The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-03-18
,rr,lPH OF 1N0Ilr1uR11gQ
ssory OF tho WORK On the Hoo
sac Tunnel.

-. story OF tho woe. On tne HOO
sac Tunnel.
r." Hoosac tunnel, with all the de.
Tns .;st.kes and disappointments con.
N.Y. III With it, is . grand achievement.
necse e." Of the great works Of our time.
tnvJ twenty passenger and ~ many
AIst raips pass through the tunnel
trels Every morning through this
d aI!. of the Green mountains roll
esr"gs whose wheels, the evening but
the I H"G,rc. began their revolutions at
ne .n;s beside the Father of Waters.
y. D .,',n three hundred cars daily car
Nor s.,;r ;,,,rien through this new ave-
w. tr,,;s;t. Following to q great
nue. :" tLc lire of the natural water
cA." ..s on the route, the easy grades
I'm. secured chealH!l the COST OF trans
'""..tion from California and Dakota,
w., thc corntielGs Of Illinois and the
'r!%"'".,tii,hl, Of Minnesota to Massachu-
WI" VIZ. Iay, and u cent less of freight on
's ..h h,i>hcl If grain or barrel OF flour
'a .,,. millions Of dollars saved to the
n' Of bread in New and Old
Englsnd.
rxORMITY OF THE WORK.
f for nothing else the tunnel would
l.. wortlly of notice as . triumph Of en-
M;,ssr;n:. Some may think that it was
s "iv a question Of Patrick with his drill
""i nlenty Of gunpOwder and time !;
.nI + at to 20 through mountain IL no
ANU ,.",,. than to go through q hill, or n
l lIort MEX cutting, except that the pro-
- /, heightened with the distance.
DIT ..tin,e is money" It would take
s,v years to 60 through the H0oeac
"",cuutain, beginning at any point On
"ne aide. and burrOwing to the other.
We could not wait for that. No one,
.ot even q State Government, would
ar csvilal into work the endOf which
r r.s TO- he reached only after half . CEN
,"ry. SO the tunnel must be begun at
, r,crc than one point. Here at once IL
involved a nice problem Of engineering.
W"rkiny simultaneously from opposite
.He. of the mountain, It is no longer
patrick narrowing through by what
.rer zirz,g course he may chance tn
tske but these tunnelings from OPP.
"osite sides must be 90 directed that
t,key shall finally meet, and fall into an
aclrste line If adjustment. How shall
This be done? As any one can zee, who
ives the matter moments thought, .
Iieht deviation from the mathematical
line required would cause the two arms
Of the tunnel to miss each other. The
width OF the tunnel IL twenty-f0ur feet.
It IS only necessary, therefore, for the
.pprm,ching excavations to swerve from
their true place Mt the point of expected
junction by anything more than half
that measure, or twelve feet, In order to
,lip b. c,r!, other, and 90 farther ;lsun-
.er. instead Of coming together. Who
will measure and set the angle which
shall determine the mOnlcntOus differ
en,r in such case between success and
failure: The tunnel is t0 be nearly five
miles long. Each channel from the OPP
,xsitc side If the mountain will, there
s,re. be nearly two miles and . half in
length.
DELICATE CALCULATION NEEDED.
The rrul.lcin, then, is to run two lines
ii excavation through mountain, with
no visible point in front to MIN ut, as
the engineer has in the open field. and
yet /" lave them - nearly cOincident
in .itr:iGn for Il distance of II; 900
:-! each that they will not miss eac',
othcr. but form one continuous whole.
No Crpaln,OOr rifle needs to tc aimed
~ nicely in ORDER to Init the bull's-eye.
No a.lnwanc" iiHr wind to swervc "r the
,s,wsr o; gr,vi,atiOn to draw down the
irll from its proper course render the
hr,rk:n:,n's problem 80 difficult Of so
luton rs Inc engineers in this case. An
rrr"r in the sighting Of his Instrument
amounting literally to a hair's-brcaslth
would send the arms Of his excavation
wide aS',n,ler into the bowels OF the
dark rock. leaving his tunnel no tunnel
al all. but only i worms track IN the
mountain. Bat the problem in tins m! II!
>tan:" Wa; : i'll further cs'nlilicateu. 10
hasten The completion Of the tunnel ny
providing addition faces on which the
workn,cI could Opc,,ltc, rs well as Tor
The purpose Of ventilation, 1t was de-
ler,nin:,l. az we have seen, to sink a
shat! from the top Of the mountain 10
the l"vc! o; tho tunnel, midway between
the twn ends. Two factors were thus III
once added tO the problem: First, {"
Tx $" accurately the point ON the moan:
tain al which 10 ie;yin the downward
excavation that when, after working ny
faith Jour years, the estimated time
necessary, the miners should have
r,arI'.'i the requisite depth. they would
nc in the exact line Of the projecte'' anu
PARTLY completed tunnel; and, second
~, from that pit in the depths Ut tile
mountain. to ln able to aim their course
~ either direction SO correctly a. to I've
sure Of meeting the company Of miners
approaching: them from both extremes
vi the tunnel. In short. here were four
tunnels to lc made at the base Ot the
mountain ut one and the same time,
another iron, the summit perpendicular
!" tl'c',. AMI all to he exactly III the
S'''c plane. on penalty of the failure o!
The entire enterprise! 1t was difilcuit
pr"h!rn. iIut it was solved most tri-
amr:lar.!y. When the headings from
The central shalt and from the eastern
portal came together, a. come tOge!h
They dill. their aliynmel,:s swerved iron!
each other by the almost iniinite:'''a'
space Of tivC-sixtCpnths Of an inch:
The Queens New Daughter in-Law'
Princess Helena is not at all beauty,