The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-01-21
By STEPHEN HALLETT,

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u Ohm BLATCHFORD, civil engineer,
u sat out in the open, with his eye
resting refectiyely On a round instru-
nlent, with figures encircling it, and
needle. 1t resenb1ed an aneroid ba-
rometer, but it was not. 1t was pc
culiar air gauge, a Scottish invention,
and Blatchford had not seen one OF
the kind since he had helped build
the great bridge at Chepultepec, N
Mexico Then he was a subordinate
assistant; noW, at extraordinarily,
he was engineer of the Marbury tun-
mel, under the river of that name, just
outside the important manufacturing
town of Belehester.
Blatchford's recoIlections 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 timid1y before hi1n.
The young engineer was on Ais feet
in an instant. He had a very gallant
bearing with Women-irrespeeti Of
class-but he was particularly ateen-
tive il they happened to be pretty
women.
did you visa to see me?s he asked,
smiling.
ION. no, sir., faltered the girl; Il
thought-that isl cane with aes-
sage to"
zone Of the men, perhaps?''
Yes
you have brother working down
in the air chamber"
The girl blushed. mot q brother
q friend Z
All! Wen, the meA will be up
shortly for dinner You had better
wait. You see, we arc rather short
handed at present, and | am obliged
to tend the gauge myself. Sit here
and wait. =
She seated herself, looking very pref
ty, Blatehford thought, with her neat,
simple attire and thick auburn tress-
es; and the very first thing that caught
her eye was the elock-faeed object
which Blatchford had called the
gauge" He saw her glance riyited
upon it, and good-naturedly undertook
to explain that it registered the amount
and pressure of air in the working
chamber far below the river, where,
at that moment, seven stalwart men
toiled at the tunnel.
rs it very dangerous?" she asked.
*sNhat--the work Well, that de-
ponds. You see, air seems innocent
enough, but 1t is a power not to be
trified with. Every man down at the
bottom of this shaft is working at a
pressure of 35 pounds to every square
inch of him. It is almost like being
Rugged by a bear. When I press this
leyer-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, IS. SO pounds to the square
inch; and by a mere touch Of my fin
ger it could be forced higher-eYen up
to 65. That is almost strong enough
TO crush a man
How wonderful that mere air should
be SO strong. exclaimed the girl, But
what is the use of it-this ARP
Use? Way We harness it and make
it work. 1t helps lis dig our tunnel
under the river. by forcing out the
water and mud Then, besides, it is
for the workmen to breathe. But,
hello, why are you so pale?H
Kate Maxwell smiled nervously,
displaying twin rows Of perfect teeth.
oh, nothing. Only / was thinking
it 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 ARP"
Blatehford. who, young as he was,
YVES 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 OF it-wouId pour in and
drown them; if they got too much and
there was no way for it to escape, 1t
would crush them. But. after all. ii
is little likely that either of these ter
rible things. could happen, because, YOU
see. 1t is So carefully regulated and
the gauge is SO accurate and reliable.
Anyone of intelligence could keep the
supply at So pounds, which is as much
as a man ought. to stand.
He pulled cut his watch and looked
at the time.