Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1880-03-25

, Jersey Avenue. Eventually this we
may or may not be closed up, bu
in either event the tunnel will pas
along through it as it passes an
other point in its course. The tun
mel when completed will be tw
miles long, and three-quarters Of mil
of its length will be directly beneatl
the bed OF the river. AS the river chan
mel is nearest the New York bank ant
there is wide stretch of shoal waite,
on the Jersey side, there will be con
tinuous slant from the Jersey short
nearly across the river, when a shor
incline upward will bring the tunnel tt
the surface in this city. At its loves
point the top Of the tunnel will be 10i
feet below the surface of the river, anC
about twenty feet beneath the river bed
The New York terminus will be in the
neighborhoOd of Washington Square
and work in this city will be begun
near the foot of Leroy Street, which is
almost exactly opposite Fifteenth Street
in Jersey City.
By ordinary means it would have
been next to impossible to exoavate a
tunnel through the silt that was en-.
countered at the outset, and must be
fought the greater part OF the way.
President Haskins devised the plan OF
sustaining the earth above the excava-
tion by pressure of air. A powerful
pumping engine supplies this force.
For safety's sake there is duplicate
engine, and there are three boilers, be-
cause an accident that removed the
pressure of air in the shaft would bring
about certain disaster and possible loss
of life. The original plan was to bore
one shaft sufficiently wide for a double
railroad track, and high enough to ad-
NIT Of the passage of railroad cars. 1t
was found necessary, however, to alter
this, and now the tunnel is composed
of two shafts. side by side, like the bar
rels of foWling. piece, and strengthen
ed, as well as separated, by q central
partition. These tunnels will each con-
tain single railroad track, and will
be twenty one feet in diameter, which
gives room for a Directors palace
coach, the tallest of railroad vehicles.
A visitor to the edge of the great
brick well sees what looks like a large
boiler protruding from the well on the
river side, and extending sixteen feet
toward the centre. There is platform
of boards around it, and there are
many tubes and pipes, heaps of bricks,
and one steam-pump upon the plat
form. Beneath the platform, which
to be at the bottom of the we'll,
which is really only halfway down,
there is sheetOf muddy water cover
ing the silt that has been thrown from
the tunnel The protruding boiler is
what is known as the air-lock, by which
the egress and entrance of the work.
men to the tunnel is accomplished with
out destroying the even pressure of air
in the shaft. The Sat91 reporter saw
six men enter the tunnel yesterday to
90 to work in it, and presently he saw
four leave it. The six men were low |
cred into a wooden bucket, which was
swung over the pit from the arm of a
derrick. The door of the boiler-like
lir-lock was opened; but there is an in
ler door that was shut, and beyond it,
n the tunnel, the pressure of twenty
pounds of air to the square inch was
The men entered the air.
ock, and closed the outer door. The
,ngines equalized the air-pressure in
he lock with that in the tunnel, and
hen the inner door was opened and
he workmen passed into the tunnel.
t took ten minutes to do this. Men
With heart or lung diseases could
lot work under these conditions, but
ealthy young men are said to expert
emo harm from them. When the work
progresses farther this pressure will
ave to be doubled. The four men who
esired to come out stepped into the
ir-look, closed the door behind them,
nd signaled the engineer. The COM
ressed air was allowed to escape with
deafening roar, like the escape of
cam from thousand locomotive safe
,-valves, and presently the door
pened. A dense cloud of brown smoke
)lled out from the lock, and as it
linned out the forms of the workmen /.
assing through were distinguishable.
he reporter was informed that this .
as the smoke Of the candles, by the
ght of which the men work in the
taft. Fifteen or eighteen pounds of
indies are consumed by them in day,
Id the smoke they create is a great :
ndrance to the work, although only :
q very best adamantine coach lights !
e used. The electric lights, which :
nit neither smoke nor heat, will soon. !
used in the place of candles, One light :
'er the we'll and one in the shaft will .
pply all the illumination that is need
. Work in the tunnel never ceases. Itis 4
osecuted by three gangs, each gang 4
)rking eight hours. Sometimes the l
en- eat their meals in the shaft, but as ,
ten they come out and spend half an
ur on the earth's surface. Theirs is
It dainty work, The earth that they
2 out Is mixed with water in the bot e.
m Of the shaft, and when It has ii
ached a certain depth and consisten- il
it is blown out into the great brick b
ii by the air-pressure in the shaft G.
rough pipes that lie at the bottom Of B
E excavation, and that are built out g
follow the workmen as they extend O.
3 shaft. Whenever it is necessary, W
Is mud is bailed out of the bottom of tC
. well to make way for more. As the b,
lnel is now it has the shape Of a gi- 81
ntic bOttle. the air-lOck taking the q,