5
27 HOURS ON OCEAISTS FLOOR MENACED BY MONSTERS
Trapped by .Falling Hatch a Deep Sea Diver Lives an Eternity of Horrors Until
Rescued by His Companions Who Realized His Plight When He Failed to Signal
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The hHTT steel armor with which a direr clothes fclmaelf for worklm at
Treat deptfea ao that he mar breathe air at the same preaaaxe aa at the
surface. The direr worka hose clamps with his heads laalde the armor,
and there are powerful electric lights on. hla shenldera to guide him la
his work of salvaging treasures La suakea vessels.
FEW men erer hare had as har- i panlonway. The length of ths air line
rowing an experience as Captain I left me no greater circumference to
John F. Turner, a Philadelphia.!!, get around in; for I was afraid to tug
who in a diving suit spent 27 agoniz-
Ins; hours imprisoned within the hold
of a sunken monitor, many fathoms
below the surface, leered at by many
hideous monsters of the deep and with
hunger, unappeasable even if food
had been within reach, gnawing at
his vitals.
Captain Turner is a professional
diver. He has followed this calling 23
years, and, strange to say, he is not
able to swim and says he has an in
surmountable dread of deep water.
He claims to hold the record for deep
diving.
His frightful experience In the hold
of the foundered vessel occurred off
the coast of Bermuda. The monitor,
which belonged to the British navy,
had been sunk in navy target prac
tice, and, sold for Junk, was being
salved by the purchasing company.
Captain Turner says he felt strange
forebodings while preparing for his
descent that day.
"Somehow I couldn't get rid of the
feeling that something disagreeable
mas going to happen," he said, "but
I tried to shake off this feeling as
but another manifestation of the
chronic drefed which I have always
.had of the ocean.
"I put on my rubber suit and pre
pared to get into the water. I tripped
and nearly fell; and this served only
to add a sinister warning which al
most made me change my mind about
coins down. But I overcame this fear.
Nothing unusual happened after
that until I reached the monitor and
went through the hatchway into the
interior of the vessel.
"I had not proceeded more than 10
feet from the cdmpanionway when the
lid of the hatch closed and fouled my
eignal line, so that it became useless
The air tube, fortunatejy.
injured. 1
-At first, although badly scared.
I did not think that I would have
much trouble forcing the lid back.
But when. I tried to do so and found
that it would not yield by so much as
the breadth of a hair, even when I
tsed a long bar of steel, which tapered
to a chisel-like edge at the end, it
occurred to me that, as I was more
than 80 feet below the surface, the
weight of the water which kept that
lid battened down was equivalent to
SO pounds pressure on every square
inch.
I was seized with a frenzy of fear
that the weight would eventually
press together the air tube and that
I would be suffocated. To prevent this
I wedsed in. a number of pieces of
metal, fastening them so securely that
they became, so to speak, incorporated
with the very ship itself. In fact,
it was by the almost miraculous
plugging in of a piece of loose timber,
which was floating out of the hatch
way as I entered, that the air tube
was not crushed altogether at the
verv outset. But while the timber
had done me this service so provi
dentially, it had, on the other nana,
caught the signal line and put it out
of commission.
"After the first paralyzing attack of
,.r subsided. I began to look around
my prison. My electric flash lamp
enabled me to get a fairly good view
of everything within a radius of 11
13, Xeet from the foot of tae com
at the air line, dreading that it might
spring a leak, as even with all the
wedging, it was tightly caught in the
hatchway.
"Now and then I thought I could
discern a shadowy something, which
my imagination clothed with a hideous
form, . floating by just beyond the
reach of the rays of my flashlight. I
would shake the bar at the shadow
and gradually It would recede out
of .sight. I never discovered Just what
this gruesome shadow was. But It sure
did haunt me and filled me with fears
which were almost as gripping as
those which were born of the feeling
that my air line might any moment
be crushed and leave me to suffoca
tion; or be cut by a swordfish and
consign me to drowning.
