The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-05-28
BENEATH NIAGARA.
Two Thrilling Feato That Were Pax~
formed by W0rkme16

Two Thrilling Feats That Were Per-
formed By Wsrkme1b
Under the cataract Of Niagara, hom
an opening beneath the Horseshoe falls
to a pit sunk behind 9 eofferdan in
the bed Of The 6veP 5000 1eet Hp-
stream, 4 funnel his been borea as an
outlet for one OF the new electrical De
velopment companies. Its construction
was made possible. says The VOrid 70
day, by two Of the most thrilling jouI-
nevs ever undertaken by worklnela
When the big tunne!-!t is twenty sly
feet high and tWenty-three feet wide
was to be begun neither end OF it Nas
within the reach of the engineers tor
one was 700 feet out from shore be
hind the veil Of the fa!las where NO niAA
had ever beels and the otlsH w;l> 1ct
feet beneath the cascades. Al ap-
proacl tunnel was tlerefore t!rftru
out from shore. Us feet below ground.
under tie brink Of Che fails toWand the
site selected FOR the portal
To avoid bringing all material 70 Ne
surface for dumping the engineers had
a side tunnel borca 20 tmpt, Leneats
the falls. Where IL opened Wy a euge
pile of debris. and as soOD as Ae open
ing was made spraS from This pile be-
gan to fill the tunnel II came - 50
fast that work was abandoned. Pumps
were started, but still Che wateF cose
fill yfo doom w ,A cf, Of
on shore. 1t looked then as if the whole
enterprise. Oh which a fortune had been
spent, would be failure.
Then three foremen employed on the
work volunteered to go through the
tunnel in a sk@ and blow away Che
debris. They secured punt from the
Maid of the NQst and lowered it down
the shaft. The water was within two
feet of the roof Of the tunnel, but they
determined to make the journey. They
loaded their boat with dynamite and
electric wire and enough iron to sink
it till it would allow them to move
along the tunnel. Then, lying on their
backs, they pushed the boat along the
waterway by pressing against the roof
with hands and feet. Their progress
was slow and their situation, directly
below the mighty Niagara, was as ap-
palling as it was unique. But they per-
severed and at last reached the portal
through which the water was entering.
Only tiny opening was left there,
but one by one they left the skiff and
crawled through to stand. the first of
all men. behind the water of the
Horseshoe in the middle of the river.
There they fixed the dynamite in
place.
Returning with the wires which vc"e
to fire the charge. they upset their
skiff and had to swim much of the
way, but they arrived in safety only
to find upon touching the button that
they had not taken enough dynamite
to finish the work
Then Il new trick was tried. A line
of volunteers, roped together like Al
pine tourists. went out along the heap
of debris behind the fall at the foot Of
the Horseshoe, carrying dynamite in
large quantity. These men. too. were
travelling in Il place where no men had
ever before been. On the way one OF
the boxes of dynamite was dropped
and burst open on the rocks. but fortu-
nately did not explode. The rest was
buried at the entrance to the tunnel
At midnight that night there was al
explosion which shook the American
side of the river like an earthquake
and this time the effort was crowned
with success. The water flowed out
quickly, and thenceforth work in the
tunnel was prosecuted with ease