al zampa saw three men died. he remembers the first death as vividly as it was yesterday. >> one guy just pulled a choker cable. and it had we called it something else. i got stuck and he choked on it and it came out, hit him in the mouth and knocked him over. i seen him go, i looked down and he hit the water. he hit flat. you know, and we all hollered it was a boat down below. we got in a row boat. three of us went and picked him up. he floated, like when you shoot a duck in the water he just floated. you would think he would go down, he didn't. he was there, we picked him up. his gloves were split in two. his clothes were split in two. he still has the belt. we were so excited we thought he was still alive floating in the water. the other guys just went straight down. >> reporter: they dug and poured. grappled and propelled. all this $25 a week, good money during the depression. >> you had to have a couple of shots before you go up there. we had two days to think it over. they paid us in full every week they fi