"I thought of the folly of my having
stuck to a calling which brought me
into constant association within ele
ment which I had always dreaded. I
had always considered that I was en
gaged in it in a sort of temporary
way. just to get enough money from
it to enable me to get into some other
still more profitable business. But
now it flashed upon my mind that this
Interim sort of living wasvafter all.
the substance and web and woof itself
Lof my life. And that's the way most
of us live. We think we'll do our real
work at some future day, when we
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have acquired what is necessary for
engaging in it. And, lo! when we stand
at the end of our career and look
backward, we discover, too late, that
what we considered merely prepara
tory was In reality the very thing we
were living for..
"I tell you there's nothing so calcu
lated to make one philosophical as
being pent up in the hold of a ship,
way down on the ocean's bottom, with
the almost certainty of death staring
one in the face. What good would it
record depth-diving honors. For I
made one descent of 1E7 feet in a rub
ber diving suit and another descent
of 37 feet in a slut of armor. In a
series of experiments made by the
British admiralty two naval officers
descended 210 feet, and this, according
tc the Encyclopedia Britannlca. was
the record up to that time. James
Hooper, salvaging the wrecked steam
ship Cape Horn off Plchidanque. South
America, was down 204 feet. What Is
all that compared to my record? And,
yet, what good was this to me now.
imprisoned as I was in that coffin
of a monitor at the everlastingly
silent bottom of the seat
"AH that happened to other divers
In even less harrowing plights passed
do me, I thought, that I had gained the
through my mind. I recalled how
soma had become nervous wrecks
others had gone Insane; still others
had come forth from their ordeals so
racked and Injured in body and
limb as never to amount to anything
afterward. I recalled my own previ
ous plights. Once the heavy plate
glass In front of my helmet dropped
out. and only the prompt action of
those above saved me from drowning.
Another time when my legs got en
tangled In ths rigging of a sunken
ship I cut my air line with the ax
with which I cut away the impeding
rigging. Again it was by something
but little short of a miracle that I
was saved. This happened to me
twice.
'And, yet, how trifling and insig
nificant did these occurrences now
appear in contrast with my situation
Inside the monitor.
"And, oh, the hunger and the thirst
that were now beginning to torment
me! And the stifling heat Inside the
helmet.
T called out aloud. I prayed, and
the prayer brought me much relief.
I felt that even though all human
help was far removed, God was near
and that he would not desert me.
Oh, the wonderful efficacy of prayer!
It makes us feel that we have an all-
powerful friend, and that even if we
do not Immediately obtain what we
pray for he will inevitably see to It
that in the end everything shall be
all right What though we die; is not
all eternity his to do with us and for
us whatever he wills? And what else
can he, who is all goodness as well
aa omnipotence will for us except
w-nat is sestT urns tnougnt, I say,
gave me much comfort and calmed
me considerably.
"But soon the torturing hunger and
thirst, especially the thirst, threat
ened to unhinge my reason. What if
I become mad? This fresh cause of
alarm was almost more terrifying
than the others had been. For
imagined that, with my mind over
thrown, I would probably cut or tear
the air line. If I only attempted to
move one foot beyond the tether al
lowed me by this line the latter would
part and my fate would be sealed In
evitably. "And that I was going mad was
very apparent, for I began .to see
things which I had not seen before.
The spaces beyond the sheen of my
light began to be peopled with all
sorts of enormous shapes. Dogfish of
frightful size and more hideous
aspect than I had ever seen; ballast
fish, and even big codfish with rav
enous maws, kept coming at me. I
parried with the big iron bar, which
had not once left my hand In all the
seemingly interminable time that I
had been imprisoned, and the attack
ing swarm vanished.
"Clearly I could see that I was be
coming insane. Another hour and I
would no longer be master of m- self
and would be at the mercy of the
hungry fish and the graveliks silent
water.
