New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-03
HOW TIE AQUEDUCT IS DUG
YORK ON THEsGREAT TUNNEL THAT WILL
RpING WATER TO THE CITY.

.,,r rrnorcH THREE THOUSAND FEET or TIE
me Tusr--PusHISG 1T INTO THE ROCK
now THE SHAFTS AND HEADINGS
ARE VENTILATED.
rsr,.r Clark of O'Brien & Clark, the Aqueduct
contractors. sand to TRIBUNE reporter IN recent
..,ya,s,t,en: aNo one who has not actually
v,s;,sd the Aoueduct. been down in the bowels Of
Aha earth and watched what is going on there with
This immense work, can form any true idea OF It's
,nacnitude and OF the manner in which the work IS
done Now this is a project In which take great
personal pride, and know, speaking on my reputa-
non "A "A contractor that the work is being well
done General Newton and his associates have 30
reported. wish YOU would drop up there yourself
IHyoa know good brick when you see It and good
mortar too, and can Tell a stone from hole in the
ground, you can use your eyes to advantage"
Mr. Clark's visitor decided to " drop up and see
for himself The direct route from the city is up
The Sixth OF Ninth Avenue Elevated Railroad to
One-hundred and fifty -ffth-st There a transfer is
made to the New York City and Northern Railroad.
and fifteen minutes ride takes to South
Yonkers where Shaft No. 1sla is situated. Just
after passing High Bridge the visitor gets his first
glimpse of O'Brien & Clark's eighteen miles of the
thirty-two miles of the water tunnel. Looking
across the river some 500 feet above High Bridge.
he sees hole in the rocky side of the hill This
extends lou reef unutT IDt NIL anu lnulCateS tne
point at which the tunnel viii emerge from under
the Harlem River.
Alghting at South Yonkers, the visitor sees
several barn-like one-story structures. One Of
these is a supply store. others devoted to the
machinery which affords ventilation. compressed
Dir for drills and electric light for section of
the AQueduct In a general way the machinery.
mer, measures and means forming the Characters
tics of ework at one shaft asampeOf those at
the others A complete exhibition of local life on
the Aqueduct be in passing by the buildings
spoken of and tramDiug up dusty road to a point
quarter of a mile above the village. Leaving the
dust at this point, the visitor threads his way
through a narrow path lined with weeds
stumbles over heaps Of rocky excavations from the
tunnel. and first comes upon what appears TO be
another barn. The building is perhaps so by 80
feet; II is the hotel OF large number of the eco
men at work at Shaft No. lSl2 few rods away
is low tool-bouse. Beyond this begins to
encounter bricks to the right of him, bricks TO the
left of him, bricks sill around him. piled -and well
burned. a skilled eye fails to see any soft or
poorly burned brick If there any such. car5
must have been taken to leave them cut Of sight
These to form part of the lining Of the
Aqueduct. The visitor here meets General Fore
men Dinsmore. sun-burned man of middle life.
specialized, active with a grip Of iron in ais hand
and great deal or intel gence in his eye. A oass
duly authenticated induces him to disappear and
quickly reappear with piece of tallow candle and
say All right. Follow me-"
DARKNESS SCARCELY LIT UP.
This is the simple preliminary to descent into
the earth far below the rays of the At this
particular spot a special shaft has been sunk by
the contractors at their own expense. because
churchman's terror, soft spot, has been en-
countered. QuicKsand is the main feature of it,
81 Inv
the safest means is to put down a shaft and shut
ont the sand by strong timbers. The shaft. there
FORE is ot-numbered. but is adjacent to No. lSL2
InGress and e1ress are made by means of short
ladders connecting narrow landings Down this
hole Mr.. Dlnsmore disappears and his visitor. with
little hutter at tine heart and a little weakness at
TIE knees, follows hard upon him. One ladder Is
passed. however. and then the first landing. in
comparative calm and comfort. The second leads
into dimness the third into gloom. the fourth into
night and mud and dripping water. Still down and
down until the last ladder is reached. detour
is made here. the visitor crouches low possible,
crreps undera hinge beam, his hands planted in the
mud, and finally. after much cropping. he gets his
feet on the top Of the ladder and with a sigh OF
relief is informed By voice somewhere above
gmmering bit Of candle light that bottom las been
struck.
And what bottom and what hole Drip, drip,
drip is the only sound that tho first recognizes
After standing a moment The visitor finds a little
of vision creeping over hlm. In the dim candle
light he discovers, hat his feet have already
told him. that he is standing a plank Then he
sees an archway extending over him and reaching
out into the unknown beyond far away he now
observes glimmering lights. few and far between
then short sharp grating sounds striks his ear
then comes n ouf-puf-Duf. strangely like the
sounds from a steam drill Yes. th Is in
habited Human beings are at work 10 the remote,
uncertain distance.
This discovery breaks the appalling sense Of the
darkness An inspection shows the
accustomed eye that a plank flooring extends
along the bottom of the tunnel, and either side
are narrow tracks for which carry bricks and
stone and sand and lime. pipe some ak inches In
diameter along one side near the bottom; near
the TOP is huge pipe. foot and half through.
The tunnel seems some eighteen feet high At this
point il Is lined and stayed with great tifnbers all
uniform all at equal distances-ha rdy a foot
apart-built stanchly lup to support the rock and
earth above. This is the condition of the tunnel
after il has been dug and before the heavy rubbe
work and the brick lining have been put
WATER AND MUD. BUT PURE AIR
The guide starts out into the darkness toward the
lights in the distance His visitor follows close to
his heels The tallow light iickers and every other
second disappears There Is a strong draft OF air
through the tunnel There is good thing about
this dark hole-the air is pure and bracng. Mr..
Dinsmore explains that this is due to the big pipe
above. That is the air shaft Immense reversible
fans outside, propelled by machinery, force pure
air through the shaft OF exhaust impure air after
an explosion. A perpetual current is thus kept up
aud the air kept pure The visitor nearly drops
through hole into water and mud while listening
TO this and then grOpes The mud the
panking Is bis shoes-so II feels: reality 1t
Is Dot more than two inches deepi water Is