The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-12-13
THE LONG BRICK TUBE
South Tunnel As Sound as
When 1t Was Completed.
BUT NO SEWAGE FLOWS M 1T
An Examination shows IL Unharmed-
Adventures on Entering and Leav-
ing-A Perfect Echo.

There is nothing the matter with the
South Seattle sewer tunnel Ruu1ors OF
various kinds that the tunnel had caved
IN. was leaking, and the ike. and finally
the publication OF q card from some man
who profsssed to know what he was talk
ing about. caused City Engineer Thomson
10 organize and lead an exploring party
entirely through the tunnel yesterday
afternoon. with the result that not q crack
nor seam. not a leak nor a cave was
discovered from one end to the other. The
perfect piece OF masonry stands intact as
when II received the finishing touch Of the
builders last May.
II took a walk OF nearly a mile under
ground yesterday to demonstrate that the
rumors OF imperfections in the work were
untounded. The exploring party consisted
OF City Engineer X. Fl. Thomson, Assistant
Superintendent OF Sewers J. Sheehan. J.
II. Peters. who supervised the back filing
over the masonry IN the tunnel. and
representative OF the Post-InteiHgencer
On leaving q Rainier avenue car near the
east portal OF the tunnel. the first diff
Guilty encountered was that OF climbing
perpendicular column OF masonry twenty
FIVE feet high without a ladder. Peters
and Sheehan were equal TO the emergency,
and producing a Ratchet and nails. they
hunted around in the bushes till they
found some rough material which their
Ladder.
Nobody Was There Before.
1T is evident" said Engineer Thomson,
as he straddled the portal wall at the
summit and looked down at his companions
very much as some ancient Greek might
have beckoned his fellow warriors to as-
cend the walls Of Ilium, lit is very evident
that the fellow who found that cavern
didn't enter the tunnel from this end. No
body has been in here since last May"
Just what particular seal Mr. Thomson
had set on the guard gates at the top Of
the tunnel did not appear. but his COM
panions did not relish the thought OF ex-
p!orIng tunnel which had not been en-
tered for nearly eight months. Thomson's
sublime confidence in the tunnel, however,
soon surmounted all doubts and fears. and
one by one the four men lighted their Ian
terms and dropped down into the darkness
and slush OF the tunnel.
Any pedestrian inclined to gruInbls at
sloppy streets yesterday ought 10 think CT
that mile walk and be grateful. The wa
ter in some places was nearly knee-deep,
and the thick, ugly sediment that stirred
easily from the bottom made the wading
perhaps less pleasant than in a Empid
mountain stream. But the journey was
not wholly unpleasant. The possibility of
finding the top OF the tunnel caved in lent
unge of wild adventure, and Thomson's
dry Wit and the incessant raillery of Shee-
han and Peters kept up the spirits or the
party. Merry songs rolled generously
through the long vault. The roar OF
train passing near the west end of the tun-
mel came down the vast tube like the rum
bling or an earthquake
A Perfect Echo Heard.
At point just 1000 feet from the west
end OF the tunnel. marked by a small pipe
entrance for a stream which once gave
the tunnel builders a world OF trouble,
there Is probably the most perfect echo
In the Northwest. It is worth all the cold
and slush and darkness and fatigue of a
walk In the tunnel 10 stand there In the
darkness before that far wall OF masonry
and hear every tone. every word even IN
long sentences. borne back with unvary-
ing exactness.
The tramp through the tunnel revealed
one objectionable practice which may call
for police interference. Just where the tun-
mel IS furthest under Beacon hill, Il is
pierced by the main ventilation shaft. 265
feet high. From the tunnel 10 the surface
OF the ground the distance at that point
Is 24i feet. SO that the shaft rises only
twenty-one feet above the ground on Bea-
con hill Notwithstanding the fact that
the top OF the shaft Is protected by heavy
cross-barred gates, mIschievous boys have
contrfved 10 throw heavy stones and long
pieces OF WOOD DOWN Inc smart. some or
which obstruct the flow of water City
Engineer Thomson suggests still finer
grating at the top OF the shaft
a Jump to Terra Firma.
The oldest part Of the Journey under
ground was the termination Of IL, for on
climbing up on the inside of the west end
portal the members OF the party found
themselves on the summit without any
means OF getting down on the outside
Thomson still kept his lantern lighted, and
Peters accused him OF using Il as a search
light to find a ladder in broad daylight. The
ladder was not forthcoming, and rather
than go back through the long subterra-
mean wetness, the four gentlemen hung
over the edges Of the portal and dropped
20 the soft ground without further harm
than a good jolting.
Then, when clear outside the tunnel. En-
gineer Thomson found The source OF the
rumor about the caving. Alongside the
temporary outfall. about 200 feet west OF
the portal. the filed earth has settled about
the boxing. Two small holes appear, about
Ike the sinking OF a new-msde grave. They
no more involve the structure OF the tun-
mel than notch on picture frame would
hurt n fine canvas
No use, however. has yet been made OF
the tunnel, for the sewers on the east end
which were TO have discharged into II,
have not yet been constructed and the .un-
rel Is as innocent OF sewage as on the
day Of its completion. The sewers which
should have been extended to its mouth
are discharging into the valley. whore their
output fert.lizes the farms and gives the
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