"And then a mist cams befers my
eyes and It seemed to me that the
hatchway began to open in the cen
ter, and that this epenl&g gradually
grew larger and larger. And I felt
rather than heard thuds, and pres
ently I saw a terrible form coming
through the opening and groping its
way toward me.
"As it drew close I recognised that
was another diver. Thank htaven!
rescue had come at last!
Within another minute I was be
ing drawn toward ths surface; and
when I reached there and was dlssn-
oumbered of my diving suit I felt a
rush of blood to my head and fell In
a faint."
Captain Turner says that so far
from abandoning hlra to his fate
when they received no signal from
him while he was pent up in the
sunken craft, his companions above
immediately sent for another diver.
It was not, however, until twenty
seven hours had elapsed before they
could find one possessing a sufficient
ly adequate outfit to attempt the
rescue.
Not until the year 1240 or so was
there any real improvement In de
vices for diving. In the latter year
Friar Roger Bacon is said to have
Invented the diving bell.
Asked when the first diving salt
was Invented. Captain Turner said:
Well, that's hard to tell; but la
1511 a book was published, on ths
title page of which was the picture of
a diver in a regulation diving suit
with a helmet over his head and a
long leather pipe leading to a bladder
floating on the surface.
"But that's a long way from ths
finished product, as dlVng suits go
today, is It not?" he was asked.
Tes, Indeed," replied Captain Tur
ner. "Like everything else that was
merely in a rudimentary stage little
more than a few years ago. Diving
suits have been improved to such an
extent that the sight of one of them
would probably take away old Aris
totle's breath with surprise. Why,
nowaways, we have a telephone out
fit In our helmets, and can carry on
a conversation not only with out help
ers on the surface, but with other
divers at the bottom of the sea.
Besides, we have, in addition to
the rubber suits for near-the-surfaee
diving, suits of armor with which we
can reach the greater depths. If any
diver In a rubber suit were to try to
descend to S76 feet, the record which
I have established, he would be
crushed to death.'
He also told of the "self-contained"
diving dress, which goes with a knap
sack-like steel cylinder containing
oxygen compressed to a pressure of
120 atmospheres (1800 pounds) to the
square inch. Within one of the
chambers of this cylinder is caustle
soda or caustic potash, through which
the air exhaled by the diver passes.
During its passage through this
chemical this vitiated air loses the
carbonic acid which it has accumulat
ed during respiration and is carried
back into the man's lungs revivified
and fresh as any salubrious zephyr
that is wafted across hay-mown
fields.
Captain Turner Is 41 years old. He
married IS years ago, and his wife
has occasionally made diving descents
with him.' She has been down 2f feet
in a rubber diving suit. They have
a daughter 12 years of age and their
home is at Newburyport, Mass.
Captain Turner is regarded aa one
of "the bright particular stars" of
his profession. He has worked In al
most every part of the western
hemisphere, from Halifax to Pata
gonia. This summer he is busy along
the northern Atlantic coast.
CHEERS GREET REVIVAL OF MOZART MUSIC,
IN DISCARD IN FNCH THEATERS SINCEJ.863
Opera "Cosi fan Tutte" Given Before Enthusiastic Audience As Benefit Performance in Paris, and Will Have
Run Next Fall Because of Success in Premier Offering.
-V4.RIS. One of the prime events
'of the musical year, here took
place at the Opera Comlque the
revival of Mozart's opera bouue "Cosi
tutte" ("So Do They All" the last two
words being of the feminine gender).
The occasion was quite special a
matinee for the benefit of the pension
and emergency funds of the Opera
Comlque. The work will not be re
peated until next autumn, when it will
constitute one of the new season's
chief additions to the repertory of
the Opera Comlque.
Performances of "Cosi fan tutte"
are rare enough anywhere to make
this revival singularly interesting.
The extreme demonstratlveness of
representative musical audience.
which applauded in and out of season
and several times burst into cheers,
augurs well for the success of the
revival in the autumn.
