New-York Tribune from New York, New York • Page 40

IN A CAISSON'S DEPTHS. Vl'TTH THE "SAND nOGS" AT THE EAST RIVER BRIDGE FOUNDATIONS. DOW THE MCD AT THE R1VRH BED IS r.V A VA1 BRING THE MR BREA1 IHSa mi: El I AIR. The mosl Intel ling In New Fork lo? ti iy Is the of a wooden bos under the East l. r.

Down In Its pths, grubbing in th nd th i rock and debris of the river's (for, the bos has no bot? tom) are a 1 or twent) irkm there will be many more laier. The work they are en i on of the two cities' gr atesl en glneering enterpris tit" new East River Crldgi, thai i to stretch ft Bros Iway, Bro ik fyn. to a poinl at the junction of Nor! ilk and Delanc New-Tork, and these workmen far under water are laying the foundati. (i. towers on th New Fork si i Tw nt) live f.

01 so beneath the surface of the river they will sink mueh further the w.ck pr. 1 The calss which Is the Scientific name of this big and up Which solid column of masonry Is now being built one of the rests or f. tic- huge towers -1 on which the cables will lins must force It way .1 iwn thr ugh tin mu 1 until I i At this point sol roek I seven low high water. The other cala sont i are to be sunk on side of the river tu ipport the Bteel will have ta co ei further, on" on th Brooklj side nearly one hundn feet, for there is no rock nean th sui ice Tib is Just fait on its feet Ie it were, ai 1 lli hug. new bridge, therefore, i und.

All the preliminaries have arrani this first caisson, with Its weight of Eton will soon bi cut Its wa) down through the river bed. Already it has gone down some four and is i tl. moment When the weight above is suf? fi nt, the huge bulk begins to sink, it? i be at well, of about a fool a day A Tribune iveni into the -ptk. of the gi wooden box I he her moi Ing guidi was E. Freeman, of tin Bridge Engin? i ng Corps, the man in cliarg of tho building of the foundations on tie Fork i Both Thi Tribune man and engine in high rul rli is, reaching Iy to t'a lr hips light workingm n'a hats, an-' elothing that mud and water could not harm Climbing er great hi ks if si me on ip of th cai in, blocks ivhk ung Int.

pla b) ram wei beinj nted nil. BOTTOM OF ANT EAST RIVER BRIDGE CAISSON. Into a solid mass, they to a pipe three feet in diami the top of whii was just above the topmosl layer of stone. Hi lay the enti ince to the calf on i hamner. An iron laddei extended in it to the river bed be? low.

Seven or eight fi et iw waa a platform, Its contre a circular door that is airtight, and then shut, the ridge surrounding it Just large enough fi three men to stand on comfortably. As the engineer, the writer and the "lock tender" look their places upon this ridge the last-mention closed a slmilai door above, The three wen In complete darkness. They were the "air lock," and gradually they now become accustomed to the i pi I al that all In the caisson's depths must "Th" pressure!" called out the engineer. "Easy Joe!" And to the writer, who yet knew no the trick of ending into the infernal re -i. na In this way, "Hold your nose lightly blow, in a momi nt you will feel your ears crack i you are all right, We can fro down!" li look several trials, however, and the pn 1 air had more than once to be cl to the outi atmospnere before the writ caugh the art.

These precautions are nei pssary liocausi the i hange of atmospln rlc condll com pn air being very different from th.itei air, might an ear drum uni iwa lly, will deafness as a result, however (as is ami workmen put it), the esrs "crack," there Is perfect af ty, for this signifies that Iht breathing an iaratus (with whli tl ar Is con n. cted) has fully ai Itself to Its neu surrounding i. "All right!" said the writer, gasping a little Hardly had this been said than some i terioua force the door flew up, and the full length of the pipe, with occasional electric llghti down its v. i disclosed. Down Ihe Iron lad 1er tie- xplorers en pt, landing i kn deep In the i id it was i urlous sight, this rlor.

A roof, at it- highest some seven a half feel above the si.m.-, braced by huge Umbers, ex up and down, longitudinally and side I way Th If, GO waa dl vid into thn uni ai mi ing ran along the ei Hing and timbers In pry dire i i Ktandlng on the f. und Ihe brai Ing i timben almost bi asl high, so bbge tre they that it v.as only with difflculty and much back bending that Ihey could be crawled un? der. It a. all a il of mud. pt re a rock, a patch of bard earth or the banked-up dirt al ng the sides, made a small oasis in certain places the (dime came up to the km i Rome t.

enty Incandescent Ihn a dim lieft this In mi- r. Snju tiling down In the slime, and there at thn four diffi rent at. were the ''sandhogs." "Handhogs" are caisson workmen, men who make toiling In compressed air tle-ir special trad'. Where they from how th- happei ed to get In this business no one can tell. All that the con tractort and the engineers know is that it i--.

possible i a good gai I Iher at any lime. "Sandhogs" are Ihe highest paid laborers in the world, working the calsa being unhealthy and exhausting, espcciall) at a depth below fifty fet t. ere Is a sliding scale of wages an a sliding scale ui hours of labor. The further d.wn a caisson sinks the more money a "sand liog" K' a da) and the fewer hours works. Below one hundn I feet, for example, he re? ceives $3 73 eight) minutes' work in forty minute shifts.

