New-York tribune., 1905-12-20
TUNNEL MEN RESCUED.
WERE CUT OFF 42 HOURS.
LQborers Guide Boat to Air Chamber
scith DiUers' Hid.

Two 1vorl,roen imprisoned in the Pennsylvania
tunnel at Long Island City for forty-two hours
were rescued at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
The men were Francisco Tavella and Antonio
Draga, employed as night watchmen in the
tunnel
The S. Pearson & Son Company made an at
tempt to reach the imprisoned men by pumping
out the tunnel while italian laborers dug an
emergency shaft in the Long Island Railroad
yard, following a big iron pipe from which
came the first signals indicating that men were
caught in the tunnel as a result of a flood
following a cave-in on East-ave near the main,
SHAFT.
The men took refuge from the flood in a cham
ber above tunnel ''B," which is one of the four
borings being made at the Long Island City end.
The tunnel is about eight feet in diameter, and
at points two hundred feet apart chambers were
cut out above the main tunnel, and they were
connected with the tunnel by openings some
thing like sewer manholes.
The cave-in at East-ave. occurred about
O'Clock Monday morning. According to the tun-
mel engineers the two men could have waded to
safety up to IL o'clock yesterday morning. It
is supposed that they did not know the cause
of the food and feared to leave the chamber,
believing that the shaft had been cut off by a
cave-in The theory was advanced by some Of
the engineers that the two men were asleep in
the chamber and did not awake until too late
to escape.
John Mayer, P. J. Loughlin, Ernest Doughlin
and Harry Steuber, divers went down in the
shaft without their suits to make an inspection
and said that they got within three hundred
feet Of the imprisoned men and called to them
and received an answering call Up to within
& short time of their rescue the two men fire.
quentIy sounded signals the iron pipe along
side Of which their friends were sinking the
emergency shaft, which was within six feet of
the chamber when the men were rescued
When six big pumps had lowered the water in
the tunnel to a point where 1t was possible for
the divers to reachS the imprisoned watchmen
they descended TO the bottom OF the shaft. Extra
diving suits were taken along, to be put on the
watchmen if they were reached. The divers
said they could drag the two under water
if they were protected by diving suits Several
italians employed on the tunnel volunteered to
go down with the divers. A small boat had
been lowered into the tunnel for use in the work
of rescue, and the divers took it with them
It was /: 80 o. m. when the word was passed
that the men had been rescued ana were at the
bottom of the shaft Heavy blankets had been
sent down and several pals of hot water We're
also lowered into the shaft, together with hot
coffee and stimulants. crowd OF phoIog-
a view of the tunnel shaft and waited while the
policemen present struggled to keep back big
crowd Of spectators
Later the rescued men said, through an in
terpreter that they were rescued by two of
their fellow countrymen, who pushed the small
boat along until it was under the chamber. The
imprisoned men managed to drop into 1t and
then the divers dragged the boat back and car
ried the men to the bottom of the shaft
The rescued men were put to bed soon after
being taken out of the tunnel and received light
night that they would be all right in a day or
/ tWOs