Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1880-09-02

| As many as could get there jumped
for the place, where all knew the danger
was greatest. The brothers worked
side by side.
It's the maneing of the quare feelin'
Teddy" cried Patsy, as they both piled
pick and shovel. MAY the Vorgin
save us!'
The joining of the temporary roof oil
the tunnel with the wall of the shaft
was necessarily imperfect. It was in
| tended to make all secure with a three
| foot wall of brick and cement, but it
was impossible to set the foundation OF
the brickwork until after the circle OF
the tunnel should be completed, so that
this imperfect jointure was continually
watched. With reasonable diligence it
was easily to keep it closed, and the
material to close was plenty and at
hand. The chinks were stopped with
the silt, of which the river bottom is
largely composed-a clayey mud, of the
consistency of putty-and man should
have been at this part watching the
chink.
No pen can describe the terrible
struggle which followed. 1t lasted
scarcely two minutes. The men were
nerved by full knowledge of the great
danger of their position. Not q man
but knew that he carried his life in his
hands wherever he went to work, and
not a man failed to know that the
supreme moment had come All
worked well. The brothers did the
work of ten men.
1t was too latei
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 flight. Be-
tween 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 chasm. The compressed air
escaped until there was no longer pres
sure enough from within to maintain
the portion of unfinished work. The
electric light by which they worked
was extinguished, 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 caisson!n shouted the superin-
tendent. 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. boys!" he cried. "Get into
the lock!" And instead of passing in
among the first he stood by tue door
helping one after another in.
Six men passed, among them Patsy
Horley. He 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 byei' he cried.
"Here!' shouted voice at his side.
Get through quicki' he said, and
pushed his brother through.
He 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
tell 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
food 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
air 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 God! tine water is gaining on
u.s. said one; ''What shall we do?"
"Kape cool, men, kape COOL" an
swered q voice from the river side of
the tunnel. Te eddy rushed to the bulls
eye and looked through. There stood
Patsy and the superintendent side by
side. their faces white as death.
"Keep COOL" cried the superintendent
through the crack of the door; moth
ing 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
crushed by the door. Cant you get
me out of this?''
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 to the
poor man, and he would beg piteously
to be let alone. The water got higher
and higher
They'll have to sthop the crack,
sor," said Patsy, and the superintendent,
his white lips moving in prayer, nodded
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
between them.
''Niver mOind US, min," said brave
Patsy; Sits your only chance.n
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,n he saiG choking,
ly. "Tell the mother / died Ioike a
brave man. An'-Alice-"
He could say no more, and in mo-
ment the men had patched the crack ol
the door with their clothes, and the
rapid increase of the water was checked
4 Al