The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-07-29
A TUNNEL HORRORl

A TUNNEL HORRORI
The Terrible A ccident In the Hudson River
TuuneIOver Twenty Lives Loat-Herole
Conduct Of an Assistant Superintendent.
A New York dispatch of the 21st
gives the following account of the terri.
Bile accident at the Hudson River Tunnel:
At five o'clock this morning the caisson
leading to the entrance Of the Hudson River
Tunnel, Constructing 1t Sixteenth street,
mense quantity of earth: Twenty-Five men
lost their lives, while eight had almost .
miraculous escape. The night gang of thirty
men, including Acknowledgements
Woodland and two frcmen, entered the shaft
at midnight, the hour for work for this gang
being from twelve to eight o'clock. The depth
of the shaft is sixty live feet, and, while most
of the men were employed at the bottom of
the shaft, about q third OF the gang was
engaged on the brick wall Of an arch twenty
i've feet higher It was the latter squad, all
brcklayers, that escaped, except two. The
main arch Of the tunnel runs out from the
shaft distance of about thirty feet, when it
opens into two distinct arches that are to
form the tunnel. Through some negligence
of the workmen, it is supposed. the air-lock
was not properly adjusted, and when the proc.
ess of shifting commenced, the brick wall
connecting the two arches gave way and
water rushed into the cave
The following 10 a list Of the casualties:
Peter Woodland, Assistant Superintendent;
Frank Alestor, foreman; Thomas Burns,
Kimin, Charles Nelson, William F. Bayley,
Andrew Jacobsen, Bryan Sheridan, Charles
Svensson, o. Anderson, Frank Bark, of Ho-
boken; Mat McCarty, Patrick Broderick, Otto
Besseilen, John Jensen, Patrick Collins and
Mike Frederick.
saved: Thomas Brady, B. McGovern, A. j.
Moline, Thomas Cummings Christ. Hansen,
j. Vannostrand, John Doyle and James
Hayes.
In addition to these, three men whose
names are no. known are missing, and the
officials say they must have persisted; All
whose names are given belonged to Jersey
City except Bark. He resided in Hoboken.
The Superintendent thinks the air In the
tunnel must have escaped through the silt.
Thomas Van Nostrand, one of the rescued
men, says: 1.-THE main shaft lie sixty feet
deep, and from the bottom of this shaft the
entrance to the tunnel is effected through
cylindrical barrel six feet in diameter and
fourteen feet in length. This is called an air
lock, and serves to preserve the density of
the atmosphere Of the tunnel, which, in turn,
is secured by the forcing of air through pipes
from pumps. There is q door in each end Of
the air-lock. They both oren inward. At
each side of the doors are round windows of
thick glass. through which, from the outside
of the air-locks, view eau be gained Of the
work and workmen inside the tunnel. There
were twenty-eight men at work in the tunnel
the eight-hour shift. l was at work near
the east end of the lock, and in the
west end of the tunnel. 1t was at
about 4:30 o'clock that heard the
bolts snap and the braces give way. At the
same time felt a rush of air in my face.
TOD hon ly r.sth ~ tba. vah vuoN
near me and ran into the lock. The air
pressure crowded the door shut at the east
end. At first it was blocked by a joist which
we pulled out, ard then the door slammed to.
Through the dead-eyes we could see the men
inside the tunnel: The water was fast rush
ing in. Peter Woodland, Assistant Superin-
tendent, stood at the door outside the lock,
which was stationary. It would not move
with US without knocking out the dead-eyes.
This would be fatal to the men outside, as the
water would rush in and drown the men In an
instant. Woodland knew this, but stood at
the door. His face was CHASTITY white, and
he realized the horrible danger. He said to
me: tom, quick, bust the dead-eyes and
do what YOU can for u.s. I knew it was
death to us all if did not, so I obeyed the
order. AS the glass broke the air rushed in,
and the lock shot out in the main shaft, leav-
ing the men to drown, as the space occupied
by the shaft filled with water in an instant.
We were wholly stripped OF our clothes
when we crawled out. l heard the rush Of
water at our back. 1t filed fast, but the OBJ
structions kept it back long enou h for US to
escape from the main shaft 1t was all we
standing in water up to his waist when saw
him. It was sure death, and l had to knock
out the dead eyes, as told you. He knew
as we'll as that it was all over with them. I
shall never forget the look on his face or the
sound of his voice as he told us to save our
<h.,v- nrvo of vvvos 70 iv,c,,
death"
Another Of the escaped workmen says:
"After eight men had escaped, one man, in
trying to pass through the door leading from
the air-lock into the temporary chamber of
the tunnel, was jsmmed in the doorway and,
be brought out, as the door closed upon Lin
and held him fast. Peter Woodland, As
sistant Superintendent, told the men to try
and get out, and, when the ninth man was
fastened in the doorway, called out to those
who had escaped, telling them to hurry and
try and get assistance to help the rest and
himself who were left behind. He refused
to leave himself, saying he would stay and
make every effort to get the rest out, and, If
it were not possible, then those escaping
must try to get the rest and himself out
alive"
The officers of the company, in explaining
the accident, say the workmen, in coming
through the air-lock, must have exercised
unusual carelessness, and, both doors of the
air-lock being opened at the same time, the
compressed air was allowed to escape. The
compressed air serves a double purpose,
namely, to keep the water out and to support
the roof of the tunnel So, when it escaped,
the catastrophe was inevitable.
The engineers and officials say that it Is
impossible for any of the imprisoned work
men to be alive, as the water within the
whole length of the tunnel is up to the roof,
and even above it. The laborers who are
making the excavation west OF the shaft
will, however, not cease their labors to get at
where the bodies are supposed to be but 1t is
impossible to force any air into the tunnel,
Is all which has been forced in so far has es-
capped through the shaft, in which it has
made the water leap up two or three feet
above the surface.
1t is feared this afternoon that only seven
men instead of eight men have been saved,
Is one, named Thomas Cummings, who was
reported by one of the workingmen to have
escaped, is now said to be missing.