A Treatise On The Principles And Practice Of Harbour Engineering

58 HARBOUR ENGINEERING. The following régulations usually observed in regard to divers’ working hours—except, of course, in cases of a temporary nature or of special urgency —afford an idea of their capabilities. A shift consists of four hours nett, not counting the time taken by the diver to dress, which he does in his own leisure. He is allowed a period of fifteen minutes during each shift for rest, and another fifteen minutes at the end for undressing. One or more shifts per day may be worked according to the needs of the case. The minimum number of attendants required for a single diver is three— one for the signal line and air-pipe, and two to work the pump. For two divers an additional man is required to look after the second signal line and pipe. Pumpers and signalmen may relieve one another at their respective duties. The following notes on the care of diving apparatus are extracted from instructions issued by Messrs Siebe, Gorman & Co., in connection with their goods. “ After the day’s work is over the air-pipes should be thoroughly dried and the gun-metal joints carefully cleaned before being packed away. The diving-dress should be cleaned, and, if wet inside, turned inside out and hung up in the shade to dry ; the dresses, if used in salt water, should be washed at least once a week in clean fresh water. The underclothing should also be kept dry and well aired. “ When in store, the pump and its fittings must be kept clean and free from verdigris, and, if likely to be out of use for some time, it should be occasionally oiled and the handles turned two or three times, in order to prevent the piston leathers getting hard. If the pump has been lying by for a considérable time, then it would be well to have it taken to pieces by a good fitter and examined to see that it is in proper working order. When a piston rod works loose, the screws at the top of the stuffing-box, in the case of the double-acting pumps, should be turned a little with a spanner. Only good olive and neat’s-foot oil mixed should be used for lubricating. “Should the diving-dress, from constant use or accident, get leaky, it is easily repaired by laying two or three coats of india-rubber solution on each side of the seam, rubbing it with the finger as much as possible and allowing each coat to dry before the next is applied ; the sides of the seam may then be laid down, and two or three coats applied in the same manner to the channel of the seam, when the prepared twill (which should have an extra coat laid on and dried) may be immediately applied and well pressed down by the hand. Superfluous solution may be removed with a piece of india-rubber, but it is better to lay it on the proper width so as not to require cleaning off. Diving-dresses should never be packed away in a wet or damp state; they must be thoroughly dried, both inside and out, before so doing, otherwise they will mildew and become so rotten as to be of very little service after- wards. The following represents an easy and efficient mode of drying the diving-dress :—Take two pieces of wood each about 8 feet long, nail or screw them together in the form of a St Andrew’s cross, place them inside the dress, and pass another piece through the arms to keep them distended; the dress