Show THE TUNNEL DISASTER I More Details of the Frightin J Occurrence None of tbc Bodies ol the Drowned Recovered New York 21 Thomas Vannos tranda one of the rescued men from the tunnel in which tcdayd dilate occurred said the main shaft is sixty feet deep and from the bottom of thi shaft the entrance to the tunnel is i effected through a cylinderical barrel bar-rel six feet in diameter and fourteen feet in length Tnis ij called an airlock i air-lock and serves to preserve ibe density den-sity of the atmosphere of tbo tuunc which in turn is secured by the forcing for-cing of airlthrough ppes from pumpa There is a dcor in each end of the air look They both open inward At each eide of the dcos are round windows of thick glass through which from the outside of the air lock a view can be gained of the work and the workmen inside the tunnel There were twentyeight men at work in the tunnel They went in at 12 oclock last night for an eighthour shift I was at work near the east end of the lock and in i the west end of the tunnel At about 430 oclock I heard the bolb snap and braces give way at the sam I time I felt a rush of air in my face I started back with seven of the men who were near me and ran into the look The air pressure crowded the door shut at the east end At first it i was locked by a joist which wo pulled out and then the door slammed to Through the dead eyes we could see the men inside the tunnel tun-nel The water was fast rushing in Peter Woodland assistant superintendent super-intendent stood at the door outside the lock which was stationary It would not move with ua WIthout knocking the dead eyes This would be fatal to the men outside as the water would rush in and drown the men in an instant Woodland knew this but stood at the door His face was ghastly white and ho realized the terrible danger He eaid to me Tom quick burst the dead eyes and do what you can for ua 1 knew it was death to us nil if 1 did not so I obeyed orders Aa the class broke the air rushed in and the lock shot out in the main shaft leaving the men to drown as the space occupied occu-pied by the shaft filled with w iter i in tin instant We were wholly stripped of our clothes when we crawled out I heard a rush of water at our backs It filled in fast but obstructions kept it back long enough for us to escape from the main shaft It was all we could do to save ourselves Wcod land was standing in water up to his waist when I saw him It was a sure death and I had to knock out the dead eyea as I told you He knew 3S well aa I that it was all over with him I shall never forget the look on his taco or the sound of his voice aa he told ua to save ourselves though the very act was to insure his death The officers of the company in explaining explain-ing the accident say the workmen in coming through the air lock must have exercised unusual carelessness and both doors of the air lock being opened at the same time the compressed com-pressed air was allowed to escape iho compressed air serves a double purpose namely to keep the water out and to support the roof of the tunnel so when it escaped the catastrophe catas-trophe was inevitable The workmen WOre busily engaged this afternoon in i rigging up a strong pump for the purpose of drawing out the water from the welllike structure and also for drawing the water out of the tunnel tun-nel which is filled to the extreme limit This hes been ascertained for a certainty by the engineer by nn attempt to force compressed air into the cavity The water in the dm has fallen about ten feet since thiii morning in consequence of the receding tide Every now and then the surface in tho cen tro would be disturbed by numerous air bubbles and at times would appear aa if boiling said to be due to the fact that some earth or masonry is falling constantly within the tunnel and displacing air produced pro-duced this effect The engineers and officials say it is impossible that any imprisoned workmen may be alive as the water within the whole length of the tunnel is filled to the roof and even above it The laborers who are making excavations west of the shaft will however not cease their labors to get at where the bodies are supposed sup-posed to lie but it is impossible to I torca any air into the tunnel as RU which has been forced in so far baa escaped through the shaft in which it made the water leap up two or three feet above the surface It is feared this afternoon that only seven men instead of eight haTe been saved as one named Thomas Crimmins who was reported to have escaped is i now said to be missing |