Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-15
CAPITOL HILL TUNNEL
Big Advance Noted in the
Construction.
RATE OF PROGRESS
THIRTY PER CENT OF WORK RE-
MAINS TO BE DONE.
Party of Officials Passes Over. the Un-
derground Tracks in Improvised
Pullman Cars.

construction was driven through
yesterday, after just little more
than ffty-two weeks of work. The
cut through was made on what is
known as the top drift" The tun-
mel proper is now 70 per cent COM
pleted, but it will be about year
more before the last rail will be laid
and it will be ready for the trains
that will eventually run into the
great union station. The work, un-
der the direction of Mr.. Williams,
the resident engineer, has pro-
gressed so far without a fatality.
When completed the terminal facil-
tiles of Washington will be among
the finest in the world.
The union station tunnel was cut through
yesterday afternoon. The last few pick
strokes that stood between the end of the
tunnel and daylight were delivered by Miss
Caryl Crawford, daughter of the general
agent of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Washington railroad. Then the labor
ers of the underground gang went
at the board partition with rush. There
was a rending of wet planking and the fall
of few cubic feet of earth, and the round
face of Mr.. David E. McComb, the District
superintendent of sewers, was seen framed
in the opening On the other side. The hole
was soon big enough to make a passage
way, and Miss Crawford stepped through to
daylight in the c street end of the long
drift.
There was a hearty cheer from the party
of visitors and shouts from the mud-s tanned
werkmen as the tunnel was thus christened
Miss Crawford was followed by Commits
sioner Macfarland, Commissioner West and
Ell gineer. Commissioner Biddle; then came
Mr.. E. B. Williams, the engineer for the
contractors by whom the tunnel was built.
Mr. Robert Farnham, the engineer for the
Pennsylvania railroad; C. B. Hunt, the en-
gineer of highways for the District; Fred
d. Mckinney, solicitor of the Pennsylvania
railroad, and E. e. Wann, yardmaster for
the Pennsylvania, We're the other members
of the party.
1t was just a little after o'clock when
the party boarded a train of irnprovised
"Pu]lmans" at the D street entrance to
the tunnel on the south side of Capitol
Hill The train was made up of two dir t
cars with board seats built on top and
was pushed by one of the little tunnel
trolley engines. The train swept as ma
jestically as it was possible for such u
small contrivance to sweep into the mouth
of the open tunnel and the passengers
ducked to avoid the bright copper trolley
wires overhead.
Run of Three Thousand Feet.
o1x 0
fore the little train stopped. Starting on
the east side, it crossed over to the west
tunnel under the corner of the House of
representatives. building, threaded the
electric-lighted bowels of Capitol Hill
and ran on under construction derricks
and over sumps and pump pits till it
brought up without a rattle about under
where Maryland avenue crosses 1st street.
Here the party alighted and climbed a
flight of steps which had been built in
honor of the visitors up to the top of the
great earth core that begins where the
tunnel proper ends. They were then in
the top drift, and for 500 feet had to bend
double lodging the timbers overhead and
the narrow gauge tracks under foot. till
they emerged perspiring. to the cooler
air and more dignified position afforded
by the higher roof of the drift at u
street.
Then along the narrow way, walled by
immense timbers on either side, they
marched Indian file to the far end of the
drift, where about a foot of earth still re-
mained to be cut away before the tunnel
was clear through. There was motley
crew of laborers and assistants, some with
university education, and some with pick
and shovel training but all looking pretty
much alike i'll the muddy hole in the ground
The visitors from the upper world looked
strangely immaculate and out of place.
The final work of cutting through took
,I,- .t,,,,f iycf
when Miss Crawford stepped through the
opening. There generous cheering
when the work was done, and perhaps IT
should not be said, but there was also
ripple of surprise among the workmen and
some middle fingers We're bent under when
the Italians saw that woman was the
first to pass through. 1t is bad luck from
their point of view. But the big work has
gone so far without mishap and possibly
no hoodoo will follow. But IL 1t does. the
workmen will know how to account for it.
The party was photographed on the little
platform in the open cut where the tunnel
energies from the hill.
The congratulations of every one were
rendered to Mr. Williams. the engineer un-
der whom the work has been done
Union Station Inspected.
The visitors then went over and inspected
the big union station now far up in the air,
where the whole panorama of the great
railroad work yet to be completed was
spread out at their feet.
The Virginia avenue tunnel was com
pleted a day ahead of the ID street tunnel,
but that was all done by the open-eut
method, so that the completion was merely
a matter of setting the last brick that
keyed the arch. The honor of doing this
was offered to Mr., McComb. who was pres
ent, but he laughingly refused to descend
from the bank where he was looking on.
and the job was deputed to the Oldest coll
ored man on the work. bystander fiipped
penny into the hole just before the brick
was set and Uncle Thomas pulled it out.
But he remarked with disgust when he
saw the denomination of the coin that 1t
was ga mighty cheap man what treat big
piece of work that away. an eff he couldn'r {
put in a doIlah he better stayed cut"