The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-15
TUNNEL TO BROOKLYN OPEN.
ENDS or TIE NORTH TUBE MEET
ALMOST EXACTLY.

supt. Tom Mullen the First Person 60 Get
Through, and lie Lao to Re Boosted
Tho other Tube May IA Through I'm
SIX weeks-Then Ihey'l Celebrate.
The headings of the north tube OF the
pair OF subway tunnels that are being buut
from the Battery TO the foot OF Joralemon
street, Brooklyn, came together near the
middle Of the East River at 2:SS O'Clock
yesterday afternoon, thus forming the
first underground passage between the
boroughs.
For more thar three years the big steel
shells have been boring their way towaro
zach other. through rock, sand and schist'
and when they came together It was al
most like the meeting Of the rims OK Cwo
tumblers held In a persons hand. Inc
engineers pronounced the juncture perfect
The sandhogs in the north u 10 have
beer working under a full head OF steam
ever since last Saturday, when the engi-
neers drove q ten inch pipe shrough the
sixty-hve feet OF earth that separated
the two shielda. That was done 90 that
the levels might be checked. but even
without that ~precaution the SHIELDS, II
was said, would not have miscarried more
than q fraction Of an inch.
Tho men In both ends OF the tube have
been anxious to claim the honor OF being
the FIRST to break their way through b
day shift, when it went on duty yesterday
morning, knew that it would probably
do the trick, although the night men had
been straining every muscle, h sand
hogs on the New York side could hear the
sounds OF the picks and shovels welded
L. Al. - A. nr1oGlxyn aida and every
now and then a jollying message was
shouted through the ten inch tube.
IL was 21S O'Clock when word came up
the shaft at the Manhattan end hat the
tunnel was about 20 be opened. Generai
Supt. Thomas J. Brown. Thomas Mullen,
superintendent on the New York side. and
Ogden Merrill, one of the resident Engineers,
went down. On the Brooklyn side were
F. A. Snyder, the engineer In charge there
and william Barnes, the superintendent.
As the shining point Of a bar appeared
| through the thin wall Of schist from the
Brooklyn side about fifteen minutes later
q cheer went up from the Manhattan sand
! hogs, and IL was taken up a moment later
by the Brooklyn men. The widening OF the
hole was going on rapidly when Supt. Tom
Mullen became impatient.
That's big enough said he, let US
through
Mullen is no mid get. and General Supt.
Brown and the others were sure they could
get through any hole that would admit
Mullen. The New York SUP erintendent
started for Brooklyn head first. but got
stuck. General Supt. Brown and ~the>other
engineers fell to and began pushing the
Manhattan end Of Mullen while the Brook
| lyn force tugged at his hands. He went
through all right, pulling part OF the Man
haitian side In with him. Then General
Supt. Brown and Merrill went through,
They we're Joined by the Brooklyn force
and all hands walked through to the Jorale-
mon street entrance.
Brown and Others Of the New York force
took the ferry back TO Manhattan, and
upon their arrival the steam whistle at
the Battery shaft began to toot. IL blew
for more than ten minutes, While several
hundred Staten Islanders paused on their
vav 20 the municipal ferry long enough
10 remark that they were very glad d
! that Brooklyn also is soon 60 have relief
The exact meeting place OF the shields
was 1 ,p35 feet from the Brooklyn shaft and
2 40 fees from the Manhattan side.
Ground was broken for the tunnel or
December 10, 1902, and the first air wal
turned into il on December IL. 1908. Thu
Ioes OF life in the building Of the north tub
il said TO nave been remarkably small
The New York Tunnel Company had plannet
TO have a celebration on Monday, witt
the Mayor and the Rapid Transit Commits
sion present, but that has been postponed
until the south tube is finished. II is ex
pected that the south tub will be chi
through in about six weeks.
ID. l.. Hough. president Of the tunne
company. would not hazard a statemen
Yesterday as TO when subway trains wouI
be running through the tunnels. For a
answer to that question he referred re
porters to George H. Pegram. the Inter
borough engineer. The opening OF tn
north tube makes a continuous tunnel nov
from the Flatbush avenue station OF tn
Long Island Railroad in Brooklyn to tn
terminal Of the Manhattan subway.