Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 July 1880 — A HORRIBLECALAMITY. [ARTICLE]

A HORRIBLECALAMITY.

lustautly N**r You, July 31.—At 5 this mom. ing the csisaou leading to the entrance of the Hudson river tonne], conttmoting at Sixteenth street, Je**ey City, cawed in, carrying wlthlt an insmecM quantity Seven were soon taken out braised bat not seriously injured, and the rescuers were laboring hard to reach the remaining fourteen. Meanwhile the water flowed ia rapidly, and the steam Are engines were set to work to says these who might be •till alive, from drowning. The workmen resided in the vicinity of the tunnel, end a very Urge and excited crowd of persons soon congregated The following Is the official report es the Hudson river tunnel oompeay.through lu engineers, Spulmann sad Brush: “This morning shout 4:80, while the men were changing shifts, that portion of the iron roof adjoining the ahaft'of the connecting chamber! between the two tunnels and the

sinking abaft fell in. Twenty tight men were in the tunnel at the time, of whom eight escaped through the sir lock and twenty were killed. The accident occurred at the connection of the iron plates with the brick wall of the working shaft, which, daring the changing of the shaft, wu probably not watched by the menu closely uit should have been and tha compressed air wu allowed to escape. This ooapressed air is relied upon to sum in supporting the roof, which wu also sustained by a strong timber bracing and the escape of sir hu always been prevented by mopping any lakes with wute silt. An the roof fell the plate closed the door of the air' back into the tunnel and the water rising rapidly, cut off the escape of the twenty men who were killed. The buildin rot this connecting chamber, though s difficult piece of work, hu progressed until now. The roof wu all in position and securely bolted. The connection of the iron plates with the shaft wu being made at the time of the accident Work will be prosecuted night and day with ail the men that can be advantageously employed. until the bodies are recovered, which will probably take about three days. The accident will probably delay the work for three weeks.”

The following statement wu made by one of the men who escaped: After the eight men had escaped, one man, in toying to pa*s through the door leading from the air lock in the temporary chamber of the tunnel, wu Jammed In the doorway, and, despite the efforts of those ahead, could not be brought out. u the door closed upon him ana held him fast. Peter Woodland, assistant superintendent, told the men to try and get out, and when the ninth m*n wu fastened in the doorway, he called out to thoee who had escaped, telling them to hurry and try to get assistance and help the rest and himself, who were left behind. He refused to leave himself, uylng he would stay and make every effort to get the rest out, and If it were not possible, then those escaping most try to get the rest and himself out alive.

Nxw Yonx, July 21.—The escape of one of the eight, named Moline, ia not absolutely certain, u he hu not been seen by the officers of the company. The shifts are changed at 8 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, 19 midnight. The men take their meal* at half put 8 in the morning, and were just coming out for this meal when the disaster occurred. The tunnel hu been extended out about 800 feet from the working shaft. The accident occurred close to the working shaft. There is a space of about 30 feet from the working shaft to that point in the tunnel where permanent work hu been built This slopes toward the river, and hu hitherto been protected by a temporary filling. Workmen have been engaged, for several days, replacing this temporary building with permanent work. The iron plating abont the roof had been placed in position, and the men were working their way downward through the deOria, patting in iron plates at the sides. It is supposed that some of these plates, which were placed next to k the brick wall of the working shaft were not placed close enough to oonflne the condensed air supplied to the men working on the shaft by the engine on the surface. The compressed air worked its

