Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-01-31
TACOMA WIDOW FINISHES
es TUNNEL HUSBAND DE0AN

q
Mrs. Nelson Bennett Shows Northern
Pacific She Has. Ability - Ham,
die Mans Job.
= Tacoma, Wash.--As one approaches
Tacoma on the Northern Pacific Rail
road the train keeps close to Puget
Sound until II reaches Point Defiance,
when 1t goes directly thru the vitals.
of that great promontory In . forty
four hundred foot tunnel.
Over the east and west portals Of
the tunnel 10 the simple inscription:
Nelson Bennett Tunnel put there
at the special request OF the board Of
directors. in joint memory Of husband
and wife-of the husband who started
1t, but who died in the midst of it,
construction. and his plucky and cour-
ageous wife who, tho overwhelmed
with grief and facing financial ruin.
assumed personal and complete super.
vision of the million dollar tunnel,
and turned it over to the Northern
Pacific Railroad within contract time.
The tunnel was hardly well under
way when the chief executive died,
leaving the gigantic. project without q
guiding hand. At. that. moment. Mrs.
Nelson Bennett. grasped the. reins
and resolved never to lose sight Of
two saliant points: that this work must
not stop. and that she herself must
90 rrv. II. IN IN o0rvn plaftnn
In the midst of her first disQuieting
reflections came telephone message
that man who once had been slightly
connected with her husband was at.
tempting to establish q claim Of full
partnership with him, and would as
sumo entire charge Of the work.
Immediately following this came .
message from the superintendent stat
ing that his crew of five hundred Ital.
ians were on the point OF quitting. as
is their custom whenever q sudden
death occurs. and declaring that such
Reorganization Of the work would
mean inevitable failure.
Putting the case OF the claimant In
the hands OF her attorney. Mrs. Ben
nett hurried to the scene Of opera
lions. She assembled the workmen.
and thru interpreters made a strong
appeal to them. to stand by her and
help her finish the project her hus-
band had begun. Practically every
man promised to stick to his post and
kept his word.
Then Mrs. Bennett, In company with
J. c. Denney. the superintendent. went
over every foot Of the big tube. The
next few days she devoted to studying
the specifications OF the contract. One
week after her husbands death she
formally took charge Of the "big job"
as it was locally designated.
For a while the work progressed
rapidly. Then a thunder bolt dropped
out OF a clear sky. With no prelimi.
nary warning the timbering not far
from the east portal Of the tunnel sud
denly gave way. and thousands Of tons
of earth were precipitated inward.
Mrs. Bennett proved herself equal
to the test. Early and late. rain or
shine, she was on the ground person.
ally directing the work, and going
about among the workmen with q
friendly word for each. Her courage
and energy seemed inexhaustible; her
determination to bring her task to q
successful completion never wayered.
But hardly had the debris been re-
moved when still another accident oc-
Cured which deprived Mrs. Bennett
of the man whose fidelity. capability,.
and generous cooperation had been
her mainstay from the beginning.
While rearranging electric light wires
in the tunnel Mr.. Denney was instant.
ly electrocuted.
Ninety nine women out Of hundred
would have considered this obstacle
utterly hopeless and insurmountable,
but Mrs. Bennett pushed steadily on
ward until she was able to turn over
the tunnel within contract time.