The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-06-14
AT the
Tunnels End
by Ray siannard Baker
Copyright bu y, $. Mcclurc Go.

pipe cfooklng out or one corner or the
Boof, said Il was a beautiful tunnel.
Iie said Il with cheerful confidence 10
the committee OF Ave who had come TO
Investigate. The Ave had Just dIned
Hxpansiveiy with Barclay, and II was
with good humorod brnyado TINT they
now trusted themselves 10 the dinky
elevator and descended the shaft Six.
ty feet below daylight they stepped out
pn alImy platform. and Gregson. tho
underground boss. showed them
moist red tube reaching outward under
the river. A row Of misty incandcs-
cent lights ribbed tho tunnel nj regular
and at the far end they could see a
black wall with q closed steel door.
For the beneiit OF tho chairman OF the
Ave. who thought that this wall was
The end OF sc tunnel. Gregson explain
ed that the steel door led into the air
lock aud that for 600 feet beyond
stretched the pressure workings. Greg
son confined himself strictly to infor-
nation. hc vcntured no opinion at all.
as became Wise boss In the presence
OF the contractor. The Ave walked
Gown the plank roadway on the floor OF
the red tube, their heads almost touch
Ing the roof, the water dripping on
their oil coats, their ears filed with
the strange echoes OF this underground
place.
You are now under the river" Bar.
clay said; 'the water In not twenty 1--we
feet over your heads"
The five looked nt one another,
'is thare any dangcrf' asked the
chairman.
mot tae slightest" answered Bar
clay.
A small. cold rivulet drippcd down
inside the chairman's collar,
let us 40 up" he said.
Having now nearly reached the steel
door OF toe air lock. Barclay invited
them 20 enter the pressure workings.
where twenty men aud mule were
toiling but the chairman remembered
suddenly that he bad a weak heart and
eonldn't take mir pressure, and the 9th
ers were certain that. having Just
nined heartily. II would be very dan.
gerous for them TO venture, Barclay
looked relieved at this decision: Greg.
sons face was grim. and he said moth
Ing
30 the Ave went UP with the haxy
impression that tunnels were generally
moist and uncomfortable, II not dan
gerous. and that Mr.. Barclay was q re-
markably efficient contractor and an
accomplished engineer. to say nothing
Of being q genial good fellow. They re-
ported that the tunnel was good and
perfect tunnel and referred In compli-
tnentary terms 10 the contractor. there.
by relieving the fears OF a soiicitous
public.
II In u curious fact that the deeper
into a tunncl one pcnetrates the poorer
lts reputation. The five had not been
permitted to catch so much as n
glimpse of Jernigan, the sub.boss. lord
of the ptdRsurc workings. II Jernigans
opinion a. the tunnel had been asked,
ho would have answered frankly. being
IN outspsken man:
"She's laundering geeser."
In the cold ooze at the end Of the
tunnel, where the truth was. gaunt
half clad nfen, with picks and clay
plugging balls. said things about the
y tunnel that would not look we'll In
print, and. being men Of experience In
these things, they spoke with authority.
30 bad was tho reputation Of the tun'
mel among those who knew that no
boss but Jernlgan could have kept q
crew ut work where every pick thrust
was a special invitation to death by
drowning
When tunnel No. 3 began to grumbic
Il was beautiful TO see Jernigan hold
his men In hand. At the first sound Of
danger there were tlose who would
have gone rushing for the air lock and
safety, but Jernigan. standing there
behind them In the roadway, was more
terrible than the danger in front. or
all the sounds known to these under
ground places there Is none quite like
the grumbllng at u tunnels end.
And yet, sudden and startling as
these sounds at tunnels end may be,
they are nothing Of themselves. Their
terror lies In their significance. They
are the outcrles Of danger, The tunnel
grumbles when 1t reaches a spot where
the earth between II and the water of
the river bottom Is thin where there
are pockets of qulcksand or deeps of
thick mud. It's excuse for grumblng
as the best The heavily compressed air
within the tunnel, thus compressed for
The main purpose Of keeping out water
and mud from the tunnels end, breaks
out through the thin earth where the
men are working with a ripping wall
and goes boiling upward to the surface
of the river. And when II escapes the
water and thin mud bursts In, ana II
enough air goes out and enough water
comes In, It Is ninety-nine chances to
one that the workers. racing for the
mfr lock, will be overtakon nnd drown.
od with their noses to the roof of the
kunnel like rats in a rain barrel.
For 800 feet from the air lock In Jer.
- H.. ~ a