That Is a good, exhausting day's work. At present, the caisson of the Bridge being only twenty-five feet down, the discomfort Is little, and the air is in at a low pressure, only about thirteen pounds, as against thirty five necessary pressure when they get to bedrock here). Tie- compressed air and the water engines are tic- 1. directly alongside the caisson. The air, once compn Bed, has to be cooled, and for this, purpose it is run through a pipe that lies in a tank on th- d.ck.

Prom there it carried directly into the caisson, in the caisson the bracing limbers In tl sitiar? bulk, a network of wood, shut off workmen from vi until one Is fairly ur them, unless the visitor croui bes down on muddy bottom where he can get an unobstruc picture, limited only by the compartment wa Standing ereel Hute ate only vistas of lanes limbering, and tlie "sandhogs" are only to wh.n Hey pa.s from one spot of wirk anothi carrying along their water-jet and mc Ing the blowpipe to a ni place. The work of th.se men is much thai of ordinary laborer. As the caisson sinks, river bottom within has to be scraped, a hed away. Tie- men crouch down low, squirting with the water-jet, which sends a steady, powerful str-am. loosening the Another kneels at the mouth of the that, by its strong Buctlon, away tl water, and pushes lowaid it the mud and sat that some of that may be forced "lit at tl same time.

The position of these men Irr sistibly suggests a group newsboys at a gan of craps. There is only ihe of tl i haml er, Ith its llml ers ami mud, I make one think of the ait of mod. rn englneerln Stones, pieces of rock, logs and heavy are carried up through an "air be in ba To break up rocks an explosion is frequentl used, and axes, pickaxes and shovels aie all hand to cut up logs and further loose the But the blowpipe the hands of ion p. nt "i andhogi ill carry off th? bulk of ti. dirt and "mm The "eandhogs" a sturd) i d) of mei need to be, t.pe with the tiring wor the b.c.

to und rgo. th whole, tiny are far superior class to the mc who do the same work in the open air. Th I xhaustlon Is felt not so It in tie- s. If as it is when the op? air is rea? le 1 aft ming tin. m.

a'u- lock." Tin it' he ha; been working a' anything at a depth, the "sand hog" is apt to ome Buddi nlj numb ha to be carefully rubh I down end walked vigor ously in this nt. Overhead, when one is in this chamber, Ihi men itt the op -i air are helping on fn th blockt of stone by the hundnnls of tons. When th. on ill be something like 15,000 tons. Yet, with a g.1 fraction of this mass above, one In the di pth of the i never thinks of any danger from this soun i Above the roof sti el trusses an laid and I with nt.

These i irry the enormous weigh) I without the slightest risk of giving way. art la perfected that accidents of i soi i hiipp n. Coming out under the sky Is ea save that l.Is covered with river mud have a prodigious rht. A tin the "air loi Is closed. Tho within it bow heads as the compressed air 1s gradually let off and the air of tho outer world allowed to stream in.

The lungs and ears take to their usual readily. In the ase of men unused to such experiences, the ears may pain slightly for a day or so but this not always fullow. IE AN OLD From The Gentleman's Magazine. A dear friend of mine, now many years an antiquary and a man of eminence In letters, was shown over the cathedral of Llchfleld by the then dean. As a souvenir of his visit, he was presented by the dean with a curious and handsome cam-, which some years previously had been dug out In the curse of some altera t.

na l'or years my friend used this, until the top cam? off. and the revelation was made that the cane waa hollow. Thrusting down a finger, th? owner brought out a vellum missive, This provi to be a li ttcr to the Earl of Essex, signed by Charles asking him to bring over bis army to the royal Bide, and promising in recompense for a doing his own gratitude and the richest re? ward that monarch could bestow subject. the death of my friend. I was permit? ted to the treasure, for such In fact it was, at th? British Museum.

Alas, for the hopes that bad been formed! Mr. Warner brought me out a practical facsimile, and told me that others were In existence. Copies bad been and sevrai had been dispatched by different in the hope that one might reach the Earl. The i held had obviously failed to reach, though the ii nlous plan of concealim nt prevented its deti tlon until the days of Qui Victoria. .1 SPECTRAL TRAIN.

IT HAS IM N.VIN'i; ON 'E -V V'EAR FOB TEN VEARS. Tl W. ihlngton Star. "Speaking of remarked a Philadel? phia drummer, "I liada strange thing happen to about a month ago In rgia. it didn't ex tly haj in to me, either, but it wa i In my hearing.

