The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1895-08-29
ENTERED Az sEcoND.cLAss MAIL MATTEL
DIGGING TUNNELS.
THE PRESSURE MEN BEAR WHILE
WORKING UNDER WATER.

Notwithstanding Through . Water
Hole Under the Hudson Riv~er-Interest-
ing Talk With an Air Lock Worker.
Laboring on the firm earth. with "all
out Of Doors to breathe, perspiring and
mayhap grumblins at ones hard luck.
. person seldom, il ever. stops to think
that men work day after day deep down
in the water OF 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 for q short
time IN q divers suit. Q oaisson or an
air lock. getting q taste Of what It Is
like and how 1t feels, to be cured forev.
er Of grumbling at their lot and to thank
their lucky stars that 1t has been OF.
dained that they work ON top Of the
earth. The work Of q diver. his sensa-
lions while under water and his expert
ences have often been written about,
but those Of the air look and caisson
worker have not While he does not
face the danger Of fouling pipes and
lines, as does the diver. he stays down
longer. gets warmer, and bis great dan
ger lies In the ~stagnation Of blood and
paralysis, resulting from the change Of
atmosphere
Mr.. r. c. Rapier Of East Cambridge
Is an air look worker and talks most in.
terestingly. His work was mainly In the
air looks 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 10
pounds to the inch, men in the locks
bear a pressure Of from l5 to 80 pounds
OF compressed air, according to the
depth. The heaviest pressure W work
ed under was borne by FIVE divers on
the Swedish coast-65 pounds. Four Of
these died FIVE minutes after coming out.
While O o 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 o pressure Of from As to
46x pounds and worked in four hour
shifts. Some men staid down 30 hours
at a stretch. but did not work all the
time. and Superintendent Haskins once
staid down ~ houra The sensations
experienced are peculiar. When q man
first steps In, there Ia a tingling in the
ears and q pain In the head, and when
he talks 1t Is apparently through the
nose This is caesed 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-
rienoes no discomfort Then there Is q
sort Of exhilaration, and q man does
more work In the lock than he could do
outside.
Another peculiar thing about the 90
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 look he Is as
drunk as q loon The danger lies in
coming ont Of the pressure into the open
air. It Is then that q man Is apt to sui.
fer from stagnation Of the blood and
paralysis caused by the change Of at.
mosphera Besides this a man may be
attacked In the head OF stomach with
severe pains Three out Of five cases
where the head and stomach are attack.
ed result fatally.
Another severe malsdy resulting from
the change is what Is called tho bends.
This is the air getting in between the
flesh and the bone. 1t Is extremely pain.
full and SO severe that o 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 men
have been keeled over by these causes.
and not . few die. Old timers at the
business sometimes get caught. MI.
Rapier himself was twice attacked.
The remedy for this paralysis Is a 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 kept
at work down below for a year. and ON
being brought up are worth moro than
when they were taken down. Others
that had only been In the works four
months had to be killed.
The men as q general thing do not
remain O great many years at tho bust
ness, and a man should never work ut
1t 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 t. be impossible.
Still 1t was done IN the Ease Of the Hud.
son river tunnel. and the method. as
told by Mr.. Rapier. is very interesting.
The work on the tunnel had progressed