The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-09
BY DOUGLAS JAsPERsEN CHURCH.

river.
BY DOUGLAS JAsPERsEN CHURCH.
''There is awful pressure today Mike OBJ
served TO as he turned away from The dial by the
lock thai registered the number OF pounds of pres
In the cock. We all standing sitting near
by waiting for the other gang out of the tun
mel before went in TO take their places
Some of the escaping air announced that they were
leaving the tunnel and IN few minutes the door Of
the lock opened and they hurried out pushing one
another aside in their eage-ness TO get above ground
again No sooner had The last stepped out of
te lock than the rest of the gang who had been left
in the tube turned the from the tunnel anxious
to get out possible
The air coming into the open lock from the tunnel
blew some newspapers. which were in tic lock- into
tiny pieces. When 7 the terrific force of The com
pressed air, which had blown the paper fragments
no larger than my tMmbnail realized for the first
time the strain which oue's body must be under in
passing quickly from compressed to ordinary air If
to air Without P the medium of oeh he es s
would be to disintegrate one IS body and blow it into
fragments IN the same manner | had seen the paper
Just we were about to go into the lock of
the electrelans ran up and shouted to Mike:
I'VE re going to change the dyuamos time dur
a ing your shift, so be ready for us. -
LII Total Darkness.
Mike shouted back that he would, and we entered
Il u TO- aSs e the
often aud when 1t is done the tunnel Is IN total
darkness for a few minutes.
As we were leaving the lock we saw the doors of
the large lock open and four or five cars of iron plates
send down the parroyv track to the heading Mike and
stopped To examine the iron and then followed
the rest of tie down the tunnel toward the head
~ think we We got TOO much pressure Mike said
after We had walked little way
''What viii happen If get too much,'' I asked.
~ VI IL m blow out % the heading he said quietly
thick muck now, and if should hit loose saud with
this pressure 1t would blow out the bottom of the river
and let the water in.
Just then reached the heading and he left ME
abruptly to take charge of the work of putting in the
.Fwhere s the iron?'' he shouted
They tcephoned from the lock that il s started"
one of the iron told him. and all stood there
the heading waiting for it to arrive
Soon We could hear il coming down the long incline
started at the shout of the man who had been con
trolling the brake the air car and straining
eyes him leap from the train and stand there
wildly waving his arms at Us Then we could hear
the loud booming Of the cars as they came toward
for the shield with certain destruction in their Of
hying steel
Thrilling Emergency.
This was one Of the many emergencies which mus
be expected @auy SINE, and met al sn Instant
notice We all stood still, too much taken by sur
prise move. but Mike took in thc situation at 2
SaPs must hia have seen brosn ma" and
before the of could realize what bn was doing
he picked up long beam and throw it acnoss the track
directly before the speeding CARS as they plunged past
us in their headlong flight
of our foreman. When wei turned back to what
we could do found him some distance from where
we had last beheld hin, but with the exception OF "A
spran - lie all right.
The cars were piled one on top of another against
the shield, but their force had been broken and prob
ably a disaster which might have cost the company
much, and possibly some of us our lives had been
averted by the quick Wit of our foreman. Had the
cars struck the heading with undlmnished force the
shield would have given way and let in tidal wave
of water at once But il forgotten
done. and all set to work with will 10 straighen
out the iron and continue with the ring.
The rotary crane, which run by hydraulic
sure was brought into use, and i'll Incredibly
short time the work going ON as smoothly as II
nothing had happened.
When the plates had been pulled out of the debris
and the overturned rghted everything IN
commotion ami hustle 10 finish the ring before the
next gang should arrive, There is keen rivalry
among the gangs for every completed ring adds
much their chances Of bonus money when the tunnel
IS finished.
When the ring had been completed with the
ccptou Of the two top plates it was found that the
was out OF and looked il it would be i'm
possbl finish the ring But after much hammering
ard tnkering it decided that II would do, and
the next plate was fastened TO the crane and made
ready to be showed into place.
just the plate brought into position and
Ihoistcd 10 the top Of the tunnel there sound
of wrenching iron and the huge steel plate fell with
IN clatter and shower of sparks, to the bottom Of
the bore the very spot where half the gang had
deal of swearing the added work and loss Of time
this accident had occasoned but not Of the
there seemed TO realize how narrowly all had escaped
.beinp crushed to death
Although had had many drawbacks the ring