The last previous revival of "Cosi
fan tutte" in Paris in any form took
place in 186 J. After 18 performances
it was withdrawn. I do not know
the history of the work in Italy or in
England, if it has ever been given in
either country at all. I believe there
has been no performance in America
unless long, long ago in an ex
tremely garbled version. For many
years it was produced at the annual
Mozart festival in the little Residenz
theater in Munich.
Once upon a time, some 18 - or 20
years ago. when Sembrich. Emms
.Euaei jind FriUxi Scheff were 11
members of the company at the Met-
ropolitan opera house togethe.', there
was talk of a Mozart cycle there,
which should include, besides "Ie
Nozze di Figaro." "Don Giovanni" and
Die auberf loete." productions of
Die Bntubrung aus dem Serail" and
Cosi fan tutte." Sembrich and Eames
were to be the fair sisters in "Cosi fan
tutte," the vivacious Fritz! Scheff.
their effervescent serving maid. But
the production got no further than
Emma Eames acquiring a magnifi
cent green gown, which she later
wore in concert when singing one of
the airs from the score.
"Cosi fan tutte" had as librettist.
like its predecessors. e Nozze di
Figaro" and "Don Giovanni." the
Abbe da Ponte, who later came to
New York, where ultimately he died
and was buried, though the most scru
pulous research has been unable to
locate his tomb. But the good Abbe
was less successful with this book
than with the others, not having com
edies by Beaumarchais, Tirso ds Mo
lina and Moliere to back up his work.
Briefly, the intrigue is as follows:
At the instigation of an elderly cynic,
two young men determined, to test the
constancy of their affianced brides,
fair Neapolitan sisters. They pre
tend to depart for the wars, but
really return in short order, disguised
as wealthy Albanian merchants. The
Albanians pay court to the ladies anil
finally, after particular resistance on
.the part of one of the sisters, ostein
the promise of their hands in mar
riage. These machinations go on un
der the auspices of the elderly cynic
and the sprightly serving maid. The
latter even goes so far as to disguise
herself as the officiating notary.
Finally, the wedding .with the Al
banians Is about to take place and
the marriage feast Is spread when
word comes of the approaching re
turn of the fiances. Immediate con
fusion and the precipitate departure
of the Albanians! Naturally, the two
sisters find themselves in great dis
may, and the arriving fiances appear
highly enraged at what meets their
eyes. But the elderly cynic explains
the ruse to the ladies, there is a gen
eral reconciliation, and the betrothed
couples proceed to their marriage.
The conclusion of it all is that this
test will have taught fidelity, even
where fidelity was a little lacking
before! Cosi fan tutte
Fable Did If ot Seeam Too Absurd.
About the baslo morality of this
fable I hare nothing to say, but, as
played at the Opera Comique, it did
not seem unduly absurd opera Is the
land of the absurd nor was it bore-
some. Indeed, it acted in a decidedly
more diverting manner than many
another lyric comedy I could name.
And yet one of the striking things in
the history of "Cosi fan tutte" is the
numerousness of the attempts to
adapt the music to modified or en
tirely changed librettos. Alany puca thins s."-
revised versions have been staged In
Austria, in Germany, in France. "Cosl
fan tutte" was first produced at the
Burgtheart -n Vienna, January 26,
1790, a little less than two years be
fore Mozart's death. There were ten
performances. The revival in 1794
was already In a modified version.
according to an arrangement made by
Gieseke and entitled "L'Ecole de
l'Amour."
The production at the Opera Co
mlque is authentic. The "dry" reci
tatives which that theater discards
in the cases of "Le Nozze di Figaro"
and "The Barber of Seville" are re
tained to a harpsichord accompani
ment. The orchestra, directed by M.
Messager, was yesterday one of the
best elemtns. M. IVeulle sang well as
the elderly cynic, but of the singing
of the rest. Mmes. Ritter-Ciampi. Val
landrl and Favart and Messrs.. Ga
zette and Audoin. I prefer to eay
nothing, save that it shirked no diffi
culties. The acting was capital.
