The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1905-01-27
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Ohm BLATCHFoRD. civil engineer
By STEPHEN HALLETr.

Ohm BLATCHFoRD, civil engineer.
u sat out in the open, with his eye
resting reiiectively on round insru'
ment with figures encircling II, and
@ needle. 1t resemblcd an aneroid ba'
rometer, but Il was not. II was pc
cullar air gauge, a Scottish invention,
and Blatchfurd had not seen one OF
the kind since he had helped build
the great bridge at Chepultepec, in
Mexico Then he was "A subordinate
assistant now, at eiGht-and-twenty,
he was engineer OF the Marbury tun-
mel, under the river OF that name, just
outside the important manufacturing
town Of Belchester.
Blatchf0d's recollections OF tropical
Chepultepec although doubtless eX-
citing were, however, suddenly inter-
rupted by the advent OF a young girl,
whose footsteps he had not heard, and
who now stood timidly before him.
The young engineer was on his feet
In an instant lie had a very gallant
bearing with women-irrespectiye Of
class-but he was particularly atten-
tive II they happened to be pretty
women
Did you wish to see me-" he asked.
smiling
"Oh, no, sir" faltered the girl; -
thought-that isl came with mes
sage To-"
"onc OF the men, perhaps"
Eyes"
you have a brother working down
IN the air chamber"
The girl blushod Not a brother
friend"
"Ah, Well, the men will be up
shortly for dinner You had better
wait. You see, We are rather short
handed al present, and am Obliged
20 tend the gauge myself SIT here
and walt
She seated herself looking very pref
ty. Blatchford thought, with her neat.
simple attire and thick auburn tress.
es; and the very first thing that caught
her eye was the Clock-faced object
which Blatchiord had called the
gauge" He saw her glance riyited
upon It, and good naturedly undertook
TO explain that II registered tine amount
and pressure Of air In the working
chamber far below the river, where,
at that moment seven stalwart men
ioiled at the tunnel
us II very dangerous" she asked
'What-the work? Well. that de.
ponds, You see, air seems innocent
enough, bat II Is a power not to be
trified with. Every man down at the
bottom Of this shaft is working at
pressure of IS pounds TO every square
inch Of him. 1t is almost like being
Rugged by bear When ! press this
lever-this way more air Is forced
down" He touched one of the lev
ers just below the gauge and pointed
to the needle There, you see. It is
now SO. 81, 49, 30 pounds to the square
Inch; and by mere touch of my I'm
ger IL could be forced highcr-eyen up
TO 65. That Is almost strong enough
to crush man"
How wonderful that mere air should
be 30 strong" exclaimed the girl But
what is the use of it--this air."
Use? Why we harness II and make
II work. 1t helps us dig our tunnel
under the river. by forcing out the
water and mud. Then, besides. 1t is
for the workmen to breathe. But,
hello! why are you so pale"
Kate Maxwell smiled neryously
displaying twin rows OF perfect teeth
"oh, nothing. Only was thinking
1t must be very terrible to work down
there. Suppose something were to go
wrong with the air-pipes. and they
were TO get too much or too little air.
Blatchford. who. young as he was,
was familiar with death and danger,
shrugged his shoulders.
we must take risks in every trade
II the men got too little air. the river
or part VI it-would pour In and
drown them; II they got too much and
there Was no way for II to escape, 1t
would crush them. But. after all. 1t
Is little likely that either Of these ter
rible things could happen because, you
see, 1t ia 30 carefully regulated and
the gauge Is so accurate and reliable
Anyone Of intelligence could keep the
supply at So pounds. which is AZ much
as man ought to stand"
lie pulled out his watch and looked
at the time.
''Hello!" he CALCULATED, in surprise,
"thc men are late In coming up to-
day
The girl shuddered at his words and
cast an ominous glance at the great
iron door which barred the entrance
to the air lock and led TO the working
chamber, as II was called, under tie
river.
Robert" formed itself voluntarily
on her lips.
Although none knew II, Kate Max
wells unacCountable misgiyings were
not without Justification. Even as
the pair had been talking, 70 feet be-
was being enacted It had been q
struggle for life In the darkness and
oppressed atmosphere of the subter-
ranean air chamber and her lover,
Robert Leslie, was one Of the actors.
A fued had for some time existed be-
tween young Leslie and another of the
pressure workers, Edward Dart, and
this fued. Of which Kate Maxwell was
the hapless origin. had of late, for
some cause or other, increased. at
least. on Darts side. to great intensity.
Dart had always borne good repu-
tation in Belchester. and was the sole
support Of widowed mother; but his
temper was none Of the best, and 1t
was known that he could be vindictive
At first the fued took the form OF