The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-20
SHOT UP TO DEATH IN
BURST TUBE CEYSER
One Killed, Another Missing
in "BlOwOut" in subway
Tunnel Under River.
ONE LIVES TO TELL TALE
Submarine Passage at Foot of
Montague street Flooded
With Water.
ONE LIVES TO TELL TALE

with water.
4 blowout" the terror OF ak sand
hogs. took place in the Manhattan bound.
or north tube. Of the Whitehall Montague
street tunnel for the H. r. T. subway at
4 :o5 O'Clock yesterday afternoon and
three men We're shot UP through the
twenty-five foot bed Of the East River
and twenty feet Of water and rose high
in the air on "A gigantic swiriing pillar
OF mud and silt
On. man. Marshall Mabcy. IS. of 50
Theodore street. Astoria. J.. l.. survived
his thrilling experience aud suffered only
from shock. Frank Driver. IS. "A negro.
of 2>l Jay street. Brooklyn. was taken
from the river dead. and Michael Me
carthy. &c, 1909 Third avenue. who was
cataptilted with his fellow workmen
from the unexpected opening Of the tun'
mel, is missing II Is believed his BODY
may stlll be cisbeddcd in the mud on
the rivers bottom.
John Young. blaster. III Bergen
street, Brooklyn. who was with the
others when the BLOWOUT occurred
managed 10 hang ON To an upright piece
Of iron in the shield and VAS thus able
10 withstand the terrible rush of air that
carried his companions through the hole
to daylight He had to do a little jump
ing 10 escape from the tunnel. and hurt
his ankle. but not seriously.
Flooded with Water.
Tie tube was Hooded with water from
the point of tn" blowout AT what IS
known to the engineers a. ring No. .6f,
back To ring No an The hole caused
hy the blowout" IS b.l = covered with
, blanket of clav. and sufficient air
pressure will hc kept ON I" Keep the
river water from further inundatine the
tunnel II H. said the work II pumping
out the water will u. a simple eng neer-
ing proposition
The :unncl J. being constructed by the
shield method under compressed a'r.
The air pressure holds up the bottom OF
rhe river Will. the shield j. being pressed
forward or its course. The shield -
cylindrical and iS pushed ahead of the
completed part uf the tunnel by seven
teen hydraulic jacks OF capacity OF
l20 tons each. II works on the prin-
ciple of "A telescope and moves forward
INTO the sand and rock under III" river 5
bed tw.n'y-~jx inches At time. The
front part Of the shield. where i: cuts
into Whatever j. ahead Of II. is boardej
up and these brcaSting boards ar. taken
ont one by one. after the shield has been
advanced I'm order To- permit the sand
to y. removed
The "hlow,ut' occurred about I50
feet inside TN. uier head of the old Wall
stree ferry slip At the foot 70 Mon'agu,
street. Rrorklyn. At tho extreme END
OF tho Manhattan bound tube. 500 feet
beyond the bulk head The four mer
wer. all Al work IN the shield and about
Twenty-Five others were IN the tu7ne
ba,l; of the shield
Nphoiy had any premoniti"n "f Nhi
was coming. Ther. was sudder
blow a. ono of the men. it - believed
removed one Of the hrcasjing boards
and everything began to ~ toward tn,
hole that WAS blown in the sand At th'
head OF the shield Driver. Mabcy an,
Mccarthy were sucked into the up'nin.
like feathers They ",re driven as from
"A nois-lesS cannon up through the san,
and soft spots of the mucky r.v"r be,
into the water and We're then sent Will
/ tremendous force high in the air
- Geyscr "f Mud"
! Tom Lennon. top foreman. VINO wa
/ standing on "A pier. waa tn" tirSt man oi
/ the surface who had an idea OF wha
/ was goinG on in the depths below H.
saw IN. water boil for a moment IN tn
old slip aud then he saw what ap
pcar.d to he 4 pillar ~ mud seventy
five feet high. he thought with thrc
men spanning ON the top OF II.
"It was what YOU would call lrGula
geyser of mud" he said. "anl il sput
tered and spun with a vengeance,
! clearly saw the three men there IL n
I mistake about that. They fell back int