Life and Adventures of Frances Namon Sorcho The Only Woman Deep Sea Diver in the World

Just how far back the art of sub-marine diving dates, is a matter of conjecture, but until the invention of the present armor and helmet in 1839, work and exploration under water was, at best, imperfect, and could only be pursued in a very limited degree. The armor of to-day consists of a rubber and canvas suit, socks, trousers and shirt in one, a copper breastplate or collar, a copper helmet, iron-soled shoes, and a belt of leaden weights to sink the diver.

The helmet is made of tinned copper with three circular glasses, one in front and one on either side, with guards in front to protect them. The front eye-piece is made to unscrew and enable the diver to receive or give instructions without removing the helmet. One or more outlet valves are placed at the back or side of the helmet to allow the vitiated air to escape. These valves only open outwards by working against a spiral spring, so that no water can enter. The inlet valve is at the back of the helmet, and the air on entry is directed by three channels running along the top of the helmet to points above the eye-pieces, enabling the diver to always inhale fresh air, whilst condensation on the glasses is avoided. The helmet is secured to the breastplate below by a segmental screw-bayonet joint, securing attachment by one-eighth of a turn. The junction between the waterproof dress and the breastplate is made watertight by means of studs, brass plates, and wing-nuts. A life or signal line enables the diver to communicate with those above. The air-pipe is made of vulcanized india-rubber with galvanized iron wire imbedded.

The cost of a complete diving outfit ranges from $750 to $1,000. The weight of the armor and attachments worn by the diver is 246 pounds, divided as follows:--

Helmet and breastplate, 51 pounds; belt of lead weights, 122 pounds; rubber dress or suit, 19 pounds; iron soled shoes, 27 pounds each.

The greatest depth reached by any diver was 204 feet, at which depth there was a pressure of 88½ pounds per square inch on his body. The area exposed of the average diver in armor is 720 inches, which would have made the diver at that depth sustain a pressure of 66,960 pounds or over 33 tons.

The water pressure on the diver is as follows:--

20 feet 8½ lbs. 30 ” 12¾ ” 40 ” 17¼ ” 50 ” 21¾ ” 60 ” 26¼ ” 70 ” 30½ ” 80 ” 34¾ ” 90 ” 39 ” 100 ” 43½ ” 110 ” 47¾ ” 120 ” 52¼ ” 130 ” 56½ ” 140 ” 60¾ ” 150 ” 65¼ ”

The air which sustains the diver’s life below the surface is pumped from above by a powerful pump, which must be kept constantly at work while the diver is down. A stoppage of the pump a single instant, while the diver is in deep water, would result in his almost instant death from the pressure of the water outside. Only persons of perfect health and physique can pursue the calling of a diver. It would be suicidal for a human being not of perfect health and physique to attempt the feat.

From a Photograph.]

From a Photograph.]

Before a man attempts diving he should be examined by a physician or medical officer. Men coming under any of the following classifications should not, under any circumstances, attempt a dive. Men with short necks, full-blooded, and florid complexions. Men who suffer from headache, are slightly deaf, or have recently had a running from the ear. Men who have at any time spat or coughed up blood. Men who have been subject to palpitation of the heart. Men who are very pale, whose lips are more blue than red, who are subject to cold hands and feet, men who have, what is commonly known as, a poor circulation. Men who have blood-shot eyes and a high color on the cheeks, by the interlacement of numerous small blood-vessels, which are distinct. Men who are hard drinkers and have suffered from any severe disease, or who have had rheumatism or sun-stroke.

The dangers of diving are manifold, and so risky is the calling, that there are only a few divers in the United States. The cheapest of them command $10 a day for four or five hours work, and many of them get $50 and $60 for the same term of labor under water.

The greatest danger that besets the diver is not, as would doubtless be supposed, the monsters of the deep, such as sharks, etc., or of getting his air-hose entangled or fouled so as to cut off his air supply. It is the risk he runs every time he dives of rupturing a blood-vessel by the excessively compressed air he is compelled to breathe. Many divers have been hauled up dead in the armor from no apparent cause, when they had been plentifully supplied with air. In each case the rupture of a blood-vessel in the brain by the air pressure, had caused a fatal stroke of apoplexy. Divers have also died of fright in the armor. In one instance a diver at work in the hold of a sunken vessel got his air-hose so fouled, it was impossible to haul him up. Plenty of fresh air, however, was supplied to him, but he was held prisoner five hours, until another diver was procured to go down and free him. When he was hauled up he was a corpse. Fright had killed him. The diver is also subject to attacks by sharks, sword-fish, devil-fish and other voracious monsters of the ocean’s depths. To defend himself against them, he carries a double-edged knife, as sharp as a razor, which screws into a watertight brass sheath, but is always ready for instant use. It is the diver’s sole weapon of defense.

HOW MRS. SORCHO BECAME A DIVER.

“As a girl in a quiet little home in Virginia, I little thought I would ever become a diver. In fact I didn’t know what a real diver was.

“When I first saw the queer rig I shuddered, but now the grotesque costume is as natural to me as is my tea-gown, and perhaps I feel a little more at home in it.

“Only arms, limbs and a body well trained muscularly can walk about in shoes that weigh 27 pounds apiece, supporting an armor with copper helmet and breastplate, and leaden belt of weights which tip the scale-beam at 246 pounds. Therefore, the commencement of my education as a diver consisted of a year’s training in a school of physical culture. When it was completed my muscles were as hard and springy as steel, and I felt no fear on the score of physical strength as I contemplated my first visit to the ‘bottom of the sea.’

“My first dive was off the southern coast of Florida, not far from Clear Water Harbor. My husband was at the time engaged in the business of collecting rare shells and coral for several Northern Universities. I well remember how I felt when I first donned the armor. Fear and curiosity were so closely blended that I hardly know which I felt the most of. At any rate, my husband was waiting, and almost before I realized it the queer canvas armor had been adjusted and the breastplate had been slipped over my head. A thick pad or collar had been put on my shoulders to take the weight off the breastplate and helmet, which alone weigh 56 pounds; but even then the plate felt quite heavy, and as the metal gaskets were being screwed down with thumb-nuts and a wrench, I felt as if I were being screwed up in my coffin. But there was little time for such gruesome reflections, and a stout leather belt holding the sub-marine knife was next girded about my waist.

“This knife, a double-edged affair, sharp as a razor, screws into a watertight brass scabbard. It is the diver’s only weapon, and with it he must protect himself against sharks and other sub-marine monsters. The shoes come next. How heavy and awkward they looked, with their soles of cast-iron two inches thick, and how clumsy they felt when I tried to walk in them for the first time!

“The life-line--that all-important half-inch manilla rope--was then knotted about my waist, and the belt of leaden weights was strapped about me under the arms, and I was told to step over the railing of the boat on to the short ladder that had been suspended over her stern. I did so, mechanically I fear, and when I had managed to get down a few steps, the helmet was slipped over my head and by a deft turn locked.

“The queer headpiece was much larger than my head, and admitted of considerable freedom of movement inside it.

“‘Now recollect,’ said my husband, ‘if you want to come up quick in case anything happens, give one jerk on the life-line. If you want more air give two jerks, or less air three jerks.’

“I expected to shoot to the bottom like a lump of lead, owing to all the weight I had on me, but I sank gradually instead, so buoyant was the inflated armor. I was on the bottom with five fathoms of water over my head almost before I realized it.