Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-03-07
THURSDAY, MAaoH 7. 1895.
DIGGING TUNNELS.
THE PRESSURE MEN BEAR WHILE
WORKING UNDER WATER.

Hole Under the Hudson River-Interest-
ing Talk with an Air Lock Worker.
Laboring on the firm earth, with "aIl
But 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 none but
artificial light TO guide their move
=sGts and only the air that is pumped
20 breathe.
People who work in the open air
would have only TO work for . short
time in a divers suit, a caisson or an
air lock, getting a taste of what it is
like and how il feels, TO be cured forev-
er Of grumbling at their lot and to thank
their lucky stars that il has been or
dained that they work on top Of the
earth The work Of O diver. his sensa-
tions while under water and his expert
cnces have often been written about,
but those of the air lock and caisson
worker have not. While he does not
face the danger Of fouIing pipes and
lines, as does the diver, he stays down
longer, gets warmer, and his great dan
ger lies in the stagnation Of blood and
paralysis, resulting from the change Of
atmosphere.
Mr.. r G. 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-
BOZ river tunnel To a reporter he talk
ed 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 Is
pounds TO the inch, men in the locks
bear a pressure of from Is TO so pounds
OF compressed air, according to the
depth. The heaviest pressure ever work
cd under was borne by five divers on
the Swedish coast-65 pounds. Four OF
these died five minutes after coming u
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 As to
49, pounds and worked in four hour
shifts. Some men staid down 90 hours
at q stretch, but did not work all the
time, and Superintendent Haskins once
staid down "a hours. the sensations
experienced are peculiar. When q man
first steps in, there is a tingling in the
ears and a pain in the head, and when
he talks il is apparently through the
o 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
eort of ex~hilaration, 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 a man may
have liquor enough aboard when out.
side 10 inst make MIN feel jolly, but
when he steps into the lock he is as
drunk as a Icon. The danger lies in
coming ont of the pressure into the open
air. IL is then that a man is apt to SAT
fer from ~stagnation Of the blood and
paralysis, caused by the charge Of at
AnNE H4AIAN DGS4At1 AIlN q AAaA ALaN bE
attacked in the head or stomach with
severe pains. Three out Of FIVE cases
where the head and stomach are attack
ed rerult fatally.
Another severe malady resulting from
the change is what is called the bends.
Tfis is the air getting in between tie
GCEh ard the home. tits extremely pain
ful ard 20 severe that a quart Of whisky
administered in half an hoEg wGuld not
IntozicaCe the patient. Tie ~stagnatlca
ard paralysis are the worst dangers
and 10 the work quickly. Many men
have been keolcd ever By these causes,
ard not q fen die. Old timers az tie
business sometimes get caught NJ.
Rapier himself was twice attacked.
TIC remedy for this paralysis is a quick
@csGTa 10 tire air lock. Inc effect Ct the
pressure varies on animals. "a is shown
by the mules used IL the Hudson river
tunnel. SoEno Of these beasts are kept
1T w5rk down below Tor q year, and CT
being brought mp are worth more than
when they were taken down Others
that had only been in the works four
months had TO be killed.
The men as a general thing do not
remain q great many years at the busi-
ness, and a man should never work at
IL after he il 40 years Of age. Cutting q
hole and building a tunnel through wa
ter is an extremely difficult thing and
by many was thought 10 be impossible.
Still ii 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 q netting Of wire
rope and covering this netting with can
vas. Tho interior Of the balloon was
then filed with blue clay and salt hay
When filed, the balloon, 80 feet in
diameter, weighed $50 tons. The hole
of water was then located, and with the
aid of a hugo steam derrick the balloon
was dropped into The hole, Then several
scowloads Of dirt were aumne1 down