The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-03-09
DIGGING TUNNELS.
THE PRESSURE MEN BEAR WHILE
WORKING UNDER WATER.

WORKING UNDER WATER.
Peculiar Sensations and Sometimes Fatal
Notwithstanding Through q Water
Hole Under the Hudson Ri~ver-Interest
ing Talk With an Air Lock Worker.
Laboring on the firm earth. with "al
out of doors" to breathe, perspiring and
mayhap grumbling at ones hard luck,
q person seldom, if ever, stops to think
that men work day after day deep down
in the water or the mud, with mono but
artificial light to guide their move
ments and only the air that is pumped
to breathe.
People who work in the open ali
would have only to work for a short
time in q divers suit, . caisson or an
dir lock, getting a taste of what it 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 q diver, his sensa.
tions 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
face the danger Of fouling pipes and
lines, as does the diyer. he stays down
longer, gets warmer, and his great dan
ger lies in the stagnation Of blood and
paralysis, resulting from tho change of
atmosphere.
I. Mr.. r. G. Rapier of East Cambridge
is All 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
ed Of some of the 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 in the locks
bear a pressure of from Is to 80 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 ont.
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 a pressure of from 45 to
461s pounds and worked in four hour
shifts. Some men staid down 20 hours
at a 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 in, there is a tingling in the
ears and q pain in the head, and when
he talks it is apparently through the
nose. This is caused by the pressure,
and the remedy is to hold the nose,
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 q man does
more work in the lock than he could do
outside.
Another peculiar thing about the ac-
ton Of the pressure is that a man may
have liquor enough aboard when ont
side to just make him feel jolly, but
when he steps into the lock he is as
drunk as a loon. The danger lies in
coming out of the pressure into the open
air. 1t is then that a 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
ed result fatally.
Another sever 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 hall an hour would not
intoxicate the patient. The stagnation
and paralysis are the worst dangers
and do the work quickly. Many men
have been keeled over by these causes,
and not a few die. Old timers at the
business sometimes get caught. Mr..
Rapier himself was twice attacked.
The remedy for this paralysis is a quick
return to the air lock. The effect of the
fAN1 '@iANo oA ohAiilaiS, as i SIiDNI
by the mules used in the Hudson river
tunnel; Some of these beasts are kept
at work down below for a veal, and on
being brought up are worth more than
when they We're taken down. Others
that had only been in the works four
months had to be killed.
The men as q general thing do not
emain a great many years at the bust
ness, and a man should never work at
it after he is 40 years Of age. Cutting a
hole and building a tunnel through wa
ter is an extremely difficult thing and
by many was thought to be impossible.
Still it was done in the case of the Hud.
son river tunnel, and the method, as
told by Mr.. Rapier, is very interesting.
The work ON the tunnel had progressed
until a body Of water was struck. How
to tunnel through this hole of water
was a puzzling question. 1t was done in
this way. A SO called balloon was con.
structed by making a netting OF wire
rope and covering this netting with can.
vas. The interior Of the balloon was