Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-10-30

with tiny rivulets Of wafer, and pres
| emily the sand began to slough down
| noiselessly, loosening more and more,
| growing more fluid All of the men
! sprang to the end Of the plank road
way. An Italian who went by the
name of Macaroni-for the sake Of uni
formity-yelled Justify for Jernlgan.
what you squallin' for?" demanded
the sub-boss. Its only pocket of
| quicksand."
Up to that time the air lock had not
| been used, but now the men rushed
from the deep workings, the inner steel
door Of the lock was clapped shut, and
| the compressed air was turned In.
With depth of sixty feet it was nee
essary to use pressure Of over thirty
| pounds to the square inch two atmos-
pheres) in order to make the pressure
of air within the tunnel equal to the
| pressure of earth and water without.
| thereby tending to keep the soft earth
at the tunnels end from caying in.
''Now, byes," said Jernigan, well
swaller air"
Twenty men crowded into the lock,
| and the outer steel door was closed.
| Jernigan turned valve, and the air
came kissing in, the men held their
| noses. blew into their cheeks, swallow
ed Justify with nothing to swallow,
that they might equalize the pressure
| inside their bodies with that without.
Terrible sharp pains shot through their
| heads, and sometimes it seemed as
! though their eardrumG must burst. But
| at last the limit of pressure was reach
ed, and the pain gradually passed
! away. The door leading to the pres
sure workings was opened and in they
went.
Jernigans men were all young and
| sound None other can bear the strain
and fatigue Of this most wearing of
| toll The tunnel had grown misty, 80
that the lights shone through haaos OF
haze, and the compression Of the air
had generated SO much heat that the
| men began to strip. Jernigan's voice
sounded thin and high in the thick
| air; it was an effort to speak aloud.
Paddock, who was an inveterate whis-
tier, could not blow sound.
..Shes stopped slpbberin'," remarked
Jernigan as they reached the tunnels
| end. Most Of the men began digging
cautiously and shoveling the mud into
the tram cars. Swanson, the Swede,
sat at one side and industriously made
small round balls Of clay, a little lar
ger than croquet balls 1t seemed like
child's work, and Jernigan kept up
steady stream of raillery at the ex-
pense Of the big Swede.
Swanson could have put his big fat
thumb on Jernigan and smashed him
and done with It for he was SO tall
he couldn't stand straight on the road
way of the tunnel without hitting his
head-a huge hulk Of a man, tow head
ed, blue eyed, slow of speech. faithful.
He called the su'o-boss always 'Mees-
ter Yernigan;" Jernigan had at least
twenty names for him and not one of
them at all complimentary. And yet
| no dog ever served master more
faithfully than. Swanson served the
| sub-boss.
| And suddenly, as they worked, the
| tunnel began to grumble, and there
| was Jernigan barring the passageway
to safety like rock.
"Give 1t to her, byes," he shouted.
Swanson was already on his feet,
with his arms full Of the clay balls,
and he and three Of the other men be
gan throwing them swiftly and vigor-
ously at the spot where the air was es-
Gaping. Each fattened out near the
| tunnel rim like a thick corn cake, and
when the rattling ceased Swanson
sprang into the mud and pommeled the
clay into the break. The heavy air in
the tunnel helped to hold the patch in
| place. Then the work went on again,
the Italians picking and shoveling;
Billy, the tram mule, Tapping his long
ears; Swanson soberly patting mud pei
let's, and Jernigan directing everything
with cheerful unconcern. Once more
during the shift the tunnel grumbled,
once more there was battery Of clay
balls and once more the men won the
victory against the water.
"Ye're a pretty pitcher, Monty"
shouted Jernigan. why don't you
| throw over the home plate? Here,
| Swanson, you Swede, climb up there
and paddle"
At the end Of three hours Of the heavy
air and the heavier work the men re-
turned to the air lock, suffered again
the pain of reducing pressure and went
into free air, wet and shivering with
cold. They were taken instantly to
hot room, where they were given guam
titles Of ste.aming black coffee, and
after that they dropped down to sleep.
Two shifts a day. three hours or less
each. was all these men could stand.
Thus day after day Jernigan kept his
crew burrcwing, though the tunnel
grumbled its displeasure almost con-
stantly, and. the earth came down half
| fluid silt. SO much water came In that
| 1t ran In IL stream under the plank
roadway, and the great pumps at the
shaft head worked to full capacity.
Once they thought the whole tunnel
end was coming in. The water gush-
ed inward, rose rapidly above the road
way and swirled cold about their feet.
Two Italians bolted suddenly from the
earth working to escape. Even Pad
dock dropped his shovel. Jernigan
stood like post.
"Get back therew he roared.
He caught one Italian with blow on
the chin that sent him sprawling into