Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-02-19
DIGGING TUNNELS.
THE PRESSURE MEN BEAR WHILE
WORKING UNDER WATER.

Peculiar Sensations and Sometimes Fatal
Results-Tunneling Through . Water
Hole Under the Hudson River-Interest-
ing Talk With an Air Lock Worker.
Laboring on the firm earth, with "all
out OF doors" to breathe, perspiring and
maybap grumbling at ones hard luck,
q person seldom, if ever, stops to think
that men work day after day deep down
i'll the water or the mud, with none but
artificial light to guide their move
ments and only the air that is pumped
to breathe.
People who work in the open air
would have only to work TO: short
time IN :. divers suit. Il caisson or sn
..if !Cck, getting Il taste Of what 1t is
like and how it feels, to be cured forev-
er Of grumbling at their lot and to thank
their lucky stars that it has been or
dained that they work on top of the
earth. The work Of diver, his sensa-
tons while under water and his expert
ences have often been written about,
but those Of the air lock and caisson
worker have not. While he does not
lines, as does the diver, he stays down
longer, gets warmer, and his great dam
ger lies in the stagnation of blood and
paralysis, resulting from the change Of
atmosphere.
Mr. r. &. Rapier Of East Cambridge
is an air lock worker and talks most IN
terestingly. His work was mainly in the
air locks used in building the great Hud-
son river tunnel. To a reporter he talk
| cd of some of the sensations, dangers and
experiences. He said that, while man
| working on the surface of the earth
bears up an atmospheric pressure of 15
pounds to the inch, men in the locks
bear a pressure of from 10 to so pounds
| Of compressed air, according to the
| depth. The heaviest pressure ever work
| ed under was borne by five divers on
the Swedish coast-65 pounds Four of
these died five minutes after coming out.
While as a general thing the diver
stands not nearly that amount of pres
sure and seldom stays down more than
two hours, the men in the Hudson river
tunnel stood pressure of from As to
46hs pounds and worked in four hour
shifts. Some men staid down go hours
at stretch, but did not work all the
time, ard Superintendent Haskins once
staid down "a hours. The sensations
experienced are peculiar. When q man
first steps in, there is tingling i'll the
ears and q pain in the head, and when
he talks it is apparently through the
nose. This is caused by the pressure,
1 = H. II. 81
close the mouth and blow against the
ears This relieves the pain and stops
the sensation. When the pressure is all
on, the worker feels all right and expe-
riences no discomfort. Then there is a
sort of exhilaration, and a man does
more work in the lock than he could do
outside.
Another peculiar thing about the &C.
ton Of the pressure is that q man may
have liquor enough aboard when out
side to just make him feel jolly, but
when he steps into the lock he is as
drunk as q loon. The danger lies in
coming out of the pressure into the open
air. 1t is then that q man is apt to suf-
fer from stagnation of the blood and
paralysis, caused by the change of at.
mosphere. Besides this a man may be
attacked in the head or stomach with
severe pains. Three out of five cases
where the head and stomach are attack.
cd result fatally.
Another severe malady resulting from
the change is what is called the bends.
This is the air getting in between the
flesh and the bone. 1t is extremely pain.
full and SO severe that a quart of whisky
administered in half an hour would not
intoxicate the patient. The stagnation
and paralysis are the worst dangers
and do the work quickly. Many mer
have been keeled over by these causes,
and not q few die. Old timers at the
business sometimes get caught. Mr..
Rapier himself was twice attacked.
The remedy for this paralysis is quicl
return to the air lock. The effect Of the
pressure varies ON animals, as is shown
by the mules used in the Hudson rive
tunnel. Some of these beasts are KEEP,
at work down below for year, and OF
being brought up are worth more thar
when they were taken down. Other!
that had only been in the works foul
months had to be killed.
The men as a general thing do no
remain a great many years at the bust
ness, and man should never work u
it after he is 40 years of age. Cutting
. hole and building tunnel through wa
ter is an extremely difficult thing ant
by many was thought to be impossible
Still it was done in the case of the Hud
son river tunnel, and the method, a
told by Mr.. Rapier, is very interesting
The work on the tunnel had PROGRESSED
until n body of water was struck. How
to tunnel through this hole of waite
was a puzzling question. 1t was done il
this way. A so called balloon was con
structed by making q netting of wiz
rope and covering this netting with can
vas. The interior Of the balloon wa
then filled with blue clay and salt hay
When filled, the balloon, 80 feet il
diameter, weighed 140 tons. The hol
of water was then located, and with tn
aid Of a huge steam derrick the ballool
| was dropped into the hole. Then seyera