The San Francisco call. [volume], November 10, 1913, Page 9, Image 9

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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Krazy Kat
(Copyright, 1013. International Nrwg Sen-Ice)
Tomorrow:
A Little Brow-Beating
LAUGHED AFTER ALL
Young Carter's father allowed him
to take a trip to Biueyi last spring.
B'fore starting the youth made up a
cable code of his own for possible use
while traveling. lie gave a dupli
cate copy to his father, who locked
it up in his desk without looking at
it.
A few weeks later the elder Carter
received a cable consisting of one
word: "l.*ugh." He laughed. It
seemed to be something quite pleas
ant His code was at the house. He
unlocked his desk in the best of hu-
Bior. He took the code out and read:
•*L*ugh—Send me |5Q0."
The Dingbat Family
Polly and Her Pals
Us Boys
THE TUNNEL
(From the German of Bernhard Kellermann
—German Ter*ion. Copyright. 1913. by ».
riacher. Vtrlag. Berlin. aUigllafc translation
aud compilation by
Copyright. 1813. International Vmm ■errlee)
( ontlnued from Saturday.
But the fsct of the increased tem
perature was indisputable, and many
men of science held that while all
signs failed the axis of the tunnel
was undoubtedly skirting a subma
rine volcano. These were in a minor
ity, however, and O'Malley, at the end
of four weeks, called for volunteers
at $10 an hour to continue the bor
insr until the absence of danger had
been definitely established.
In a week O'Malley collapsed and
was grought out unconscious. Inside
24 hours he was back again. The
torture was unbelievable; but in a
month they had demonstrated that
there was no increase of temperature,
and when the thermometer showed a
falling oft" of a decree the men re
turned to work under increased pay.
They worked now in two hour shifts
at $< an hour.
They worked entirely nude and in
their resting periods they were scien
tifically tended by doctors and nurses.
On the twenty-fourth anniversary of
the taking out of the first dirt the
calculation shows that 21% miles
separated the ends of the two borings.
Allan announced that on the twenty
fifth anniversary he would pilot the
first regular passenger train through
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALI*. MONDAY. NOVEMBER 10, 1913
from Tunnel City to Allan City, Eng
land, on a trial run.
The announcement made a tremen
dous sensation. For a gerenatlon the
tunnel had been an Incubus upon the
shoulders of the world. There were
successful men of affairs who could
not remember the day It was begun.
It had grown to be a sort of Institu
tion, something that was sure to be
forever. And now the master of It
all announced that the last rivet
would be struck within the year and
the tunnel would become an every
day fact, a common means of trans
portation.
Yet there seemed to be no doubt
of it. Work had been stopped at
both ends by a concerted arrange
ment, and O'Malley and Walnwrlght,
handling the keys themselves, had
exchanged congratulations and witti
sicms under the ocean bed by wire
less.
The already terrific pace was In
creased. Every man down to the low
est laborer was nred with the enthu
siasm of certain triumph. Six
months of murderous work followed
and the mathematicians declared that
only a few hundred feet of rock now
separated the borings. Then there
came an ominous series of tests and
conferences. O'Malley and Waln
wrlght armed themselves with the
most delicate seismographs that
science had produced. They set their
watches until they coincided to the
n»>cond and made a series of blasts,
first one and then the other. But
there was not a tremor from the sen
sitive little needles.
For the first time since the work
began Allan was almost panic
stricken. From lime to time every
thing haid failed him—but figures.
Gmßi&e§& Sfesnry ©If Ate GOim<dl
On these he knew he could rely, and
now apparently these had played him
false. He assembled a dosen of the
best mathematical experts and they
were unable to find any but minor
errors in calculation. The sum of
their finding was that the distance
was probably more than 1,000 feet.
Instead of a few hundred, but that
would not explain the action of the
seismographs, which were adjusted
to register a much slighter shock
than one of the terrific tunnel blasts
up to 5,000 feet.
