River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-05-31
A Narrow Escape in the CrOtOn Aque-
duet,

Once a year, or Oftener, usually in No
vember, an exploration is made of the in
terror of the aqueduct from end to end,
by Mr.. Benjamin S. Church, the resident
engineer, who for over twenty years has
been in charge of this part of the work.
The water is shut off at the CrotOn dam.
and the aqueduct isemptied by the waste
wiers which | have described. Many
strange and exciting adventures befell the
men detailed for this service; and though
but one life has ever heen lost, large par
ties have sometimes been in imminent
danger. The man-holes having been
opened previously. the laborers under
charge ri Mr.. Church, dressed in rough
suits, enter the aqueduct at the dam, and
/, travel downward either afoOt or in an in
genious car propelled by crank like the
hand cars used ON railway. The effect
j. weird and awe-inspiring. Some of the
men carry torches, whose smoke and
wavering blaze curl and flash in the dark
ness and throw fantastic shadows and re-
Elections ON the moist walls.
The voices reverbcrate like peals of
thunder, and seem to awake responsive
vibrations in the massive stone and brick
work itself. In some conditions of the
atmosphere. labOrers repairing the ma
sonry five mile below can be distinctly
heard bv those at the entrance, and al all
times the human voice pitched in an Ordi-
nary KEY can be heard at distance of
two or three miles, in long low rubles.
4 broad halo of Eight frames the men in,
and behind this there is an impenetrable
blackness, 50 dense that an inexperienced
person takes every step with extreme
caution. There are few greater promo
tiers of terror than the power of the dark
ness and the simple, superstitiOus IRISH
men descending the ladder at the en-
trance leave sunshine, sky and fields
above in no cheerful mood. The short
CLAY pipes are allowed to go out and few
words are spoken. II Is business to be
done with as soon as possible. Thousands
of tons of water are pressing against the
. gates at the entrance, and should bar
T give way, or an order he misunderstood,
4 the food would rush down upon the un-
( fortunates and engulf them with irresist-
+ bile force Once, in fact, an order was
misunderstood, and twenty men narrowly
\ escaped with their lives.
/ Mr.. Church, with this number OF la
/ bOrerS, entered the aqueduct to make
some repairs, and instructed the keeper
/ at the dam to let the water flow in again
/ at L p. m. The party We're making some
repairs at a point some distance below
/ the entrance at Ii a. IN. when Mr.. Church
noticed a gradual rise in the water. Afraid
of causing a panic, he did not say any
thing to his men, but urged them on in
the hope that the work might be com
pleted that morning. The water contin-
ued To rise, however, first submerging
their feet, and then creeping up toward
their knees with terrible stealth and Ger
tainty. The situation was that of ship
wrecked crew cast upon rock which i
being slowly covered by an incoming tide
The engineer now realized the fact that
his order had been misunderstood, and
that the water had been turned on at the
wrong time. and would soon be within /
few inches of the roof on the aqueduct
By this time the men were in a highly
nervous condition. and Mr.. Church had Il
use his authority in preventing them from
making a confused retreat for the neares
exit. which was some distance away.
Meanwhile the water had made Its way
above their knees and was rushing
through the aqueduct with a velocity o
two miles and a quarter per hour. 1t wa
no easy work walking against such q cur
rent as this, and the progress made to
ward the man-hole was unavoi1ably slow
The torches were successfully put out b.
the splash until only one remained, anC
that threw dim, yellow, uncertain fiicke
on the dark surroundings. There was ont
danger which Mr.. Church forcsaw anC
was particularly anxious to avert. Ii tin
men were not kept under control. eacl
would make disorderly struggle to reacl
the ladder at the man-hole, and della,
would result that might prove fatal. A
the water increased in depth the greater
of course, became their terror, and wheI
the gray light of the opening came int
view their bodies were submerged 10 thei
waists. while the current almost lifte,
them off their feet. BY reasoning wit
them and encouraging them, however
Mr.. Church allayed their fears and the,
gained the ladder. and assembled IL, on
Nv one IN SAFETY