovely Ora Cabessa. Here we look down over a valley of cocoanut and banana trees. Drought seldom affects this golden valley, for the Ora Cabessa River, at the foot of the hill, overflows its banks at intervals and keeps the land moist. This village has a hopeful future. For a winter home A Golden Valley 807 it offers great attractions. It overlooks the Caribbean, the bluff being about one hundred feet above the sea. An air of thrift prevails. The place has been largely Americanized, owing to the enterprise of a New York merchant, who at one time kept American clerks here and carried on a branch business. Rich country environs the village, and, as in so many other places, banana raising is the leading industry. When bananas sell well and the supply is large, prosperity results. When drought prevails, or the demand for fruit ceases, hard times set in. Many of the people are closely related. There are only five stores of any account. The greater part of the population exists by raising fruit, fishing, laboring aboard steamers or on shore, or acting as boatmen for the whalers, which are used in boating fruit from shore to steamer. Ora Cabessa in time will prove a dangerous rival to Port Maria, which lies seven miles east. This particular seven miles of the coastal trip is the hottest encountered after leaving the village, as the road soon leads away from the sea, and tourists lose the advantage of the breeze. This breeze is called the "doctor," and by reason of the regularity with which it blows little sickness prevails. Leaving Ora Cabessa, which has neither hotel, inn, nor lodging house, one drives past the Wilderness, which is one mass of thatch palms, rocks, and mangrove, bullet, dogwood, fiddlewood, and other trees. If a furniture factory were started in this locality, the proprietors would have enough timber to draw upon for years. There are trees almost as hard as iron. |