way oat through the plates backward, and allowing the water to flow into the tunnel. It was not water directly irom the river that flawed in as the place where the break occurred is about fifty feet from the bulkhead ; but the ground is filled in and much looeened, and broken up by the excavation for the working shaft The ground is filled with water, and as a current was created, the water from the river rushed in through the bulkhead, filling the tunnel, and, working through the refuse shaft to the working shaft, filled it with fifty feet of water, coming within twelve feet of the surface of the ground. Hie ground immediately over the break sank down, about eight or ten feet, and the water is now standing a foot or two deep in the bottom of the hale. Immediately after the a cident word was sent to the police station in Jersey City, andOapt. Edmondson hastened to .the scene with fifty of his men, and kept back the crowd of excited men and women. Ropes were stretched from point to point A large throng of men and boys gathered at the scene as soon as the .news spread abroad. Many of them were attracted by mere curiosity, but among the throng were the wives and friends of the men who were caught in the tunnel and drowned. When the full detal.s of the calamity were known, and it was found these men were drowned and buried beneath twenty feet of earth and killed, and that it would be impossible to recover the bodies for two or three days, many of these women were led to their houses by sympathising friends, but the curiosity seekers remained and their number increased constantly. Two Catholic priests arrived upon the scene and did much to quiet and console the sorrowing women. The crowd was very orderly and the policemen had no difficulty In keeping them outside of the lines. The following is gleaned from the statement of the survivors: The eight men saved had been doing some work about the tunnel for night Superintendent Michael Blrdsall, and were again descending into the tunnel through the cylinderical barrel, six feet in diameter, and fourteen feet in length. This is called an air lock, and serves to preserve tbe density of the atmosphere of the tunnel, which, in turn, is secured by forcing air through the -pipe from the pumps. There is a door in each end of the sir lock. They both open inside. At each side of the doors there are round windows of thick glass, through which, from the outside air lock, a view can be gained of the works and workmen inside the tunnel. Moeee Rearson, night engineer, at this moment approached the engine room, and while nearing the huge non compressed air chamber he suddenly stopped, with an ejaculation of alarm. Then, quickly running to dm superintendent, he exclaimed, “Kike, for God’s sake what <%roa that meant" At the same time pointing outjust beyond the month of the working shaft, near which both men wens standing, in the glare of the lamps, aoloud of dust, which was distinguished in the air, and in sa instant it was observed that it was being forced upward, as though by a gust of wind directly beneath, accompanied by a sound ae of making wind. Blrdsall sprang to the

laddttwhere the mm had goes dowynd the “deed eyes.” He tried the door. It wee fast because the one at the other end was open, and the force es thecoatpcsMsd air iu the tunnel wu full upon the one nearest to him. As he lookedhe rapped loudly ou the window and door. All of the man who hud last gone down lmd not Mt the air lock. superintendent, signalled them to return. Suddenly he aaw them start and turn their gaze toward the work, and the next instant a heavy suoceation of thuds was heard sad felt, for they shook the ground. Horrible fright, ia a flash, appeared on the fhces of tae men inside, and one. with a crowbar .rushed to the outar dead light*, and in aa instant had ennhed them outward. This gave vent to the ooaepreaaed air that filled the tunnel ; it relieved the presttire on the outer door, which Birdaall pushed inward, allowing the men in the air lock means of egress. No volition of theirs was necessary to cany them, for amid the heavy thuds of falling earth and tha craah of supporting timbers, the more terrible sound ot rushing water caate that upon them. The moment in which Superintendent Woodland, with thoee who had cone in, cried out to thoM in the air lock, “Go! Hurry! Do the beat yon can tor yeuraalvea and then oome back tor aa!” his voice wu choked by the rush of water that surged through the air lock and swept the eight men into the working shaft, where, with Birdaall, they wen lost to each other, in the malrtrom of frothing water that soon filled the abaft to the depth of thirty fast.

