Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-07-28
NO. 176
miscellaneous.
THE HUDSON TUNNEL HERO.
How THE BRAVE WOODLAND GAVE Ills
LIFE IN THE AIR LoCK-A VIVID PIECE
OF WRITING.

| LIFE IN THE AIR l-pCk-A VIVID TREE
OF WRITING.
Woodland stood by the inner door of
:he alr lock calling TO his men to come to
the caisson. His quick order to work had
come too late. and he called the retreat as
promptly as he had ordered the advance
'.Quick, BOYS. get into the lock-" he
shouted. and instead of passing in among
the first, he stood by the door helping one
after another in.
Eight men passed. They We're not yet
safe If the others could get in and the
inner door of the lock could be closed be-
fore the falling debris Qor everything
around them was falling by that time)
should block the way they would be al
most safe. But rs the ninth man was en-
tering the lock the awful weight of the
mud and water fell against the door, pin
ming him so fast that nothing could have
freed him in time.
The door was fast. One man was tas-
tened in the doorway. between the other
nineteen and their last chance of life. The
eight in the lock were thus almost lost.
for there was no longer chance to close
the inner door, and the flood was closing
on them. Swiftly the water rushed into
the lock. the flood rose knee deep where
they stood. and the air was compressed by
all the pressure of the rise above them in
the little chamber. the door of which was
securely fastened against them. They
could not open this door nor could they
break it from the inside. But in the lock
were two dead lights of massive glass.
eight inches in diameter. and these the
men knew were to be broken rs last re-
| sort.
My God the water is gaining on us"
said one "what shall we dop"
keep cool, men keepco answered
a voice from the river side of the tunnel.
One of the men looked through the mill
er's bull's-eye and saw Woodland stand
ing quietly by the door. keep cool, he
repeated; nothing can be gained by ex-
citement.
'But the water is gaining on us more
and more. and we can't open the door in
to the working shaft"
Yes, and the water is scovering me up
moaned poor Anderson, who was crushed
| by the door. Cant YOU get me out of
this P"
Three of the men caught him bv the
hair and neck and pulled; but every move
ment was agony to the man, and he wall
The water got higher and higher. and
presently Superintendent Woodland said:
Take off your clothes. men, and stop
the crack of the door,
| Some one said that would cut of what
little communication there was between
| them.
Never mind that" replied Woodland
lit is your only chance"
| But them
''Do as | tell you," sharply said Wood
land
The men went to work with will and
in moment had packed the crack of the
door with their clothes. Thus the portion
that Anderson's body did not fiji was
closed, and the rapid increase of the
water checked
Presently a noise came from the inside.
One of the men peered out through the
bulls eye and saw Woodland peering in
| at them. His face was very pale and
was only a few feet above the water that
gurgled about him. Behind him in the
dim glimmer were seen number of shad-
owy, indistinct forms, whom the men
knew TO be their fellow workmen. None
of them moved. and beyond an occasion
al moan. which might have been PRAYER
or curse. there was no sound Wood
lands voice sounded strange as he shout
ed to them:
Break open the outside bulls eye.''
| The men in the air lock knew that to
do this meant sudden and sure death 10
Woodland and their companions Burn 5
means had ceased, for the water had Gov
cred him before their eyes. Woodlands
order meant that he was willing to sacri-
| flee his own chances of escape to ensure
those OF the eight men in the lock- He
knew there was a chance Tor them then.
but that it might pass away in moment.
The men knew this too, but hesitated to
obey the order. Again it came
KNOCK out the bulls eye: knock it
out, ] say, and do what you can for the
rest of us
Blow upon blow fell on the thick glass,
and was answered from the outside by
two men who had by this time arrived
with crowbars. The glass flew out and
the cold air rushed in. Michael Birdsall,
a watchman. and Michael Hurley, labor
er, braced themselves on the outside and
started the door little; then the fren-
zied men on the inside (for the water was
bubbling about their shoulders now
! caught the iron edge and pulled with all
! their strength. The door flew open. and
with the rush Of air came the rush of wa
ter. Eight working men were hurled in
to the working shaft, and, together, with
the two rescuers, they hurried up the lad
der to the ground. Then, and not till then.
had the men an opportunity to pause and
roflect that behind them, beneath the wa
ter that boiled and seethed in the early
| morning light, were the bodies of their
nineteen comrades and the hero Wood
land.