Connecticut western news., 1880-07-28
THE TUNNEL DISASTER.
The Frightful Disaster at Jersey City by which Twenty Persons
 Lost their Lives.

Lost thc1r Lives.
 l A terrible disaster, by which twenty lives were lost, occurred at the Hud- son River Tunnel, at the foot of Fifteenth street, Jersey City, Wednesday morning at 4.30 o'clock Twenty-eight men had gone into the tunnel for an eight-hour shift, and they were at work, little think ing of danger, when number of the men who were working in tie temporary entrance-between the working shaft and the tunnel proper-heard the air escaping from the portion of the shaft in which they were, with Q noise like the blowing off of steam from boiler. They hastened to the place whence the noise came, and found that break was form ing in the roof, where the iron plates of the shaft in which they were came up to the brick-work of the outside of the working shaft. For few moments they hoped that they might be able to close the rapidly widening opening, through which the air was rushing, and they struggled hard with it, but in vain. They were too late The little air-hole that might have been stopped with a handful of clay at first had extended so rapidly that they could not keep pace with it. As the air rushed out the seam grew wider, and earth and water began to come in. The bolts ill the iron work snapped and the braces began to quiver. I No time was to be lost if the men were to save themselves. With shout to those who were working further back in the tunnel, the men in front sprang for the air-lock, hoping through it to make their escape.
 THE TUNNEL AND THE AIR-1oCK.
 The earth through which the tunnel is being constructed is silt, over which is loose filling of gravel and sand. The roof of the tunnel is thirty feet below the upper surface of the ground, and in order to keep this immense weight of earth from falling into the excavation the shaft of the tunnel has been kept pumped full of compressed air, with pressure of twenty pounds to the square inch. There are plenty of braces and other supports, but the main dependence is placed on the compressed air, and men have been kept watching constantly to I detect the least break in the surface of the shaft, through which air might escape, in order to prevent the occur renee of any such accident as that which has occurred. It is supposed that the man whose duty it was to attend to this portion of the shaft had left his work a few moments before, and either had not noticed or had disregarded the small air hole which soon afterward did such ter rible damage.
 The air-lock is an iron chamber oi cylindrical shape, somewhat resembling @ boiler, but much larger and heavier. Its diameter Is six feet and its length fifteen feet. It extends from the working shaft, through the wall, into the entrance to the tunnel, which can only be entered or left through it. The air-lock makes ingress and egress possible without en- dangering the tunnel. It has massive door at either end, each swinging inward toward the tunnel, otherwise the pres sure from within would force the doo1 open. Before the inner door of the air. lock is ever opened the outer door is closed, and the lock is filled with ai1 until the pressure there is equal to thai in the tunnel. Then, of course, the inner door is closed before the outer door is opened.
 STRUGGLES TO ESCAPE.
 Eight of the panic-stricken men sue ceeded in getting into the air-lock. The ninth man was in the doorway when {
 mass of earth and iron plates crushed il
 and closed the door upon him, killing
 him instantly. At the same time water began pouring through the great breal ) in the roof The men in the air-locl tried to close the door, to prevent th' water from rushing into it and drowning them, but the body of their companion wa so wedged into the doorway that it wa
 impossibleto do this. Then they strippe,
 off their clothes to fill up the crevice
 They shouted for assistance, and trie, 5 to force open the outside door of the air lock, but it resisted their efforts. Ther was still terrible pressure of air agains } it. One of the men shouted to anothe near the end of the lock to "break ou the bullseyes," meaning the large circu 5 lar discs of glass through which ligh 7 | I IV,,i% knl 4r Sr siderable effort these were broken, an' : the air rushing through, enabled tn } men, with aid from outside, to open tn ) door and make their escape. .- 7 When the earth caved in it took witt it part of the shed built over it. One c ) the workmen outside saw this and calle' ) to Michael Hurley, outside superintend t ent on the surface, and the two, realizing ) to some extent the nature of the calamity l hastened down the ladder of the eworlin l shaft. The bullseyes had just bee I shattered, and dozen voices cried "Help us open the door, for God sake p Thetwo men outside worked wit
 a will, and the door was forced open fe7
 inches, but it was hard work, as the ail
 lock was more than half full of water 3 and the door opened inward. When 5 however, 8 partial opening was made tn > water rushed through into the workin n shaft, and when it had lowered some e what, the united exertions of the me
 were successful the door was swun ;s back, and the eight men were free. Th 70 water rose so rapidly in the shaft that 73 was up to the armpits of some of the me