Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-09-25
IN TINE AQUEDUCT TUNNEL.
Lieut. Townsend Goes Down % Begin
His investigation.

10 DRILL HOLES THROUGH TIE BRICK ARcHrNa-BK.
GINNING AT POINT FIVE HUNDRED FEET FROM TIL
cHAMPLs1N AVENUE sBAFr-AN EXAMINATION
THAT MAY REQUIRE WEEKS
ayes, III go down to-day" said Lieut.. Town
send, when STAR reporter met him at the aQue-
duct Office about O'Clock. He referred to the
aqueduct tunnel, and his purpose was to begin
the examination to determine the truth OF the
charges that work on the brick lining and tunnel.
ing has been done carelessly and slightingly
Lieut.. Townsend was not well to-day, and is under
the doctors care. He came to the ONCE with
his throat bound up, and so there was some doubt
about his ventur1ng into the damp, lugubrious
depths OF the tunnel. ut is no damper inside the
tunnel to-day" he remarked ''than outside" SO
o 1hs Oraefsd his put on
drew on q pair OF rubber boots and thus armed
against the slush and the smut OF the tunnel,
drove his gray mare out to the Champlain avenue
shaft
There group OF reporters, Mr. Palmer, one OF
the suDcontractors, representative OF Beckwith &
Quackenbush, were waiting for the lieutenant.
Down at the bottom OF the deep shaft were lurid
Spots REPRESENTING workingmen with smoking
lamps In their hats. The party with the leuten-
ant huddled together in the greasy black cage
and were shot down the shaft to the level OF the
tunnel They carried smoking miners lamps
and presented a strange looking sight, they fol
lowed the lieutenant through a long stretch OF
damp tunnel, now and then wading through mud
or balancing themselves on the railing. A car,
drawn oy a weird looking mule, rapidly appeared
OUT OF the darkness 1t took up nearly the whole
section Of the tunnel 80 the visitors had TO atten
themselves out against damp side wall.
WHERE THE WORK WAS BEGUN.
Five hundred feet east Of the shaft the lieutenant
stopped. This was the point where he proposed
to begin his work Of drilling through TIL brick
arch and the rubble masonry packing above TO see
whether any interSticeS had been left unfiIed be-
nrk nd N Cn1i
AT this point there was a white mark on the wall
like mile-post, indicating the distance from the
shaft.
There were laborers present to assist Lieutenant
Townsend, and he soon laid out his plan OF work,
which was extremely simple. Timber was already
his men could WORK. Lieut.. TOWNSEND arr aefi
matters so as to begin this afternoon, and ex-
pected when The STAR reporter left to drill at
plan is to have two wOrkmen to drive an
ordinary 2-inch hand drill through the key Of
the brick arch overhead and through the masonry
above. The extent Of the masonry filling OF
course varies, as in blasting In some parts
more rock would come out than in others.
Lieut. Townsend began at the point in
work is found that is brought into question by
the charges referred 10 In yesterdays STAR. At
eighteen inches thick, from which springs the
arch OF brick forming the roof Of the tunnel.
There are two rings OF brick
1T MAY TAKE WEEKS.
Lieut.. Townsend, talking with The STAR reporter,
said that his investigation may require weeks.
The drilling is a slow process. 1t will take an
hour or more for each hole, and 1t may be neces-
sary TO dill a great many holes The section
of work that he will first examine is about
500 feet long. The work may be delayed some,
too, he thought, because the scaffoid will be in
the way OF the cars that have to run through the
tunnel in cOnnec ion with the work going on.
Unless the scafold Is very the roof IL Will be
an obstruction, and If 1t is placed near the roof
the men will not have room to operate the drill on
it, Hence it Is possible that the work OF investi-
cation, or most Oh 1t, may have TO be done
on sunday, when the wOrkmen are not engaged In
the tunnel
NOT INFORMED OF THE CHARGES.
Major Lydecker, who is In charge of the aQue-
duct, said this afternoon that he had not yet had
any Official notice that any charges had been
made respecting the work In the tunnel