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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 6 (September 1939)

Down to the Sea in Dips

Down to the Sea in Dips.

Yet one can imagine a boy with under-slung ambitions saying to himself: “If I never learn to swim and continually look on the damp side of things I, too, will one day go down to the sea in dips.” For, of course, it is fatal for a diver to know how to swim. He would immediately imagine page 55 that he was out of his depth and perish from a rush of water to the imagination. Certainly there are advantages in the profession. It must be easier for a young diver to work his way down the ladder of ambition than up; and it is a profession which is not hard on boots. Also, he doesn't have to worry about whether it is going to rain. Likewise, he is never incommoded by dry summers or a shortage of water. Diving is one of the few jobs where it is possible to keep a good man down while he rises to the top of his profession. He is free from traffic dangers—unless he gets run down by a sea horse.

A diver can walk about all day without meeting a soul he knows, and, apart from an occasional octopus or swordfish, he is not subjected to hangers-on, or bores.

Of course, it must be a little awkward for a man who likes his cup of morning tea—for it is only shipping clerks who can “go down to the tea in sips.”

But it is a strange job at which a man can never be successful until he is completely under.