The true northerner., 1880-07-30
SHOCKING CATASTROPHE.
By the Gazing I'm of a Tunnel AT Jcr-
sey City Tventy-One Men Wect Death
i'm ITS Most ErightfuI shape.

i'm Its Most Frightful shape.
The tunnel in process of construction under
the Hudson river, connecting New York and
Jersey cities, has been the scene of most
heartrending calamity, resulting in the death
of twenty-one poor laborers, who perished mis-
erably like rats drowned in a barrel From the
dispatches to the daily press we CLEAN the fol-
lowing particulars OF the distressing catastrophe:
AT the midnight change of "shifts" at the
tul mel twenty-nine men descended the shaft
and worked there until 4:30 in the morning.
when the accident occurred. The work in
which they We're engaged was in making con-
nection between the iron plates of the roof of
the grand arch and the brick wCr rk of the work.
ing shaft. For support this iron roof depended
upon strong wooden braces, and upon the COM
pressed air which was forced down from above
by means OF air compressers, and which
exerted an uplifting power of twenty
pounds to the square inch. The safety
of the men and of the work depended princi-
pally upon the control of this compressed air.
A small leak, through which it might pass up
ward through the thirty feet Of mud and Gin
ders which cover the tunnel, was liable to occur
at any time, and, unless discovered and stopped
In season, to cause the entire mass of material
to come tumblinS down into the archway.
This fact was perfectly well understood by the
men as well as their foreman, and a steady
watch was kept for air leaks, which, when
found, were at once stopped up by the silt in
the tunnel which has the consistency, and
much of the virtue, of putty. 1t was probably
owing TO a relaxation of tnis constant watch
that the terrible calamity was due.
Half of the shift of twenty-eght men left
the tunnel at 4 o'clock in the morning, and
passed to the surface through the shaft to eat
their lunch. They returned at about 4:30 to
relieve their comrades, and it was at this time
that the disaster occurred. While the change
was being made kissing sound was heard,
which all recognized instantly as the noise of
escaping air. 1t grew louder as the vent in
creased in size, and almost Immediately the
timber supporting the roof began to sway, then
there was sharp crack, the heavy joists
snapped like bamboos, and the thirty feet of
silt and cinders which covered the cham
ber to the level of the working-shaft was
precipitated upon the heads of the doomed men.
Eight of them had time to leap into the air.
lock. A NINTH Foreman Frank Olson, passed his
right arm through the open door, but before he
could enter the heavy iron of the roof fell
against the door, swaying it partlyto, and crush
ing him before the eyes of his companions. The
otner twenty men were now completely cut oil
from all escape, and were literally buried III the
falling timber, iron, and mud.
Tie men in the lock seemed doomed to GER
tain death, for the compressed air pushing
against the door giving egress to the shaft pre-
vented them from opening 1t, AID the water of
the river, oozing through the mud and loose
soil, was rapidly pouring IN and threatening to
drown them.
This air-lock is an iron chamber resembling a
locomotive boiler, which furnishes the only
means of ingress to the tunnel and e9ress from
it. 1t is round, has length of fifteen feet and
diameter of six feet.
Half of it projects through the east wall of
and into the shaft. The other half is in the
opening of the excavation leading into the tun-
mel. 1t Is provided with a massive door at each
end, which opens outwardly toward the tunnel.
Two bulrs-eyes of plate glass look from one end
into the shaft, and two more from the opposite
end into the tunnel, III which an electric light
was kept burning night and day. The pipes
which convey the compressed air into the tun-
mel run through the air-lock. A pipe opens
into the lock from the tunnel and an
other pipe from the shaft, SO that air
from either direction may be let into the
lock according as ingress or egress may be de-
sired The principle of operating the lock is
much the same as that Of the lock of canal
In going i'll the pressed air is let into the lock
gradually un,l the density becomes equal to
that of the tunnel. In coming out the opera
tionis reversed-the highly-compressed air in
the lock is allowed to escape, and its density
thus gradually becomes the same as that Of the
outside atmosphere. The greatest care is of
course necessary i'll operating the lock, for up
on 1t depends the lives of the workmen and the
success of the enterprise.
It was in T. is confined space that the eight
men found themselves apparently cut off from
q retreat. They hammered on the iron sides
of their prison. and SC canned loudly for aid
but, for what seemed an eternity, no aid came.
Their cries were heard, however and as soon as
possible relief was at hand. On the surface
Moses Pierson, the engineer saw a stream OF
condensed air coming up on the outside of the
shaft, and, diviniug what had h. ppened, rushed
quickly TO the mouth of the shaft. "Open the
door" came to him in stifled tones from the
imprisoned men below.
He sent a mess niger for Michael Hurley, the
day foreman, who live but a short distance
Sway. and also for J. III. Anderson, the General
auperint ndent Hurley reached the scene in
very short time, and cambered quickly down
the shaft to the rescue. He was followed by
Patrick Meehan, Michael Burchell and Thomas
anderson, and the four tried to force open the
door of the lock, but without success, the press
ure of the air against it from the inside being
too great. Then Hurley seized crowbar and
burst one OF the bull's-eyes. At the same time
Thomas Van Nostrand, one OF the imprisoned
men, broke the other.
The compressed air rushed through the 10,
with whir followed by a stream of water,
and, the pressure being thus removed, the door
was forced OPEN The night men rushed ont and
hurried across the shaft to the stairs leading To
the surface, followed by fSod of water which
threatened to ingulf them. They escaped with
ont injury, and at once went to work on the
surface digging for the purpose of rescung their
buried companions. Meanwhile Supt. Anderson
had reached the scene. A glance at the river
showed them at once that all hope of saving
the life of any Of the twenty workmen in the
tunnel was in vain. The water had risen in the
shaft until it was twenty feet deep, and ON a
level with the river, and this vas sufficient evil
dence that the tunnel was flooded. Even had
the men been saved from suffocation, drowning
must have put an end to their lives in very
few minutes after the fatal crash.
The news of the disaster had spread rapidly
through Jer ey City, and by 6 o'clock crowd
numbering nearly 1000 people had congregated
around the shaft and were gazing at the pool
which marked the tomb of the unfortunate Ia
borers. Policemen were soon on hand TO keep
the throng back, and ropes were stretched
around to protect the workmen from inter
ference.
The scene all through the day was sorrowful
one. In the great crowd that surged around the
shaft were wives seeking their husbands, moth
ers their SONS, and children their fathers. The
wife OF neutrality-suspicious. Woodland did
not hear OF the disaster until o'clock, two hours
after her husband was dead. She rushed fran
tically to the shaft, pushed her way through the
throng, and gazed down into the deep water,
weeping and wailing. She was led away by
kindly hands and taken back to her desolate