The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1913-04-04
CAISSONW WORKERS
Peri!s and Difficulties That En-
compass Their Labors.
THE FEARFUL AIR PRESSURE.

THE FEARFUL AIR PRESSURE
Il Causes ExhiIaration After the First
Painful Sensations Pass Away-Ths
Great Danger Lies In Coming Out ~
the Lock- Into the Open Air.
Laboring on the firm earth. with "all
eut of doors" to breathe, perspiring
and mayhap grumbling at ones hard
luck, q person seldom II ever. stops to
think that men work day after day
deep down In the water or the mud.
with none but artificial light to guide
their movements and only the air that
Is pumped to them to breathe.
People who work in the open air
would have only to labor for a very
short time in a divers suit, a caisson
or an air lock, getting a taste of what
1t Is like and how it feels, to be cured
whatever of grumbling at their lot and
thank their lucky stars that 1t has been
ordained that they work on top Of the
earth.
4u0 "Olh Va q u1NCAs Llo oCAouSAoAD
while under water and his experiences
have often been written about, but
those of the air lock and the caisson
worker have not While he does not
face the danger of fouling pipes and
lines. as does the diver, he stays down
longer. gets warmer, and bis great dan
ger lies in the stagnation of blood and
paralysis resulting from the change Of
atmosphere.
While the man working on the sur
face of the earth bears up an atmos-
pheric pressure Of fifteen pounds to tho
inch, men in the locks bear a pressure
Of from fifteen to fifty pounds Of COM
pressed air, according to the depth.
The heaviest pressure yer worked un.
der was borne by Eve divers on the
Swedish cOast-sixty-fve pounds. -Four
Of these died a few minutes after COM
ing out
While, as a general thing, the diver
stands not nearly the amount of pres
sure and seldom stays down more than
two hours, the men In the Hudson
river tunnel stood a pressure Of forty
six pounds and worked in four hour
shifts. Some men stayed down twenty
J hours at a stretch, but did not work all
: the time, and Superintendent Haskins
stayed down once twenty -four hours.
! The sensations experienced are Pc
J culiar. When a man frst steps In
: there are u tingling In the ears and a
l. pain in the head, and when be talks IL
Is apparently through the nose This Is
caused by the pressure, and the remedy
! Ia to hold the nOse, close the mouth
: and blow against the ears. This 70
0 iieves the pain and stops the sensation
When the pressure Ia all on the worker
feels all right and experiences no dis
comfort. Then there Is a sort Of Q Z
hilaration, and a man does more work
Q In the lock than he could do outside.
q The danger lies In coming out OF the
pressure into the open air. 1t Is then
that q man is apt to suffer from stag
8 nation of the blood and paralysis caus'
= ed by the change in the atmosphere
K Besides this. a man may be attacked
In the head or stomach with severe
a pains. Three out of five cases where
g the head and stomach are attacked re
suit fatally.
Another severe malady resulting
l. from the change Is what Is called thu
bends" This is the air getting II
between the flesh and the bone. 1t h
n extremely painful and SO severe that
II quart of whisky administered In bali
an hour would not intoxicate the pa
tient. The stagnation and paralysis
- - ,->.eA a. md do fhA Uynrb
quickly. Many men have beer keelet
X over by these causes. and not a few
die. Old timers at the business some
times get caught. The remedy To-
this paralysis Is a quick return to tn
u air lock.
Of The men as a general thing do no
e. remain a great many years at the bust
le ness, and q man should never work q
e. it after be Is forty years of G
et Cutting a hole and building a tunne
n. through water is an extremely Difficult
8. thing and by many was thought to b
impossible. Still it was done in tn
te case Of the Hudson river tunnel. an
a. the method is very interesting.
ed The work on the tunnel had pre-
ne crossed until a body of water wa
is struck. How to tunnel through thi
IN hole Of water was q puZzling question
1t was done in this way: A so Gale
balloon was constructed by making
netting of wire rope and covering thl
g. netting with canvas. The interior Q
ed the balloon was then filed with blu
clay and salt hay. When filed tn
be balloon. thirty feet in diameter. weigh
ed l4O tons. The hole of water wa
Id then located. and with the aid OF
to huge stea derrick the balloon wa
dropped into the hole. Then sever,
scow loads of dirt were dumped dow
IT. on to the balloon and the whole thin
an left to settle.
At the end Of ten days the work
cutting through the balloon was b.
gun. This was a very difficult Job. A
Mao NJ what hard cutting II was mi