Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-02-16
THE SAND.HOG.
He 10 the Fellow Who Works Under
Ground in Compressed Air.


Ground in Compressed Air.
The sand-hog is the digger into the
earth, who gropes his way down by
inches, shut up in the working cham
ber stronghold Of the caisson, proof
against possible inrushing sand and
water through the power of compress
ed air. He is a CHEEKY man, is the
sand-hog, even If he doesn't look 1t
when he comes up out Of the shaft
after stopping in the slime OF the
working chamber. He Is CHEEKY be-
cause he is we'll paid. His wages in
crease and his hours grow less as he
sees deeper into the earth and has to
stand greater cir pressure and there
fore work at higher tension. He gets
s4.25 for eight hours work when the
pressure Is between twenty-five and
thirty pounds per square inch. But
for two hours work in day, done In
hour shifts, when the pressure Is at
forty five pounds per square inch, he
gets IS a day. This Is easy money, the
men say, and they prefer this shift
IL they can get 1t. There Is always a
desire on the part Of the men to get
the last shift-the shift that is going
to strike the rock, for then they get
bonus, which they dub the velvet"
The average air pressure they work
under is twenty eight pounds.
AS the caisson goes down, the fore
man has to be very careful to keep
the digging level. He keeps close tabs
on the work with spirit level. The
importance of this lies in the fact that
II the floor of the caisson is excavated
on a slant, the caisson, with It's con-
crete column on top will begin to veer
off from the vertical and will continue
on it's oblique course, resulting In
pier set in on the oblique.
1t is required by law that hot cof-
fee be kept for the men as they come
out of the compressed air chamber.
Another requirement Is the mainte-
nance of a hospital lock" on the
grounds. 1t has been found that the
best remedy for the bends" the trou-
BILE that aff1icts workers in compressed
air, is to put the men back into the
compressed air, gradually reducing
the pressure to the normal pressure
of out doors. Sometimes the period
occupied in the reduction Is as long
as two days. 1t is generally thought
that the caisson disease comes from
an excess Of nitrogen, and that 1t also
in part may be due to the confinement
of bubbles Of high-pressure air In the
blood, causing cramps and sometimes
paralyzing the heart. During the con-
finement of the patient in the COM
pressed air Of the hospital lock-" he
is massaged, and electrical treatment
Is given to assist in the release OF
these air bubbles. The patient is also
advised to take some light exercise.
The hospital lock" is in the shape
of a great cylindrical boiler. The one
used at the Municipal building was
seven feet in diameter and twenty one
feet long. In it were two beds. 1t was
thoroughly heated, as there was great
likelihood Of the men catching serious
colds from the chill that results from
the lowering of the pressure. The
hospital lock treatment was found to
be a good preventive of the caisson
disease.
In the work on the lower level Of
the Municipal building thirty five min
utes was allowed for decomposition
before the men in coming from their
work in the caisson were allowed to
come into the atmosphere. This Pc
riod was passed in the air lock at the
surface. the pressure in the air being
reduced gradually. The difficulty OF
ventilation in a caisson for a building
foundation Is much greater than In
tunnel work, for the tunnel forms a
much larger reservoir than the founda-
tion caisson, which Is no larger than
a good-sized room. The air tempera-
ture is also higher than that in tun-
mel under a river.
The construction company carries
insurance for the d-hogs.-New
York Sun.