The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-11-02
THE BIG TUNNEL OPRN.
The Two Gangs Met Mt 7 o'elOek Las
.Hlght-To-Day's JOlllacatiou.

Ihh Blu IpNNhL VfhN'
The Two Gangs Met ut ! o'clock Last
.Glsht-To-p Days JOlliilcation.
According to the expectations and
predictions Of the engineers in charge
Of the work, the two forces Of men at
work in the big tunnel OF the
Union bridge terminal system
met yesterday, II was expected
that a hole would be knocked through
about o'clock yesterday afternoon, but
it was not till the 7 o'clock charge Of
dynamite was fired that the rock was
split asundeT so that passage could be
had from one side 10 the other,
DR.. Charles NJ. Frissell, who has charge
OF all the men who are hurt in the tul-
nels, Is said to have had the honor OF
pressing the button that sent the
electric spark 70 the dynamite,
the explosion Of which opened
up the big hole in the ground, Patrick
Haley, the jolly foreman OF the heading
gang working In the raVine end at the
time OF establishing communication,
was the frst man TO through the hole,
and a tough time he had OF Il too, his ex'
perience being somethinglike that OF the
camel In the eye OF needle. SO tight
was the squeeze that Haley lost his
pants and was pulled through on the
other side In very disaguTed condition,
but still happy because he was the hTst
man through. AS soon as tho hole had
been enlarged Q regular procession pass
ed through both ways.
This tunnel is 1908 feet long and the
force employed at the Peninsular end
had gotten 900 feet Of that distance
when the meeting took place last night,
The heading In the Peninsula end was
commenced about the middle Of last
March, while work on the ra,
vine heading, WRs not started
till about one month later,
They were sadly deferred In the Pc
ninsula end by running into the bottom
of a deserted coal bank, which first
threated to inundate them and then
bury them. AT that point the timber
ling Is almost solid.
Tom 0'Conners was the foreman In
: charge Of tho heading gangin the PENN,
! sulaeNd who first gave Haley. q hand
and helped pull him through yesterday
| Both heading forces worked Ike Turks
) yesterday, those In the rayine making
, fifteen feet while the gang in the othel
/, end made twelve feet,
. AS soon as the first excitement wa
0 over the night shifts, in charge o
Y Martin Fallen and Ed Tooliu
went to work, the lolliACatlop hejnI
postDoned till to-day, when Paige
Carey h Company, the contractors
j. propose giving oil the tuAnel ppp
y holiday which will include some prom
ised kegs Of beer to be drunk to the con
: tinued success e the big enterprise
9 There will he r great time among IL
d tunnel men to-day,
Yesterday saw the completion OF tn
bridge over the creek out on the PENN
sula, and last evening after the openin
was made a party Of the engineers walk
i ed through from the Top mill i
D the eastern bank OF the creek
5 Last pppth'g work was the biggea
9 ever done and every one Is proud 9th
Q results. Frank Moran, the head boss o
y all the tunnel work, the engineers RICH
q hand man, was one II the proudest mel
In town last night. His generous natur
s would not, however, permit him to re
o ceive all the praise, and he insisted tina
0 John pougher, Pat Haley, Tom o'Con
Q ners, Pat Q'Brien, Chris, Fishly, Mar
4 tin Doyle, John Oates, John Gallagher
I jim Kelly, John Leonard and JOIN
/ Akers, the several walking bosses
!. and hcadingandbench foremen, DO glvel
4 Il Ill r. A II.
: mRbnerin Which they handled thei
/. men and got good work out Of them
I Moran also wanted q good word said 70
i. Pete r. Haley, the Jolly store keeper
who Is eyerybody's friend,
Tho work Of clearing out tho bepphe
!. and having everything ready for lh
J. rails will ile SAne by December !. TIL
i calculations of the engineers as proyei
s by yesterdays meeting were very &C
/. CuFAtp