The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-05-07
SINCE MAN BEGIN
To Mo The Queerest and Only Accident
~ LIN. of the Kind on the Planet.

I 'Twasn't much more'n a minute Just
! as long as a man can carry his breath
/ with him. but it was like days an days
/ I thought I was gone l opened my
mouth TO say good by"
| Poor lad. and no priest there" cried
a DiOus neighbOr.
And il was stuck full o mud an
| pebbles. And then I thought that. if I
plugged hard enough, up I'd go. And I
| plugged, III say that for meself. And
/ up I went. The next thing I knew I
was seem light and blinkin' the mud
| out o me eyes away up somewhere. Up
I went, and down I came"
An what were We thinkin' about
/ Dick?" asked the bartender
4 wasn't thinkin'" said Dick Cree
gan I was pastin' that mud, Denny
the way 1 used to paste yer face in
school But when l landed in the wa
/ ter, all right side up. and stretched out
me legs and they was there and pulled
IN me arms. and they was all there
] begun thinkin' that ye can't kill an
Irishman."
Frank Kelly was moved to order
more drinks-to the Irish.
An I've been thinkin' since" said
Dick. that I didn't fall. Nobody that
saw me pOppin' out like a cherry stone
could say 1 fell I was pushed
Still game, Creegan smiled weakly
and applied himself to a beer.
A few more beers, and Creegan was
ready to go home for a rest. He rolled
IN with his shoes on. For the rest of
the day his brother sat by the door
and declared to seventy-five newspa-
per photographers that there would be
no pictures. and that il was a shame to
bother poor people that was in trou-
bic. The session at McMann's contin-
Ued all the afternoon and evening.
The tunnel workers all agreed that
Creegan's experience wasn't the most
singular thing about the accident The
really curious thing. from a technical
point Of view, is that the other men in
the head compartment got out alive
According to all the rules Of the game
the rush Of mud and water should have
done for them.
The compressed air in the front COM
partment, at the rather moderate pres
sure Of sixteen pounds, makes a big
bubble, but keeps back the soft mud.
The danger IS from leaks. A series Of
air bubbles may suddenly burst, max
ing channel from the compartment
TO the river water and the air Through
that leak the compressed air will rush
and the bubble of the compartment will
collapse like a pricked balloon Then,
with pressure released, the mud and
water should settle down from all sides.
drowning the men i'm the compartment.
While Creeegan and his fellows were
stopping the first leak. a second one
had started unnoticed. 1t went so far
that the rush came all Of sudden.
Creegan's body plugged it for a time.
When he was blown up and out. the
compressed air followed until the pres
sure below was normal. Then a rush
saF Z
the bubble collapsed gradually
The men in the second compartment.
where there is also cOnsidera BILE air
pressure, know from the sound and
symptoms that something was wrong
in front. They opened the lock eau
tiOusly. The compressed air in their
own compartment, rushing in helped
TO keep the mud back. So they got out
Creegan'S three comrades alive, if
somewhat bruised and scared The
apparatus was scracely damaged at all.
and work went right along.