There is no need of my saying
much about the music, for, if we
don't hear it performed in America,
it is perfectly easy for us to examine
it in the score. The part of Flordi-
ligi is of excessive difficulty, calling
for exceptional range and her chief
airs, like the stronger airs in "Don
Giovanni" and "Die Entfuhrung aus
dem Serail," are cast in the heroio
mould. The quintet of parting in the
first act is one of the divinest things
that even Mozart ever penned.
As a whole, the music has less
singularity, less profile than the
music of "Le Nozze di Figaro" and of
"Don Giovanni. At times, in new
of the cynical lightness of the story,
one misses the spicy irony of Mo
zart's great Italian disciple, the Ros
sini of "Lltaliana In Algeri" and
"The Barber of Seville" his comic
raillery, the boastful frankness of his
epicureanism. The gayety of Mozart,
here as . always, is idealized. Here
and ttvere the musio is tinged with
the Mozartean melancholy, like unto
GREEK, ARMENIAN REFUGEES
CROWD INTO ISMID, TURKEY
Onrush of Turkish Nationalists Recalls Slaughter of Thousands of
Christians in 1917.
ISMID, Turkey, June 31. With
the onrush of Turkish national
ists toward the Gulf of Ismid
this historic old city was filled to
overflowing with Greek and Arme
nian refugees, who were being shipped
on to Constantinople as fast as trans
portation was available. Tales of
the incoming refugees recalled the
terrors through which the local Chris
tians paasea in 1917, when all the
Armenian section was burned, thou
sands of Christians were slaughtered
and others fled into the mountains.
This ancient city, which was called
Nlcomedia in biblical times, was the
capital of Blthynia and under the
Roman empire became one of the
chief cities of Asia Minor. Pliny de
scribed it in his letters to Trajan as
having a senate house, an aqueduct,
a forum and many temples and other
public buildings. Diocletian made
Ismid his residence and began the
persecution of Christians which the
Osmanli continued when they came
into possession in the fourteenth cen
tury. - Now Its population has been swelled
by crowds fleeing before the nation
alist advance and by British troops
camped among the ruins of the old
Roman and Byzantine walls on the
mountain side, which now bristles
with barbed wire entanglements and
are converted into machine gun shel
ters. Shabby Turkish soldiers, the rem
nants of the Sultan's forces which re
mained loyal to the Constantinople
government, kilted Scots and turbaned
Sikhs drag ammunition carts throueh
WO .nui.' i...i. .. -j, ..Kv Kj.nuo u.e. ...... - - . "
no other, his "sense of tears in mortal I the streets and make ready for the
I forces oi Musiapna u.enai wmcn oc
cupy the mountains which enclose the
head of the Gulf of Ismid on three
sides.
Many of the Armenian orphanages
established by the Americans and
British in interior cities have been
evacuated through Ismid to points be
tween here and Constantinople less
liable to attack by the nationalists.
There is no peace for the Armenian
and Greek children. Many of them
have been moved scores of times since
they were rescued from the Moslems
and the stories of their sufferings ars
almost incredible.
Official figures show that 33,000
Armenian children have been recov
ered up to date and about 66.800 are
still in the hands of the Turks or
Arabs. Many of the Armenian girls who
passed through Ismid were tattoed on
the forehead, cheeks and chin in such
a manner that their faces will always
hear the marks. Some of the older
girls, were taken as wives by the
Turks and Arabs, and the refusal of
their Armenian associates to forgive
their shame makes their rescue seem
almost as great a tragedy as their life
in the harem.
Armenian children captured by
Turks were so thoroughly frightened
by the Moslems into denial of their
nationality that many of them still
insist they are Mohammedans. Fre
quently they have been provided with
falsified birth certificates and family
records, so skillful was the effort to
Islamize the Christian children.
Since the foregoing was written the
Turkish nationalists have made sev
eral attempts to take Ismid but were
defeated by British and Turkish gov
I ernment troops.