I had attempu-d to drive across coun? try to catch a tra'n al a station which 1 could not have reached otherwise, except by a long and tiresome detour over a mlserabh piece of road, and when a railroad in Georgia la bad it Is bad with any sort of an adjective for em? phasis choose. It was twelve miles, and tio ugh a i lountain and it was nearly dark when I started wound up by getting lost and pong the Lord knows where, till 1 struck a verj fail i house that looked like it might have en a summ hotel otic? upon u. time, a ike He in i ponded to my call how far wau i to? railroad, and he told me ten miles, and had better 'light' and stay all night. I '1 ghti and after a bite of cold bread and meat and a 'it" moonshine I went to bed, i nough to bave sli pt on a picket ni it was thi i. 11 o'i loi and about two hours later i was awakened from my slumbers by hearing a train whistle apparently a mile or vay, and then ru inlng i arer and near? uni II Btoj ped, and I heard no more, was too sleepy to give II mui i.

thought, and, rolling over, I wenl to sleep again, wondering whj nn hosl had told me it was ten mil to the rail uad, unless It was to d.ive me out of the pi Ice a night's dglng. the morning al breakfast I mentioned the to him, and he laughi In an uneasj kind of and a ired me thai it as ten miles to the railroad; I i ould think it was three times i ter 1 ha 1 Iriven to It. The noise I he i aid, as probablj the ivlnd blow ing i hit and bai around the house, which ua? old and many plai I uln'l iny more i and enl on my way to ihe railroad, reaching then in three hours, and noticing ail waj that an old roadbi I with th? ties and rails on it in places lay near the wagoi road all the waj to the station. the station while waiting for my train. 1 roI talking to the station agent, who was a.

hrigl t. up chap, and in Idi ntatly I asked him aim it that railroad train. He looked at me quick as wink and asked me the particulars, I'lch told him. 'it's a said nighl ws nighl it always conies, 'Ainu the road was fir built there a branch that run up In thai a al two or three mil i beyond that house, a kind of a summet ri son up there, mineral and a waterfall. Excursions for a day used ta go th.

re from towni down the reel from re and up the other waj, Ten eai ag i to-night an ex? cursion was coming back from there, and just about the neighborhood of run house the- engi? neer saw an obstruction the track that was going to throw th whole sh liai the bank, and histling dow nl I i tii his engine h. he wenl straight foi it knocked it off of course he and the engine went with and neither of them was ever any more after thai racket; but the train was saved, and thai was r-n foi a man to die for, be? cause two hundred women and chll dren in the pxi ui "'It was shown thai some of the in the Ighborhi ud had atti mpted wn ck the train, ami it spoil the excursion business. There was coal on the bran thai pi the nine or ten milea of it in operation for a few v.ii- longer, bul there wi an th nger train to go ot he lace here the engineer was killed. That la to say. never another train thai anybody ever saw; but there has been one to the spot, or rather go to it and stop, One nighl everj year, for the last t.

yei I have iard It, and so has the man In thai house and you are the only man who has that know of, cause his nearest neigh bur is three miles awaj and nobody ever gets in that neighborhood to stay all night. I suppose I w. ul i nol have be there if he had not asked me as a friend ti come up em one of the anniversary nighl and hear it, si he could talk to me about and advise with me whether to move away or atick it out. I advised him to stay, and had very nearlj forgotten aboul It, for reallj the subject ha tn't come to my notli for Pour or five years, ami eau money I never went hack th Ti llsl to it any more I'll 1 blamed if i ouldn't si that enginei and his i ngine hlrl ing to destruction the nighl i stayed there, be? cause I knew what to exj.t and sit up to wait for it with every nerve at highest tension. queer kind of a u-h ain't it." "I told him I though) it was." concluded the drummer, "and when suggested to him that 1 might perhaps the story to som one el and it might get Into th? newspapers, he laughed and said that was just the same as keeping it 1 a dead secret, for nobody in thai neighborhood took a newspaper or could read one If he did." rSCUED THE SPARROW.

Prom Th? Grand Rapids Herald. A successful lynching took place on the farm Jerome Butler, south of Mariette, the oth.r day. In the barn a swallow's nest was seen clinging to the side of a from which was suspended an English sparrow, hung by the with a hair from a horse's tail. While Franklin Butler and Orla Albertson were sit? ting in the bam they noticed a sparrow go Into the swallow's nest, from which he began pitch? ing the young birds. Three swallows, attracted by their outcry, Immediately pounced upon the Intruder.

After confining him to the nest for a few minutes, they threw him out. dropped about a foot, there was a Jerk, and Mr. spar? row was banged as nicely as though an expert hangman had been in charge. The hair waa wound around his neck several times, and, after a few Ineffectual struggles, he kicked hut.