Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1905-05-04
GIANT TASK in RAILROAD BUILDING
Two Carloads of Powder in a Single Blast-S25O-
600 Paid for One Mile of Track-2.62o Men
Employed on Piece of Track Being
Built for the Wabash System.

Llon work and TO do this the contra C.
tors employed some striking methods
AT Welton tunnel, a mile south OF
Cumberland, large wheel was placed
on top of the mountain above the
tunnel entrance, cables were run
from this across the river and canal to
the low land, where filling was neces-
sary, and the rock from the tunnel
was carried over in a large iron buck
ct suspended from the cables. The
laborers' camp was located on top OF
the mountain and the men construct.
cd a l5O-foot ladder leading up the
| precipitous face of rocks from the
mouth of the tunnel, and this ladder
they assembled and descended many
| times a day.
In the construction of the Indigo
! tunnel, method never before employ
ed In the East, and rarely elsewhere,
IS being employed. This is the great
est tunnel on the line, being 4,400
feet in length. 1t passes through a
Siding Hill mountain range and
makes the Wabash a straighter line
and almost a mile in three shorter
than the Baltimore & Ohio 1t is being
made by drilling the heading (the full
width OF the tunnel, twenty-fOur feet,
and nine feet high through from the
bottom or at a grade level, and the
rock will be blown down until the
required height is reached. Old con-
tractors, accustomed to driving the
heading through from the top, shake
their heads and pronounce this meth
Cd costly experiment" but Nc
Arthur Bros. say the strata, Indigo
shale, is just right at this tunnel for
this method and are confident it will
be a success. The heading is being
driven from both ends at the same
time and the men are within 100 feet
OF each other, nine feet a day being
the progress made from each end.
The men working from the eastern
end have penetrated only eleven
inches further than those coming
from the western side.
The "Stck Pile" Tunnel.
In order to cut a roadbed through
the masses of rock that rise straight
up from the bed of the canal it was
necessary to wait until navigation
closed for the year In the meantime
the holes for the blasts were all pre-.
pared and when the water was with
drawn, about a month later than ever
before, thousands of pounds of pow.
| der and dynamite were exploded In
these holes and the canal bed was
filled with earth and rock for many
miles which must be removed within
the next two months.
The only place where the Wabash
! leaves the canal and river for any
considerable distance is at Bayard.
thirty-five miles east of Cumberland.
! After crossing the Baltimore G. Ohio
railroad, the river and canal, at a dig
~ height on a 1,370-foot bridge, five
! l5OfOOt channel spans with viaduct
approach, it strikes boldly into the
mountains. After running through
tremendous cuts, over deep ravines
and through the Stick Pile tunnel
1000 feet in length, it energies from
its fve-milo run through the heart Of
the mountain at Orleans, w. Va. This
is considered one of the heaviest
! pieces Of work on the line, but here
as at many other places, a compare.
lively straight line is secured with
moderate grades and with a saving
of almost a mile over the Baltimore
& Ohio route.
The first work was done on this
connecting link on July 81, 1903, and
the contract called for its completion
in eighteen months. The delay and
extra work occasioned by trouble
with the canal rendered its compile
ton within contract time an impossl-
bility. Now, October l, is the date
set for the opening of the road, but it
is claimed January /, 1906, would be
a nearer date.
From Cherry Run to Hancock, ten
miles, the road is completed and trains
are running on it. For ten miles east
of Cumberland the roadbed Is ready
for the rails and the three bridges
are in course of erection. At numer
GUS other places there are four and
five mile stretches completed, but
there remains a great amount OF
difficult work to be done 1t Is only
the fact that work is being rushed
day and night, regardless Of weathe,
conditions and without regard to ex
pense. that makes safe the prediction
that not later than January l., 1906
the Wabash will have this line open
for traffic
Endurance of the Jap.
In the orient there is a new art OF
war depending upon a new style Of
physique of a race which has never
before been put to this work. The
Jap is short, stocky and blessed with
muscles big enough for a much taller
man. He is consequently able to do
more work than a European OF equal
weight A rural lettercarrier thinks
nothing of distances for which we de.
mand horses and in exceptional cases
the rickashaw man has been known
to trot forty miles in a day dragging
| the passenger. The daily drills Of the
soldiers include athletic exercises too
severe for the average European sol.
der, such as running up and down
long flights of stairs. 1t is not sur
prising. then, that their troops should
cover long distances, and the reports
Of four successive days Of thirty five,
twenty-five, thirty and fifteen miles Of
marching are perfectly credible. They
are reported to have marched forts-
eight hours without food and vita
little rest. and then to have fought
well, though captured men have