New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-07-28
HORRIBLE ACCIDENT!

Terrible F0tC Of q Number Of WOrknlen
In the Hudson River Tunnel-The Walls
+ Suddenly Give Way, and Twenty Men
Miserably Perlsh-IIerolc Conduct Of One
Of Their Number.
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
Jersey City, caved in, carrying with it an i'm
mense quantity of earth. Twenty-Five men
lost their lives, while eight had almost a
miraculous escape. The night gang Of thirty
men, including Observation-Disclosures
Woodland and two fremen, 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-fye feet, and, while most
OF the men were employed at the bottom of
the shaft, about third of the gang was
engaged on the brick wall of an arch twenty
five feet higher. 1t was the latter squad, all
bricklayers, 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
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 is list of the casualties :
Peter Woodland, Assistant Superintendent;
Frank Aleston, foreman; Thomas Burns,
foreman; A. dickson, Peter Feisher, Patrick
Kimin, Charles Nelson, William F. Bagley
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 Broderick.
The following Is a complete list of the
saved: Thomas Brady, 3. McGovern, A. j.
Moline, Thomas Cummings, Christ. Hansen,
J: Vannostrand, John Doyle and James
Hayes.
In addition to these, three men whose
names are not 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: "The main shaft is sixty feet
deep, and from the bottom of this shaft the
entrance to the tunnel is effected through q
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 :hrou gh pipes
from pumps. There is door in each end of
the air-lOck. They both open inward. At
each side Of the doors are round windows Of
thick glass, through which, from the outside
OF the atr-locks, view can be gained Of the
work and workmen inside the tunnel There
were twenty weight men at work in the tunnel
They went in at twelve o'clock last night for
the eight-hour shift. l was at work near
tho east end of the lock, and in the
west end Of the tunnel. 1t was at
about 4:D O'Clock that l heard the
bolts snap, and the braces give way. At the
same time felt rush of air in my face I
started back with seven Of the men who were
near me and ran into the lock- The air
pressure crowded the door shut at the east
end. At first it was blocked by jOist which
We pulled out, and 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. 1t 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. Hts face was CHASTITY white, and
he realized the horrible danger. He said to
me: tom, quick, bust the dcad-eyes, and
do what you can for u.s. l knew it was
death to us all If I did not, so / 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 we're wholly stripped of our clothes
! when we crawled out. l heard the rush OF
water at our back. It filled fast, but the OBJ
structions kept it back long enough for US tc
escape from the main shaft It was all we
| could do to save ourselves. Woodland was
standing In water UP to his waist when | saw
him. It was sure death, and I had to knocb
out the dead eyes, as l told you. He knew
| as well as l that 1t was all over with them.
shall never forget the look on his face or the
| sound of his voice as he told us to save our
selves though the very act was to insure III
| death"
Another of the escaped worl1ncn says
"After eight men had escaped one man. il
trying to pass through the door leading from
the air-lock into the temporary chamber 0
| despite the efforts of those ahead, could no
be brought out, as the door closed upon lin
and held him fast Peter Woodland, AS
sistant Superintendent, told the men to tr.
and get out, and, when the ninth man wa
fastened In the doorway, called out to thos'
who had escaped, telling them to hurry AM
try and get assistance to help the rest ant
! himself who were left behind. He refuse,
to leave himself, saying he would stay an,
make every effort to get the rest out, and, l
It were not possible, then those escaping
must try to get the rest and himself GU
alive"
The officers OF the company, IN explainin!
the accident, say the workmen, in comm!
through the air-lock, must have exercised
unusual carelessness, and, both doors of tn
| air-lOck being opened at the same Time, In
compressed air was allowed to escape. Th
compressed air serves double purpose
namely, to keep the water out and to supper
the roof of the tunnel So, when it escaped
the catastrophe was inevitable.
The engineers and officials say that 1t
impossible for any of the imprisoned work
men to be alive, as the water within til
whole length of the tunnel is up to the roo
and even above it. The laborers who al
making the excavation west Of the shat
will, however, not cease their }abors to get {
where the bodies are supposed to be, but 1t
impossible to force any air into the tunne
as all which has been forced in SO far has e.
capped through tho shaft, in which it hi
made the water leap up two or three fet
4 above the surface.
; It is feared this afternoon that only seve
men instead of eight men have been savet
IS one, named Thomas Cummings, who W.
reported by one of the workingmen to hay
escaped, is now said to be missing