Thoee men, however, rose to the surface and reached the ladder in safety, leaving twenty of their fellows eruahed or drowned A workman s*ys: “We strove to stop the leak by shoving our clothas into it We worked with might and mala. Some es the men removed their ttoaao*, and even their shirts, to All up the terrible gap, but still the leak enlarged and the volume of water increased. The water wm soon nearly up to our hips, and we mw it wm uselea to endeavor longer to atop the leak. In the meantime Budenon, the Swede, who wm last to crane through the inside door, had got jammed by the door pressing against him, and some of the men strove to get the door back from him to allow him to get through. Both doors opened inwardly. The pressure of the air from within the tunnel baffled all our attempts to release him from his awful position, and we were obliged to leave him. All our energies were given to extricate the poor Swede, but we hau to get one door shut before we could open the other. By this time, you see, we were unable to open the outer door which is the entrance to the shaft. Inside of the air lock we suffered by the pressure of air from the tunnel. At last one of the men went to work to break the dead lights on the aide Of the outer door, but I stopped him. Iwm afraid if he broke the dead lights the air pressure from the tunnel would prevent us from opening the door. Right afterwards, m nothing else could be done, I seized a crowbar and used it to break the dead lights. We then got through the opening we made. 11m Swede could have got out, too, if he had got clear of the inner door. From the air look we landed on the platform on the shaft, which ia about thirty feet down from the surface, and then we were safe. By the time we reached the surface the thing wm all over. We found there wm a large fallng in of earth on the river side of the shaft. The door of the air lock that opens into the shaft must be shat. The other is wedged Krtly open by the Bweed’s body. The ghtful noise we beard, right after we became aware of the leak wm like the shot ot a gun.”

The Evening Peet has the following account of the disaster: There are about 160 men at work on the tunnel, divided into shifts of (torn SO to 40 men. Each shift is subdivided into 2 gangs. Weak proceeded continuously dayman/! night on tbe tunnel each shift working hours. At the time of the accident one of the morning watch had just gone into the tunnel and the other gang was coming out Eight men were fit the air lock, and when they heard the rush of water they hastened out of the air chamber but so quick did the water come in that the cage was partly filled with water before the men could open the door and get into the shaft. They ran up the ladder leading to the bottom of the shaft and escaped. Thomas Van Nostrund, one of the rescued men, said: The main shaft is sixty feet deep, and from the bottom of this ■haft the entranoe to the tunnel is effected, through a cylindrical band six feet in diameter ana fourteen feet in length. This is called an air lock, and serves to preserve the density of the atmosphere of the tunnel, which, in turn, is secured by the forcing oi air through the pipes from the pumps. There is a door in. each end of the air lock. They both open inward. At each side of the doors are round windows of thick glass, through 'which, from the outside of the lock, a view can be gained of the work and workingmen inside of the tunnel. There were 28 men at work in the tunnel. They went on at 12 o’clock last night for their eight hours shift I was at work near the east end of tne tunnel. It was at about 440 a. m. that I heard the bolts snap and braces give way. At the same time I felt a rush of hot sir in my face. 1 started back with seven of the men who were near me, and ran into the lock. The air pressure crowded the door shut, at the east end. At first it was blocked by the joist, which were pulled out, and then the door slammed too. Through the dead eyes we could see the men inside the tunnel. The water was fast rushing in. Peter Woodland, assistant superintendent, stood at the door outside of the lock which was stationary. It would not move without knocking out the dead eyes. This would be fatal to the men outside, as water would rush in and drown them in an instant. Woodland knew this, but stood at the door. Hit face was ghastly white, and he realized the terrible danger. He said to me, “Torn, quick t Burst the dead eyes, and do what you can for us I” I knew it was death to us an if I did not, so 1 obeyed orders. As the rises broke the air rushed in, and the lock ■hot out In the main shaft, leaving tbe men to drown, aa the space occupied by the shaft filled with water in an instant We were wholly stripped of ear clothes. When we crawled out,! heard a rush of water at our back. It filled in fast, but the obstructions kept it back long enough foe us to escape from the main abaft It war all we could do to save our selves. Woodland iras standing 1 water up to hta waist when I saw him. It was sure death and I had to knock out the dead eyes ss I told you. He knew as well as I that it was all over with them. I shall never forget tkekmk on his Isos, or the sound of nia voice, ae he told ua to save oursehrro, though the very act was to insure hu death.” The officers of the company, in explaining the accident, say thT workmaMii coming through the airlock, must have exercised unusual tsnrlessnnss. and both doom o# the air lock being open* ed at the same time the compressed air waa allowed to escape. The oompressed air serves a double purpose, namely, to keep the water out and to support Oie roof of ths tunnel, so when it £ «ped toe catastrophe was inevitable. It is feared, tola afternoon, that only seven men instead of eight have beep saved as one man named Grimms, who was re! ported by one of the Wine man to have escaped, is now said to be missing.