New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-07-23

the plates. The last plato was TO he put in when
tho air broke through and the disaster occurred.
Tho caving in at this point probably eNhnueu
back for distance and IT s likely that All inc
plates IN this arch may have fallen; You see they
did not yet form the complete circle ana Wcre np
lined with the heavy bTick-work Ike me tuhheI
hence particularly when the pressure oil the ar Was
removed. they would be liable TO give way; nc
tunnel itself, however. could not ne hIlec ls
There is n completed arch. Every part receives
equal pressure and regard breaking or caVlng III
IL as impossible
I" But there was portion of the work done under
the river. which was not lined or brlcked up, &C.
cording to the diagram. Nav not a portion OF the
river bottom have caved in there when the ar
pressure was removed and may not the water
which now fills the tunnel and the working shaft
thus come directly from the river" "
mo. think not. We built heavy bulkhead In
the end OF the tunnel. and had the work That we
left propped and boted in the most secure manner
do MOI thin& that such thing could have hap
pened."
"Then how long will it take to repair the damage
in the large archway ~
Not more than three weeks, think
l. the work of recovering the bodies advancing
"Yes. The pump which we have ut work Ia of
the Andrews patent, and we have an extra one IKE
pumps up 200 gallons minute. AZ soon as we
get to the platform in the shaft there are pumps
there which we can use"
Has your theory OF carelessness rs the cause OF
the accident changed since yesterday r
50 No on he other hand, it is further confirmed
We have found cut that one plate was ready 10 be
put on. and was left by the men of the shift coming
Don't Won think the water In the shaft is from
the river? II hardly looks like surface water"
81 have taken special pains to discover whether
il is Ornot and think that 1t Is NIL surface water
examined the bulkhead at the end of the pier to,
day, and could ind no place where the water could
come through. We cart tell vet how fast the
water flows in. but feel confident that We can get
it out faster than it comes in by working the
pumps. But this mus be developed as the work OF
reaching the bodies advances"
Gould YOU not have procured more experienced
workmen for the tunnel =
"No. because it is the first tunnel of the kind
ever undertaken. |. is an experiment. As tunnel
and yet not an experiment, for we had proved the
success of the system in our work under the river
inexperienced men arc with difficulty made To ul,
derstand the danger Of new work We engaged
the best we could find."
One of the workmen says that there was a
caving in of the further end of the tunnel about
four weeks age
at WINS not a caving in. Several of the iron
plates had been placed near the top, but not fas-
tened or supported. and they gradually sank down
that was all"
Superintendent J. F. Andersen said Yesterday
We are doing all that we can for the relatives
of the dead men, and the pay of the men is to go
right on for the present"
THE PUMP NOT SUCCESSFUL
The workmen had considerable difficulty last
night in making the pump work well, as the
belt which connected it with the
engine had been wet by the rain
and kept slipping out of position. At half-past 6
the machinery was stopped for about twenty min
utes, and the shaft was filled again with water
to nearly the same height as before
the pumping was begun The PUMP Pulp
night. owing to the condition of the betting: The
engineer IN charge, w. P. Pearson, SAID that
500 and 600 gallons to the minute. Work was
kept up until a quarter past 10. when the
water had been lowered eighteen Inches.
Then the betting slipped off the wheels,
into the water Once or twice in the time that 1t
was running the, pump was stopped put put
never for more than minute or two The
as dry as possible and then started the machinery
again. This delay lasted between fifteen and twenty
minutes, and during that time me wafer had risen
about two inches higher than IT was when
the pumping began at o'clock During the even
ing pieces of candles kept coming to the
surface Of the water in the shaft
and were probably the candles belonging to the
men buried below. Some cells also were captured
in the shaft, and one or two small minnOws.
The scene of the accident was comparatively de-
serted after O'Clock and the only per
sons there were ne, WorHineh ana pQ-
lcemen. The electric hight also complicated mat
tcrs by gong out occasionally. The neighbor-
hood surrounding the shaft one vast eXpanse of
| mud and water. and large puddles had collected
! The floor of the engne-rOom in the shaft Is one
or TWO feet below the level of the ground, and the
II had TO be bailed ont several times.
Whenever the engineer would rake the
| fire in the furnace, the red-hol
| Goals would drop into the water and clouds OF
| steam would rush out into the engine-room.
| w. p. Pearson the engineer in charge last night,
! said to a lRIBUNE reporter: don't know whether
We shall be able TO keep this pump going all night
! or not 1t doesn't make much difference. There Is
no use trying to pump ont the North River"
Don't vou believe IN this plan OF trying to pump
out the SHAFT -
NO They are doing this simply TO quiet the
people and 10 appear to make decent haste at get
| ting at the bodies. All am trying to
! do tonight is to keep this pump
ont of water. so that it will work all right
With the tide the way it is now the
! water in the shaft can only rise about q
foot more and that won't reach the pump
The only thing that can be done is to build Golfer
dam between the bulkhead and the shaft. This
pumping won't do any good"