New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-02-02


a terrific onslaught from the lake, but the massive
walls resist il, till the water in the first chamber
is on level with the crest of the dam. Then the
great gates near the bottom of the chamber are
cautiously opened. The water, under heavy
pressure, sweeps through into the second chamber
roaring terribly, but here it is again checked only
to be allowed 10 pass when quieter into third
chamber, and fourth In the last chamber it
passes through enormous straners of brass, which
keep back all the trash that may have drifted in
The gate-house is a study in itself. 1t is O.
mastery piece of engineering. Like Solomon's
Temple, it was built without the sound of chisel
OF hammer on the stone used in the construction
of its walls. Every piece, designed IN the Office
of Mr.. Fteley, cut by quarrymen in Maine to
fit o certain place, and the masons had only to
lay the courses according to specifications and bind
them together with cement.
Through hole in the floor the tourists plunged
down, down, down winding-stair, till they were
dizzy with winding; then down ladder; then
down a rope, sailor-fashion, Northumberland, till
they stood beneath the great brass straners BEFORE
them, less than six feet away was the portal of
the aqueduct, big, hollow black; shaped like
horseshoe set up on its heels, wide enough lor
ten men to walk abreast and tall enough Tor
locomotive with funnel erect. Candles were
lighted, hats were pulled down, and Dootiegs
pulled up The tourists stepped inside, gave
last look at the gatehouse, and wheeling round
started for Central Park, thirty-three miles away
THROUGH THE DIAPHRAGM
Fifty feet from the portal the aqueduct Is
planked up temporarily from the bottom Oh the
invert to the crown of the arch and entrance W
the tunnel is gained by narrow hVtie uooi
through which the wind huns mournfully, putting
out the lights they attempt to pass. Onoe
inside the door is closed, the wind Is uainineu
and the candles ore relghted. The hole Is as
dark as Erebus. The pupil dilates slowly, OuU
by and by takes in the empty blackness' lnelc
is no perspective. Everything Is DIailiN ni'S
feet away The side walls, the moor ana U'ic
arch near at hand are easily dscernlole' puO 'heS
are black and reflect not. Directly aheau oiic
eye looks into nebulous cone which constantly
advances. ever reckoning the traveller on, IKE
an "ignis fatuus." The tunnel starts east"aru'
but curves rapidly to the south, turning an angie
Of 40 DEGREES in n distance Of 200 feet, then 1t
starts off on a tangent nine and half miles long
On the uninitiated this curve produces curious
hallucination 1t seems never to stop, but curves
ON and on till it becomes a spiral The eye loses
all sense Of direction. If the Ticker OF Il c~nu'
is seen far beyond the apex of the cone III Is Vno
most natural thing in the world to s'ep 10 Vic
opposite side of the tunnel in order to get oeO'e
view of it, This is done unconsciously again anu
again, silly as it may seem.
The marty walks on with rapid, steady-no, not
steady-stride The bottom Of the tunnel IS Ike
the bottom of washbowl, a depressed arch III
verted, therefore briefly termed the lhVert' Ane
centre is eighteen inches lower than tne euHeS'
consequently the water that leaks in forms
little river, which has sloplng oahK OIL eiViei
side. Walking in this river soon becomes LABOR
ID; Mr. IL ont
are In places so narrow that there is room ior only
one foot They are used to it, and seem TO get
on easily with sort of hopstep one foot Always
being lower than the other, owing to the slope
The reporter tries it, and spraws about helplessy'
soraping his shoulder against the wall one mohehu
and the next tobogganing down TO the lhluule VI
the river, waving his arms wildly for balance
After many scrapes and slips he learns the ulcK
walking ON the bank and progress then Is not 30
difficult. The heels of his borrowed boots long
accustomed to slip and slope, have been worn to
fit the invert and as soon he discovers this his
troubles tighten, But he finds frequent change
of bank necessary to his happiness. By long mop
stepping on the right bank his left leg becomes
elongated, while his right becomes foreshortened
to an alarming degree He begins to feel like
man with white swelling, or hip disease, To
change this he fords the stream and obtains
and the left foreshsrtening
HOW THE TUNNEL WEEPS
The water, which at the portal was only two
inches deep, gradually deepens, encroaching al
ways on the narrow banks. The tunnel weeps
continually. 1t is excessively lachrymose. Fortu-
nately, owing to its peculiar construction, it
drinks all its tears, which join its little river,
swelling it all the time. The eyes with which 1t
weeps are rightly called weepers, being small
rectangular openings in the side walls, through
which all the water collected and collecting on the
outside of the masonry pours into the inside. BY
means of them many thousand gallons are added
to the Croton supply daily. Often did the re-
porter kneel beside these weepers and MI to the
brim with pure spring water, IIeSn IRON inc neaIJ
Of the hills.
Progress is measured by white porcelain plates
having black figures burned into them and screwed
TO the last wall every 500 feet. The portal at
the Catehouse being at zero each 2Iate repre-
sents a multiple of 800. All will be under water
when the great gate swings open, but they
plates are called stations. When an engineer
orders that leak at Station ESQ plus 10 be
stopped, the contractor knows that The spot is
exactly 25075 feet, little less IMAM I'VE miles,
from the gatehouse.
AS the tourists walk they talk. Their voices are
low, vet the tunnel huns as beehive huns when
its colony is agitated Occasionally, In the course
of its m0dulations, voice strikes certain pltch
which causes an intense vibration. .
:" The tunnel has key Of its own" says Mr..
Rice and forthwith he proceeds TO search for it
in all the compass of his voice. The " dome-sol-
don Is given in every key, ma jor and minor, but
the echo 's spos the chord and little is gained
The wooden partition near the portaI, is only halI
a mile in the rear, and acting as Diaphragm or
SOUNDING hoard il checks the reverberations. y
Gentle q Helloa is answered with a startling dis
finctness. Words, sentences and phrases, are re-
peated with an accuracy and cearness mat lar
eclinse The phonograph. whisper travels hail "A
mile in the black air and steals back 10 tingle the
ear with its sibilaton. The reporter is provided
with complete orchestral tuning-fork ana
harmonica-and he employs it with astounding
effect. No German band could ever hope to flood
The earth with music that harmonlca In Is does.
If there be spirits in the bowels OF the earth tney
,nust dance to the tunes that confuse and spnt
LiuoO ~a1o,o, 81, Tho funnel ouiverS and