The Emmett index., 1913-07-03
CAISSON WORKERS
PeriIs and Difficulties That En-
compass Their Labors.
The FEARFUL AIR PRESSURE.

II Causes Exhilarstion After the Fir,
Painful Sensations Pass Away-Th
Great Danger Lies In Coming Out Z
the Lock Into the Open Air.
] Laborins on the firm earth, with -al
OUT OF doors" TO breathe. perspirin,
and mayhap grumbling ut ones hart
luck. person seldom if ever stops I,
think that men work day after daJ
deep down In the water or the mud
with none but artificial light to guild,
their movements and only the air thai
Ii pumped to them to breathe
People who work in the open all
would have only to labor for 4 very
short due In diysr.s suit. = cstsson
or su air lock. getting . taste of what
IL IL like and bow II feels. to be cured
whatever OF gruinbling at their lot and
thank their lucky stars that II has been
ordained that they work on top Of the
earth
The work OF a diver. his sensations
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. be stays down
longer. gets warmer, and his 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 or the earth bears up an atmos-
pherfc pressure OF fifteen pounds to the
inch. uIen In the locks bear pressure
or from fifteen 10 fifty pounds OF COM
pressed air. according TO the depth.
The heaviest pressure ever worked un.
der WIS borne Dy i've divers ON the
Swedish coast-sixty-fve pounds. Four
of these died few minutes after COM
ing out
While. as a general thing. the diver
stands not nearly the amount or pres
sure aud seldom stays down more than
two hours. the neD In the Hudson
river tunnel stood pressure of forty
six pounds and worked in four hour
shifts Some men stayed down twenty
hours at u stretch, but did not work all
the time. and Superintendent Haskins
stayed down once twenty-four hours.
The sensations experienced are pc
culiar. When man first steps In
there are tingllng In the ears and
pain In the head. and when he talks 1t
is apparently through the nose. This is
by the pressure. and the remedy
is To hold the nose. close the mouth |
lieves the pam and stops the seusa ton. |
When the pressure is all on the worker |
feels all right and experiences no dis |
Then there is a sort of ex-
and a man does more work |
10 the lock than he could do outside.
The danger lies In coming out of the
pressure into the open air. 1t IL then
hat man is apt to snffer from stag
nation of the blood and paralysis caus
I'd by the change in the atmosphere.
Besides this. man may be attacked
d the head or stomach with severe
,ains Three ont of five cases where
he head and stomach are attacked re-
ult fatally.
Another severe malady resulting
rom the change Is what Is called the
bends This Is the air getting In
'etween the riesh and the bone. 1t Is
txremely painful and so severe that a
uart OF whisky administered In half
n hour would not intoxicate the pa-
lent The stagnatioD and paralysis
re the worst dangers and do the work
uickly. Many men have been keeled
yer BY these causes. and not few
ie Old timers at the business some
mes get caught The remedy for
bis paralysis Is quick return to the
ir lock
The men as a general thing do not
emain great many years at the bnsi-
ess. and man should never work at
after he Is forty years of aga
Cutting hole and building tunnel ,
trough water is an extremely difficult
hing and by many was thought TO be
npossible Still it was done IN the /
lse OF the Hudson river tunnel. and
le method IL very interesting. {
The work on the tunnel had pro- 4
ressed until body of water was :
ruck How to tunnel through this
ole or water was u puzzling question
was done In this way: A SO called
illoon was constructed by making a
citing OF wire rope and covering this q
,tting with canvas. The interior of I
ie balloon was then tilled with blue
nv and salt nay. When tilled the
llloon. thirty feet in diameter. weigh +
! l40 tons The hole of water was
en locnted. and with the aid OF a n
ige steam derrics the balloon was 4
'opped into the hole Then several !,
ow loads OF dirt were dumped down :
10 th,. balloon and the whole thing
fl to settle.
At the end OF ten days the work OF :
tting through the balloon was be T
In This was Il very ditiirult job An
ea OF what nard cutting II was may
gained from tne fact that II took
70 months TO dig through the thirty 7
et-SL Louis Globe Democrat
The Spinster's Jest. T
Friend ito elderly spin
sr,-So. my dear. you're given up ad- le