The sun., 1901-07-28
ITNDs o. TUNNEL DIG0ERs.
4 Ysw nslics q Oh New Ysrk UnsartAst
--Orly 0ns Quiclsaad ss Par.

Hsw Bellies q 014 New Ysrk UnsartAs4
Only 0ns 0uieksaad ss Far.
Some interesting finds have been made
In tie course Of the work Of sxcavating for
the Rapid Transit tunnel. Downtown tho
workmen have dug up several sections Of
the wooden pipes laid down Q century ago
TO givs New York . water supply Many
Of these have been carried on by souvenir
hunters.
The representative Of the contractor. who
was acting a. Snowman Of the few treasures
saved from the souvenir hunters. rolled
out for he benefit Of The Sun reporter q
large cannon ball Only Q derrick could
have lifted IL. That was the one reason
why 1t had escaped a journey to Texas or
California, or some other up-to- date State,
In an enterprisins tourists trunk. For 1t
was found under President Monroe's house
somewhere In the neighborhood OF Prince
and Elm streets. a circumstance that would
II make OF value to any really enthusiastic
treasure seeker.
An old cannon. too. was partly uncovered
several feet below the surface. But 1t lay
beyond the walls OF the tunnel and was left
undisturbed. How anything so substantial
as q cannon could have disappeared under
the ground before the eyes OF an observant
public II a matter for wonder. IL may have
been buried to keep it from tho enemy.
Another object unearthed by the work
men has all the suggestion OF battle murder
or sudden death skull found Just below the
surface AZ Reade and Centre streets.
1T HAD a set OF teeth as perieot as your
own said one workman. showing him
to have heen a Young man
Its owner might have died n natural death,
perhaps, but the workmen prefer to think
that he was murdered and buried there by
his slayer
Many foreign coins have been found In tho
excavations They were almost all coppsr.
of small values. but there was one silver one
at least coined In seventeen hundred and
ninety something with premium to II
The rnds have been made within few feet
Of the surface. There Is no buried Pompen
under New York and nothing Of great anti1-
nity has been found. like the Roman lamps
which were unea arthed when the underground
tunnelllng was done in Paris The objects
Historically interesting have been found al
most entirely In the 10 wer part Of the city.
where the early life Of New York was en-
tirely centred
Most Of the section along Lafayette place
and Elm street has already been opened up.
so that littlo more Of q mem orable nature
can be expected An eycellent spn oimen Of
land coral was dug out. however. a short time
nnd xSs to y %sSs s
work is disclosing is very interesting.
Along pps and :,
as far as lsist street, but no particular dis
coveries have been reported
Il aln't sayin there miahtn't be some
a an SHe q hn Il Sss. 2s1
sos. goes into these Eyetaiian's pockets "GSsy WY
u t's a piece Of lead no bigger than the wink
In ono way the contractors regard them.
selves as fortunate in avoiding some kinds
they have not met with any special difficulties ie
that were unforeseen.
I'VE may strike apicksand.- explained
struck ehe bst one "I pscs as % real
That was at i25th street and the Boulevard
where We ran into the remains Of a swamp
sna sna bae mud wanted @ put the Soso
OF the tunnel right there. We found the
pocket was eighty feet long and sixty feet
cleaned the whole, thing out, and filled up tths
space with gravel.
A species Of auicksand. also, has, been
By the side walls which are driven down
below IL One OF the minor troubles Of tho
engineer is the springs which bubble up
IN unexpected ana unWelCOule pldCes
Each one. like a woman" remarked tho
contractor, is a law unto itself. We drain
them, or we divert them and send them
merrily of through a sewer. When our as
phaltina Is done we don't hear any more Of
the spring First we put down eight inches
Of concrete. over, IL a layer Of hot asphalt
which Is carefully snoothed down Over
this a sheeting OF felt Is rolled. Then on
top Of this Is put more asphalt and felt in
layers varying from tw inches TO six, accord
ing to how damp the place Ia. And when
that sixth inch ID in I'D like 10 see the ocean
itself get through.
in several PLACES. especially in the Elm street.