St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-09
A BIG SCARE.
approximations OF the Destruction
Of the Falls of ST. Anthony.

has been agitated or disturbed by undue OF
lugubrious excitement. Still fresh and
green in the memory of all who resided
here something like dozen years ago Is the
excitement, which bOrdered upon a Nerlta-
Die panic. incident to the East size chute
tunnel scare Business was temporarily
SUSPENDED. Capitalists engaged III the cree
ton of fine business blocks and elegant resi-
dences ordered the contractors to discontinue
work.
Eyervbodv's undivided attention was
riyeted to the tunnel, through which
mighty torrent was rushing, threatening to
undermine and utterly demolish the ledge
system which supports and perpetuateS the
fails. 4 small and seemingly lnslgnlncant
vein of water which led to the river above
the falls had been cut in digging the tun-
mel. and from a stream Of an inch or so III
depth it developed into
\ TERRIFIC FLOOD.
washing out the soft sand rock beneath the
ledge as tornado scatters the
light dust on a prairie. The city
and the government engineers directed their
attention to averting the pending calamity.
Should the falls be swept away, the indus
Try as well as the prosperity OF the city
would be greatly injured. Huge pumps
We're set at work and hundreds OF loads OF
matter were thrown into the yaWnlng
chaSln which was rapidly widening. For
tunately the combined skill OF the engineers
succeeded in deviSing means for stopping
the break. and the opening was cemented
so strong that the accident can never occur
again. Business was resumed and the eX-
element gradually abated.
1t is not generally known, but it is none
the less true that the city was yesterday
upon the verge Of a resurrection OF the
WILD EXCITEMENT
Of the days recounted above. The Tribune
Inadvertently published sensational arti-
Gle respecting the condition of the great
North Minneapolis sewer tunnel, with
which piece of engineering work the read
ers of the GLOBE have been famlllariZed.
1t stated that 1.-The big sewer tunnel was
converted into roaring river" that the
sewer was "a new outlet Tor
the Mississippi" etc. Judge OF
the unmitigated CONSERVATION of the Pills
burys, w. ". Eastman, Farnham q Love-
10y, Washburn, Crosby & Co., The BaSsetts,
md in fact all the prominent mill owners
Who had passed through the chute tunnel
ordeal, when they read the sensational az
icle Naturally they dreaded recurrence
Of the dangerous break in the river. They
reasoned that the sewer is being built on a
level forty feet below the level of the river
above the falls: that the substance through
which the contractors were digging is sand
rock. easily disintegrated, and pervious to the
penetration of water; that in all Likelihood
had stream Of water leading to the river
been opened III the excavation, the water,
with its forty feet fall, must rush sooner or
later with tremendous force through the
aperture and eliminate in destroying the
falls with its
MIGHTY WATER POWER
(135, 600 horse-power,) and consequently
bankrupt the manufacturing industries
with which they are identified. Yesterday
morning the assistant United States civil
engineer, Civil Engineer Rinker, Engineer
VanGuzee, in charge Of the sewer depart
ment, S. W. Farnham Of the water
commission, Aid. Cooley, Aid. Hashow,
Aid. Lawrence and other city officials went
to the sewer tunnel to make a searching in
spection. They found that a volume of
water flowing at the rate of 40, 900 gallons
per minute was pouring from the mouth OF
the tunnel. The sewer has penetrated the
bowels OF the earth for distance of 1,400
feet, of which about nine hundred feet was
wet. The question which agitated them,
and the one on which alone hinged the I'M
portance OF the whole matter, was the source
of the water Aid. HashOW suggested
that fifteen years ago the territory under
which the system Of excavation is now be-
inc conducted was q wet marsh and at
times a lake OF water. He reminded those
present that the ledge is filled with seams,
and that for
THOUSANDS OF YEARS
the water had been working its way slowly
downward through the assures into the
perviOus sand rock stratum below, and now
that an outlet had been created it naturally
flowed toward the river.
Aid. Cooley was impressed with similar
theory, and to fully satisfy himself OF the
tenableness of his position he procured
bottle Of water, which he purposes analyZ-
ing. If it is free from the salts of iron OF
mineral elements he will accord that it is
possible that it is river water, but if it is
strongly pregnated with mineral he will
urge that it is the water which has settled
down from the lake mentioned.
Engineer Waters, however differed from
the theory proposed. He stated that he
was positive that the seams in the ledge Of
rocks only existed specifically; that the
lower portion OF the stratum is
SOLID AND IMPERvIoUS,
and to sustain that position Mr.. Hawkins,
the contractor explained that he had
drilled and sunk a siX-inch shaft from the
surface into the tunnel and that stream
of water poured in with such force that it
threatened to drive them from their work.
and continued to flow until the shaft had
been securely sealed up. Mr.. Farnham
saw indications which occasioned him
great alarm. He said that should the sewer
i II
out his entire business interests in the city
and migrate to other quarters. He men
toned the fact that when the tail race
washed out at the Pillsbury mills the sand
was swept away in such vast quantities
that the surface of the earth sunk and that
one of the mills narrowly escaped being
tumbled to the ground in wreck. On the
other hand the assistant government engi-
neer
SAW NOTHING ALARMING
in the condition at. the tunnel. Quite a
novel theory was that advanced by Aid.
Lawrence. He believed that the streams
cut in the tunnel had for fountain head
the lake system of Western Hen
nepin county. Said he: 1--WE
struck one Of those veins in sinking
shaft for well on Tenth street, and sue
ceeded III getting an endless supply of pure
water. Mr.. Eastman refused to be com
forted or assured. He thought it the in
cumbent duty Of the city council to order
the sewer project vacated and the hole Sc
eurely plugged up.
Adjourning from the sewer to the CITY
council chamber secret meeting
was held. Only interested prop
erty owners and city officials
were admitted. They remained in session
for nearly three hours, and upon being ap-
preached after adjournment by the reporter
those participating in the star chamber
proceedings only answered indirectly and
evasively. 1t appears that they had agreed