The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1895-01-26
DIGGING TUNNELS.
TIE PRESSURE MEN EEAR WHILE
WORKING UNDER WATER.

Notwithstanding Through II Water
Eo!o Under Tic Hudson isivcr-Interest-
isG T:-fh WE. "A Air Loci. Worker.
Laboring eli tic firm earth, with all
a@5 ii doors to breathe, perspiring and
mayhap gruEbling at ones hard luck.
q nl-Soa seldom, ii ever, stops to think
tAat s44en work day after day deep down
IL the water CT tho mud, with mono but
artificial light TO guide their move
meIts and emily the air that is pumped
to breathe.
People who work in the open air
would have only to work for a short
time in 9 divers suit, a caisson or e
air lock, getting q taste Of what it Is
like ard how it feels, to bo cured forcv-
CT 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 Il diver, his sensa-
ticns while under water and his expert
ences have often been written about,
but those Of tho air lock and caisson
worker have not. While ho does LIS.
faco tho danger Of foulins pipes and
line, IS does the diver, he stays down
! longer, gets WARMER, and his great dan
! ger lies ii lie stagnation Of blood and
paralysis, resulting from the change Of
atmosphere.
Mr.. L. c. Rapier OF East Cambridge
is al air lock worker and talks most in
t~orestinsly. His work was mainly in the
air lccl,s used III building the great Hud-
son river tunnel. To a reporter he talk
cd CT some Of tho sensations, dangers and
, experiences. He said that, while a man
working on the surface of the earth
, bears up an atmospheric pressure of Is
, pounds to the inch, men il the locks
bear n pressure Of from Is to so pounds
Of compressed air, according to the
depth. The heaviest pressure ever work
cd under WIS borne by Eve divers Oh
the Swedish coast-G5 pounds. Four of
these Gied 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 III the Hudson river
tunnel stood a pressure Of from As to
46la pounds and worked in four hour
shifts. Some men staid down 90 hours
at Il stretch, but did not work all the
time, and Superintendent Haskins once
staid down "A hours. The sensations
experienced are peculiar. When a man
first steps III, there is a tingling III the
ears ard Q pain III the head, and when
lo talks it is apparently through the
nose. This is caused by the pressure,
and the remedy is to hold the nose,
close the month and blow against the
ears. This relieves Tic pain and stops
t'.o sensation. When the pressure is all
| c., the worker feels all right ard expo
rienees 40 discomfort. Then there is a
sa11 OF ~eILilaIation, and a man does
more work III the lock than he could do
outside.
Another peculiar thing about the &C.
tiol Of tho pressure is that a man may
have liquor enough aboard when one
side to just. make him feel Jolly, but
when he steps into the lock he is as
eL ILL., saS o. iC0N. Inc danger lies IN
coming out Of the pressure into the open
air. 1t is then hat a man is apt to suf-
fer from ~stagnatiOn Ct the blood and
paralysis, caused by the change Of at
mosphero. Besides tits a man ma he
attacked in the head or stomach with
severe pains. Three out cf five eases
whore the head and stomach are attack
81 result fatally.
Another segere nlalady 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
ful and 50 severe that aquart OF whisky
Administered Ia half an hour would not
%into2icato the patient. THE s-tagnation
and paralysis are the worst dangers
and Do the work quickly. Many men
have been keelad over BY these causes,
and not a few die. Old timers at the
business sometimes get caught. Nh.
Rapier himself was twice attacked.
! The remedy for this paralysis is O quick
return to the air lock. The effect of the
pressure varies On animals, as is shown
by the mules used in the Hudson river
tunnel. Some Of these beasts are kent