Omaha daily bee., 1882-10-13
AN ENG1NEBR's DISEASE
The Sufferings of Roebling. the Greet
Bridge Builder.

New York sun.
"What is Chief Engineer Roebling'f
| diseased" was asked Of an engineer OF
ths East River Bridge.
ga very rare one" he replJ ed. 1t
is the caiseon disease, the res lt OF n
during a high atmospheric pressure.
You know that these two great granite
piers rest to-day on wooden boxes,
turned bottom upward, called caissons
| These we're constructed with the name
horizontal dimensions as the to wers.
| For instance, that on the New York
side was 102 by 172 feet, and was nine
feet high. The roof of tho caisson or
the bottom of the box, was made
twenty-five feet thick, IT solid timber,
bolted together. The caisson was
built on ways, launched like a chip,
and when towed to the point where
the pier was to be located, courses of
granite blocks we're laid upon the top,
and by this means it was sunk until ii
rested on the bed of the river. Then
air was forced into the chamber Of the
caisson by engines on the shore until
the water was displaced and the river
bed lett bare. This pressure was
maintained day and night, and work
men were employed digging out the
earth from beneath the caisson, so
that it should gradually and evenly
descend. As the caisson settled, the
masonry on it was built up, 80 that
the top of the stone work was always
atove water.
"A good foundation was not reached
on the New York side until we reach.
ed a depth of seventy eight feet. Of
course woakmen had to work in this
compressed air, and the chief engineer
was with them, as he was anxious that
no mistake should be made at the
foundation of the piers. The pressure
of air required to keep the water out
| of the calsson increased in exact pro.
portion to the depth. When the dig.
ging was begun, the caisson being
covered by forty feet of water, the
pressure was about eighteen pounds to
the square inch, but it reached thirty
six pounds before the close"
"Did this pressure affect the health
| of others?'
Every seriously. Some are to-day
hopeless invalids like the chief engi-
neer. A number died, and only the
most robust fully recovered. In four
months there were ITO cases. Here
is a medical definition of the disease:
1t is an ailment depending upon in,
creased atmospheric pressure, but
always developed after the pressure is
removed. IL is characterized by ex-
IRENE pain in one or more of the ex'
tremitier, and sometimes in the trunks
which may or may not be associated
with epigastic pain and vomiting. Ir
some cases the rain is accompanied
by paralysis more or less complete,
which may be general or local
but is most frequently confined
to! THE lower half of the body,
Cerebral symptoms, such as headache
and vertigo, are sometimes present
In fatal cases the symptoms are con
nected with congestion of the brair
spinal cord, often resulting in serious
bhukuitlcouo chunloA oho SoiiSooctoh
of most of the abdominal viscera. Tit
chief engineer has the disease in ar
acute form, accompanied by intense
neuralgia pains, which seem as though
the flesh we're being torn from the
bones. The pain is remittent anc
paroxysmal, especially if he at
tempts to mo7e In the last year Oh
two he has been able to move at times
with less pain, but he has suffered
from a mild paralysis which has KEEP
him a prisoner at home. You know
he never saw the towers and cableI
until he caught sight of them from
soft bed on the deck of the canal boa
upon which he was towed on the wa.
from home in New Jersey when h
changed his residence to Brooklyn
With him the cerebral symptoms hav'
not been 30 acute, and fortunately hi
brain has been clear, although he ha
had headache and dizziness. ii,
knows everything that goes on abou
the bridge, and he takes a deep inter
est in it. The disease has wrecked
his physical life, and many a maj
would have prayed for death, but hi
keen intellect has found a stimulant il
the expectation of having his nam,
linked with the greatest suspension
bridge in the world, and but for thi
l believe he would care very little 70
this world"