Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-09-24


part watching the chink.
No pen can describe the terrible struu-
gle which followed. . II lasted scarcely
two minutes. The men were nerved by
full knowledge Of the great danger Of
their position. Not a man but knew
that he carried his life In his hands
whenever he went 10 work, and not a
man failed 10 know that the supreme
moment had come. All worked well.
The brothers did the work Of ten men.
II was too latel
The leak that one man could have
stopped If he had been there at the right
moment was now wide enough for the
foul current Of corruption and death TO
flow in from the river bottom, and the
only safety lay in fight. Between the
spot where they were and the open air
there were two locked doors, only one
of which could be opened at once. The
little rift above their heads became a
chasm. The compressed air escaped
until there was no longer pressure
enough from within to maintain the por-
ton of unfinished work. The electric
light by which they worked was extin-
guished, and darkness added its terrors
to their great misery.
/ In the confusion the brothers, who had
instinctively clasped hands when the
water and mud poured in upon them,
were separated. Patsy reached out his
hand and it was clutched by some one
in the darkness.
"To the caison!" shouted the Super
| intendent, and the men rushed pell nell
/ toward this only avenue of escape. He
was standing by the inner door of the
air-lock, and threw it open for the men
to pass through.
"Quick, boysi" he cried. "Get into
the lockl" And instead of passing in
among the first he stood by the door
helping one after another in.
Six men passed, among them Patsy
Horley. lie looked around and called
loudly for Teddy. There was no re-
sponse. The seventh man was passing
through. He pushed by him into the
tunnel.
"Teddy bye!" he cried.
"Herel" shouted voice at his side.
Get through quicki" he said, and
pushed his brother through.
lie would have followed him but an
other of the men stepped in front of
him, and he helped him into the lock.
This man was almost through when the
awful weight of the mud and water fell
against the door, pinning him so fast
that nothing could have freed him in
| time.
The door was fast. One man was
fastened 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 q
chance to close the inner door, and the
| flood was closing on them. Swiftly the
| water rushed into the lock; it 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 as a last resort.
"My Godl the water is gaining on
u.s." said one ''what shall we doP"
"Kape cool, men, kape cooll" an
swered voice from the river side of the
tunnel. Teddy rushed to the bulls eye
and looked through. There stood Pat
sy and the Superintendent side by side,
]
"Keep COOL" cried the Superintend-
ent through the crack of the door;
"nothing can be gained by excitement"
"But shure, sor, the wather is gainin'
on us, and we can't open the door into
! the shaft"
"The water is covering me up"
moaned the poor fellow who was crush
ed by the door. "Can'tyou get me out
of thisP"
Teddy caught him by the neck, and
several others sprang to his assistance.
They pulled and tugged, but it was no
use. Every moment was agony tc the
poor man, and he would beg piteously
to be let alone. The water got higher
and higher.
"Theyll have to shtop the crack,
sor," said Patsy, and the Superintend-
ent, his white lips moving in prayernod-
ded his head.
"Take off your clothes, men, and stop
the crack of the door," he added.
Some one said that that would cut off
what little communication there was be-
tween them.
"Niver moind us, min,n said brave
Patsy, "it's your only chance"
"But then" began Teddy, who was
in tears.
"Do as you are ordered" cried the
Superintendent sharply.
The men sprang forward, and Patsy
reached his great freckled hand through
the crack.
Goodbye, Teddy" he said cholz-
ingly. "Tell the mother died loize a
brave man. An'-Alice-"
He could say no more, and in mo-
ment the men had patched the crack in
the door with their clothes, and the rap
id increase of the water was checked.
"Can you pray P'' whispered the su-
perintendent, as his hand frightened on
Patsy's.
"Blessed Mary, save us!" sobbed the
Irishman. #.
Teddy ranto the bulls eye and looked
through. He saw the Superintendent
and his brother standing side by side
peering in at him. The faces of both
men were pale, and were only a few
feet above the water that gurgled about
them. He heard Patsy's muttered
prayer, and deep groan burst from his
lips. ...
" Patsy, brotheri" he shouted.
Patsy smiled, and nodded his head.
"Be kind to Alice,'' he said, and
then, raising his voice, shouted "Break
open the outside bulls eye!r ...
&C Yes, knock out the bull eye knock
it out, say" commanded the stern
voice of the Superintendent.
The men in the air lock knew that to
obey this order meant sudden and sure
| death to their cOmnaniOns and thew