New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-07-22
one thing, reioined the young workman. with a


Near the shaft numbers of women and children
were seen sitting upon piles of lumber and heaps OF
earth Many OF the women had brought their
young infants with them. and the happy faces
of the children contrasted painfully with
the sad oountenances OF tho mothers One
old lady wandered to and fro. with her hands
held up 10 her eyes, seemingly in great distress On
heap Of empty kegs and rusty machinery, and on
pile of bricks to be used in the construction of the
tunnel sat stood crowd of people all the after
noon The officers of the Second Precinct preserved
order. keeping the crowd outside the mprOvised
barrier of ropes.
BEGiNNISG THE WORK OF EXCAVATION.
The thirty work men kept steadily at their task
with pick and shovel, expecting to be relieved at
o'clock. Tramways of planks were laid and
constant succession Of laden barrOws bore
away the earth from the excavation. IN
the centre of the depression caused by
the caving in OF the tunnel was pool
of discolored water. the surface of which
covered with sticks and splrniers from the end
of the shed which had fallen. Although there was
no hope of reaching the bodies of the dead men for
many hours, If not days, the crowd
patiently watched the workmen, among whom
there was little conversation. All seemed I'M
pressed with the solemnity of the occasion. and
apparently thought that they must work a. rapidly
as possible. The depth of the water IN the shalt
and pool varied the tide rose and fell, its move
ment IN each case being slower than the change
of level of the river on account oil
the mud through which it had to filter The
shaft aud pool were filled with surface water. the
outer end OF the tunnel being pronounced by the
engineers still perfectly secure. An old lady. IN
a blue shaker and "A checked apron, approached the
pit weeping bitterly and wringIng her hand, and
tnnra
any hope of saving the lives of the unfortunate
persons wao lay thirty feet beneath the ground.
"Tae accident will not interfere permanently
with the work." SAID G. w. Cliff, mechanical engl-
neer IN charge of the machinery OF the tunnel nor
will 1t change our plan of construction. The pumps
will be able to draw the water off We have bad
leaks before. On one occasion three carloads OF
earth caved in, but the damage was repaired in
three or four days"
TWO ENGINEERS OPINIONS.
An experienced engineer and inventor who was
present spoke against the system employed in con
structing this tunnel, saying that CAPTAIN
Eads and other prominent men disapproved
of it. "The idea is impracricable," he
said. The tunnellng is through silt or
soft mud The opinion of Mr.. Haskn is that the
compressed air will keep back the mud. But the
engineers nave always said that the compressed AIR
came in at the bottom. Mr.. Haskin thinks that he
can the principle in constructing a tunnel
horizontally that is employed in putting down
a calsson vertically / could mention prominent
engineers who have told me that they disliked the
system and distrusted 1T. They have put half
million dollars into this hole and have nothing TO
show for it,"
Charles K. Emery, an engineer Of this city, and
Government steamboat inspector, who was at the
scene of the disaster. was asked by TRIBUNE re-
porter if he thought that the disaster could have
been avoided Mr.. Emery said:
1T is one gratifying feature of su3h unfortun-
ate affair that the engineering plans are shown TO
be sound. But now that the accident has happened
it would seem that in the retrOgrade movement the
faiure-if failure it can be called-was made. 1t
would now seem that they ought to have built their
main archway FIRST before completing a part of the
tunnel further on. If this had been done by open
shalt the present calamity. of course. woud have
been avoided But they undoubtedly did
that which anyone else would have done under
the circumstances. The greater danger If the ap-
proach as compared with the tunnel work was that
the former was wide arch, while the tunnel
proper consisted of two distinct por ions. Thus
there more danger, and II needed much greater
care The result now shows in my opinion that 1t
would have been better to have built the approach
from the surface and then to have built the double
tunnel. They are obliged to do from the surface
now for the purpose Of getting the bodies. wnat
1t seems ought to have been done on the start"
As the work advanced the crowd driven
further back by the police, although women and
boys kept peering INTO the windows OF the shed.
The places OF vantage on the pile of bricks had to
be abandoned. Planks brought ana aced
over the pool. and workmen in long rubber boots
oil tha haIl roda NJ
iron TO the depth Of eighteen feet,
his was preliminary measure to
the construction of the coffer-dam. The
crowd of sight-seers increased as the afternoon
wore on. group OF five women and two girls
stood for q long time the rope, regardless of
fatigue.
A pulley was rugged upon the edge of the shed
for the support of the electric lamp. By which the
work was to be carried on at night
THE OFFICERS IN CONSULTATION.
Late in the afternoon there was a meeting of
several engineers In an upper room of the sned.
There were present MesSrs Haskin. Spielman,
PANE and COwes At the end If the meeting Mr..
Haskin stated to the reporter that the object of the
consultation was merely to determine the best
and quickest plan of getting out the
bodies of the buried men. every available man
will be put to work." he said. Unless an approach
can be made through the air lock, cOHer-dam will
be sunk. If plan fails shall have
the other. and shall 90 TO work
at both with all possible dispatch. There
is nothing to indicate that the water the shaft
and the PIT comes from the end of the tunnel
This water is all from the surface. We shall have
IL pumped out, hope. by Tomorrow, and be
de then t. get the bodies which are covered by
the earth caving inn
At6p m. surveyors were at work taking BEARINGS
with theOdolites, Cor the sinking of the cOffrr-dam
Heavy timbers hauled up by means of pulleys.
Before sunset the men had stopped digging 1t was
flood tide and the IN the pool and shaft was
very high. All attention Turned TO the prepa-
rations for the pumps. Later the electric light