New-York tribune., 1871-09-28

u&rtvN gO0Q uvthG nom o0Ck-BfUWtn6 anu PVe@so /
raising On the western slope OF the valley arc the
buildings Of the eentrai shsft Of she tanne ave
raging o cleancut hole that goes Io9S feet |
straight down through the solid rock
II tho visitor medttates going down the SHAFT ne might
better save the adventure for final sensaton and push
over the mountain 70 "do" the west entry frst-
Ascending tho western summit, however familiar he
may be with ths finest mountain scesery On the CONT
nent he win exclaim with delight ut the striking beauty
Of the scene that lies below and beyond. lovely
green valley contains the sister villages OF North and
South Adams. few miles apart; the great gray1sh-
green hulk Of Greylook Mountain. the highest
peak In Massachusetts, rises aeross kbe valley;
further eastward Is the fine range Of the Taoonc Noun
tans; up and down the valley and upon tho mountain
slopes, white farmhouses dot the emerald pastures
These the chief features Of the cturo whose charm
ing details 1t would take long TO describe
Tba half hours drive from the village Of North
Adams to the foot Of the mountain where great piles Of
shining gray rock and of whewsshe cabins mark
the entrance to the tunnel gentleman connected with
the Corps Of Civil Engineers, employed by the State TO
supervise the work of the contractors kindly offered to
be my guide in my subterranean explorations and when
we arrived the spot he produced big bag from tho
buggy, and shook out pile OF rubber boots, coats old
pantaoons and tarpauin hats inside Of which we pro
oeeded TO put ourselves Then handlamps wero lighted,
and we scrambled down steep bank and
went into the tunnels mouth 70 wait for
the train, which outside dumping Q Load
OF broken rock. The train In only as far as the
brick archway had been completed. Beyond that point
the tunnel for fifty yards Is but rude hole through
which We made our way by STOPPING and wading In
| stream Of running water that covered the bottom.
Emerging from this dismal passage. we came suddenly
into the fulszed excavation, and learned that the
tunnel to this place had been worked outward from the
west shaft few hundred yards further In and that the
small hole connecting with the archway bad been bored
to let the water out which had formerly been pumped
up through the shaft When the arching is completed
the two sections Will be connected by blasting out tls
| portion TO Its full size.
We had now fairly set out upon our journey. The
engineer strode ahead ;carryng his lamp in hand
and an ooan In the other The tunnel floor was COW
ered with water. and the only sounds the splash
ing made with great rubber boots. and the con-
slant dripping from the roof The density of the dark
ness was remarkable, our lamps making but q feeble
light for the space OF few feet around After per-
haps ten minutes Of steady tramping, we faint
lights yellow specks Or Illuminated points, appar-
emily great distance away but In reality quite close at
hand. aud heard strange hollow, ghostly voices and
rumbling Of machinery. 1t the shaft,
the engineer said. When reached 1t
We saw some heavy upright timbers. and about
them group OF damp; dirty yfaced miners, each holding
candle. There dull Rubbing sound In the black
ness above. and presently large stout plank box
attached to wre-oabe slid down between the timbers.
AS soon as 1t touched the bottom the miners gave
startling shout, and made rush to get In, struggling
with each other good humoredy for precedence for the
cage the box called would not hold third Of them
aud each eager to get up into daylight as soon as
possible. The belonged TO the gang whose term OF
duty had Just expired When the cage went another
cao down, crowded with part Of the relief and the
cages kept arriving and departing until the transfer Of
the two gangs completed. The mood Of the new
In direct contrast to that Of the men who had
gone up they silent and suen at the prospect OF
eighthours' work before them.
ipfnf Tho aipa afahi
for poor mules which haul the that bring the
rock from the heading to be bosted the shaft The
miners followed US, but stopped after few minutes
and hailed us, saying that there would be blast
directly. and might better further but the eng
spashed on, saying the blast still 800 yards
ahead, and we might as well get little to it.
Finally when out of sight Of the lights Of the relief gang
we sat down pile Of rocks beside the track to wait for
the explosion 1--WE under the highest peak Of the
mountain" said the engineer, who began TO refill our
lamps from his oilcan "and there some fifteen hun
| dred feet of solid rock between us and the sum
| light" "I hope the old mountain will not resent
this attempt you making to pierce his Vitas" an
swered "n he should put his foot down about 1t and
shut up this dismal hole you boring, 1t would be
unpleasant for u.s." Presently We heard sharp crack,
followed In three seconds by rush OF wind that put out
our lamps and frghtfu deafening report, Like the roar
of 100 cannon fred at The prodigous volume Of
sound seemed like some huge formless but palpabe
monster that rushed past from the backness In 'front.'
and went bowling away with the obscurtty behind us.
Wait moment" said the engineer; "that was 1.-The
blast at the bench. We shall soon hear the heading
blast which further away and will not be 30 loud" In
q few moments the phenomenon was repeated, but
with much less sound and rush OF wind. We
scratched matches and lighted our lamps Out of the
thick darkness through which we had passed came the
flicker Of lights and the steady tramp Of the advancing
gang Of workmen. They passed US walking two by two
the rails with hands each others shoulders and
led by their foreman carrying large torch. little
further reached the BENCH which is the point to
which the enlargement Of the tunnel to its full size has
advanced and the smaller excavation Of the bending
begins. The bending is a level about 10 feet
higher than the floor Of the completed tunnel and the
enlargement consists OF deepening 1t to the proper
grade At the bench there is stout marble platform
on which cars are out from the heading and the
rock dumped into other the lower level and
thence hauled TO the shaft
We scrambled into the upper level among workmen
busy In clearing away the debris Of the blast pushing
up the platform with levers and drilling for another
blast, We more than mile from the tunnels
mouth, and had about quarter yet to 60. The atmo-
sphere was thick with powder smoke and
fumes The compressed air began to rush and
through the iron pipe at the side Of the tunnel going into
the heading TO drive the drills and to force out the
nOxOus vapors after should have done s work In the
machines We found the frstsrrived heading gang |
already at work getting the drills In place The blast had
blown out hole about eight feet square by three deep
the center OF the tunne The next blast will be at the
right Of this hole snd then shall blast the other
side, which will be the full width we want" the
foreman said. chow much progress do you average
day I" About five feet" "a mile straight ahead through
this bit Of rock" said the engineer "the are at
work in central shaft In about two years we shall
meet them half way and shake hands with them"
We retraced steps along the tunnel to the shaft
stepped into cage top OF loaded with rock and
in two minutes were whsked up TO the earths surface
and blinded at first by the brilllancy Of the sunlight
Our two hours in the darkness under the