Holbrook argus., 1905-07-29
BENEATH NIAGARA.
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 an opening beneath the Horseshoe Falls to pit sunk behind coffer-dam in the bed of the river two thousand feet upstream, a tunnel has been bored as an outlet for one of the new electrical development companies. It's construction was made possible, says The World To-day, by two of the most thrilling journeys ever undertaken by workmen.
 When the big tunnel-it is twenty six feet high and twenty-three feet wide-was to be begun, neither end of 1t was within the reach of the en- gineers, for one was seven hundred feet out from shore, behind the veil of the falls, where no man had ever been, and the other was one hundred and fifty feet beneath the cascades. An approach tunnel was therefore drlfted out from shore, one hundred and fifty eight feet below ground, under the brink of the falls, toward the site se- lected for the portal.
 To void bringing all material to the surface for dumping, the engineers had a side tunnel bored to empty be- meath the falls. Where it opened lay a huge pile of debris, and as soon as the opening was made spray from this pile began to fill the tunnel. It came in so fast that work was abandoned. Pumps were started, but still the water rose till it was sixteen feet deep in the shaft on shore. It looked then as if the whole enterprise, on which a for tune had been spent, would be a fail ure.
 Then three foremen employed on the work volunteered to go through the tunnel in a skiff and blow away the debris. They secured a punt from tho Maid of the Mist and lowered it down the shaft. The water was within two feet of the roof of the tunnel, but they determined to make the journey. They loaded their boat with dynamite and electric wire and enough iron to sink il till 1t would allow them to move along the tunnel. Then lying on their backs, they pushed the boat along the water way by pressing against the roof with hands and feet Their progress was slow, and their situation, directly be- low the mighty Niagara, was as ap- palllng as 1t was unique. But they persevered, and at last reached the portal through which the water was entering.
 Only a tiny opening was left there, but one by one they left the skiff and crawled through, to stand-the first of all men-behind the water of the Horseshoe in the middle of the river. There they fixed the dynamite in place.
 Returning with the wires which were to fire the charge they upset their skiff and had to swim much of the way; but they arrived in safety only to find upon touching the button that they had not taken enough dyna- mite to finish the work.
 Then a new trick was tried. A line of volunteers, roped together like Al. pine tourists, went out along the heap of debris behind the fall, at the foot of the Horseshoe, carrying dynamite ir large quanaitles. These men, too, were travelling in place where no men had ever before been. On the way one of the boxes of dynamite was dropped and burst open on the rocks, put fortunately did not explode. The rest was buried at the entrance to the tunnel. At midnight that night there was an explosion which shook the American side of the river like an earthquake-and this time the effort was crowned with success. The water flowed out quickly, and thenceforth work in the tunnel was prosecuted with ease.