Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-01-21
In Submarine Tunnel in
Lake at Chicago,
Powder Exp|odes--- Are
Burned to Death or Drowned.
Some Blown to Pieces, Others
Hurled Into the Icy Water.

by the resultant fire or drowned in the
icy waters of Lake Michigan, was The
fate today of some SO men who were
working on a submarine tunnel at a
Ffooden crib a mile and a half from
shore
The crib was used in the construc-
ton of new submarine water tunnel
connecting with the south side shore
Ct the city at I'D street 1t is known
that 50 workmen We're employed in
the crib and the connecting tunnel at
the time of the explosion which start
cd the fire and blew or drove the men
into the water The work of the de-
stroyng elements was begun so uneX-
pectedly and reaped it's harvest of dead
and injured with such swiftness that
the contracting firm of George w.
Jackson and the rescuers have been
unable to arrive at anything like an
accurate list of those who persisted, or
of others who escaped the fury of the
Games or the icy water Of the lake.
All the South Side hospitals We're
Fl led with injured men tonight. City
fire boats and tugs of the construction
company made frequent trips far into
the night to the scene of the disaster
through the heavy ice foes.
Owing to the difficulty experienced
by small craft in reaching the crib
during the winter, most of the work.
men employed on the work, particular
ly those who had no families, slept in
temporary hunks at the crib. 1t was
just as these men had been awakened
for the days work that the explosion
and subsequent fire caused the panic
which. resulted in the great loss Of life.
AS nearly as the investigators have
been able to ascertain the explosion
| aad its origin in powder house of
| small dimensions. situated about 100
yards from the crib structure proper,
but at the same time being a part of
| the genera, structure built on founda-
| tons resting on the bottom of the lake
| at this point. In this clubhouse, the
| George w Jackson Co. stored from
| time to time just enough powder and
| dynamite for urgent use in the work of
| constructing the water tunnel and in
some manner not yet known the ex-
! plosives were put into action.
| The dull detornatlon, muffled as it
| was by the crushing of the floating ice
against the crib, and the atmosphere
laden with heavy fog, simply aroused
the attention of the wOrkmen, accord
ing to survivors. and it was not IN
| til the heat of the flames and sitting
| smoke penetrated the So-called ''liv-
! ing room" of the crib and the tunnel
beneath the waters of the lake that
the full import of the disaster dawned
upon the Workmen, cut off from quick
| succor.
One of the Workmcn, with Il cooler
| head than his fellows, abandoned the
shouting and frantic men on the crib
| platform and made his way through
the smoke to little enclosure in
which was a telephone that communi-
Gated With the shore station. The
d:oWsy attendant on shore was
brought into action by violent ring
OF the telephone bell and this was the
message which set on foot the work
| of rescue:
"The crib is on fire! For Gods sake
send help at once or we will be burn
cd alive! The tug -"
| At this point communication ceased
and through the fog an occasional
burst of fame and an unmistakable
door Of smoke made it known to the
watchers on shore that the telephone
message was in earnest.
| The tug Z. r. Moorford in charge OF
Capt. Johnson. had forced her PROV
earlier in the morning To ali anchorage
within short distance of the imper-
lied crib and this boat was the first
| t, begin the work of rescung the
frenzied workmen The ice made it i'm
possible for the tug to reach the I'M
proviscd pier. but a small boat was
placed in service to carry the injured
to the steamer and to rescue those who
had plunged into the waters of the lake
rather than face the flames which We're
raging on the crib structure.
After several hours of heroic work
on the part of the rescuers 80 work.
men were rescued. When the fire tug
Conway and her crew had finally
quenched the flames, So bodies had
been carried to the shore and placed
i'm morgues In South Chicago. awaiting
Identification. The bodies of the vic
tins in the majority of instances We're
unrecognizable and the contracting
firm gave out list of missing, which
probably will be the same as was an
nounced as the official list of the dead
when the coroner has completed his
Investigation.
AS the news of the disaster spread
throughout the south side of the city,
thousands of anxious men, women and
children took up points of vantage along
the lake shore and stood shivering hour
after hour as the tugs laboriously plowed
their way through the ice foes with their
cargoes OF burned and misshapen victims.
The tunnel. in the building of which
the crib was used, is being constructed
in sections by the George w. Jackson
Co. The first section of the tunnel be-
gins at the shore. The crib. mile and
half out marked the beginning of
the second section, extending still fur
Their into the lake. These two sections
had not yet been Joined and therefore
no underground escape to shore was
possible The superstructure of the
crib was board building of two
stories. 1t was surrounded by mar
row platform or pier. Under it shaft
of steel and concrete about 20 feet in
diameter ran down 100 feet to the tun-
mel proper. A tramway consisting of
strong steel cables on which bucket |
cars travelled gave connection with the
shove for rho transfer of supplies and :