THE BORINGS MIBSKDT
Then the newspapers got hold of it,
and the news was a worldwide sen
sation. They pointed out that every
calculation above and below the sea
and in the minds of the greatest of
mathematicians indicated that less
than a thousand feet separated the
borings, but the fact remained that
the borings seemed to have missed
each other.
There was no time to lose. Already
the price of Tunnel securtles on the
stock market was beginning to feel
the effect of the reports. Allan or
dered the heroic measure of "strik
ing" for connection. Walnwrlght was
instructed to drive his boring as be
fore, start right on the supposed line
from the Azores to Bermuda, while
O'Malley was ordered to drive side
galleries in all four directions, in the
hope of coming upon signs of Waln
wrlght.
O'Malley plunged into it like a new
man. Allan had never admired him
as much as now. The heat and the
strain %vere enough to kill a bullock.
Men dropped at their work as if
1 smitten by a plague. Every day or
What a Restless Bean
Some Grocer's Bill Coming
(Copyright, 1913, by International Xewa Serricei
Skinny Is In for Something
, Uletfatered United States Patent OCOce)
two a man went raving mad. The
walls were as hot as Dutch ovens.
Great pumps drove fresh cool air Into
the galleries constantly, but the
workers were blinded with dust and
sweat and oil.
For six weeks this continued. Allan
hardly slept, and Tunnel stock con
tinued to behave in an ominous
fashion. Then one night O'Malley
wired him to come at once.
Allan reached the head of the
boring at 3 o'clock in the morning.
O'Malley, attired in a pair of knee
drawers, met him when he dropped
off the construction train. It was the
first time Allan ever remembered see
ing the Irishman excited.
"We're on Walnwright's trail at
last," he reported, exultantly. "Come
along with me, chief."
O'Malley led him down a steep In
cline, a narrow gallery through which
a stream of fresh air hissed and
whirled. At the foot, probably a
hundred and fifty yards off the direct
line of the main gallery and forty
feet below its level, they came upon
two blackened and naked men bend
ing over a seismograph in the light
of a •ingle portable electric bulb.
THE TEST
O'Malley pointed to a dotted break
in the faint black line on the record
ing tape.
"There's Walnwright's last blast."
he declared triumphantly. "We have
got him three times now." He
glanced at a chronometer that was
attached to the Instrument. "He's
due again in about five minutes. Now
watch and see for yourself. Wait—l'll
make sure."
He turned to a wireless key a lit
tle farther up and began tapping.
In less than a minute he was an
swered and the necessary compari
sons were made.
"Give my love to the chief," ticked
out Walnwrlght. "Tell him I'll come
smashing in on him directly."
Allan smiled and sent back a jok-
(Copyritot 1913, by International Newt Service)
ing rejoinder. Then he and O'Malley
and O'Malley's two assistants stood
In breathless silence over the little
needles. To the very second almost
of the time set for the blast the needle
vibrated sharply.
"Thank God!" he exclaimed huskily.
"Come on, O'Malley. Take me back
in a hurry. I don't want the news
papers to lose any time In getting
this:"
It was easy after that. In another
two weeks the borings were so close
together that the seismographs regis
tered the vibrations of Allan's power
ful drills as they tore into the rock
barrier. A few weeks later the men
could hear each other's blasts, hollow
and muffled, through the rock.
Allan came down at this word from
O'Malley and stayed by the great
driller. Walnwrlght claimed the
honor of making the final blast and
at It o'clock one night Allan ordered
O'Malley to back his drill away. The
men were called out of the danger
lone and Walnwrlght attacked the
last thin wall of rock.
Four times they heard the roar of
the explosions and at the fifth a
of rock as big as a taxicab tumbled
through onto their side of the wall.
There was a roar of cheers and a
flashing of light and a rush of air
through the opening, and then Wain
wright scrambled into the jagged hole
bellowing:
"Where's Mac?"
Allan made good.
Three days before the twenty-fifth
anniversary day the last rivet was
hammered home, the tracks were
swept and garnished and the whole
tube polished from end to end for the
first spectacular run from continent
to continent.
There It stood, completed at last. Xo
longer a matter of wonder and con
jecture, hope snd despair. Sweat snd
blyod and gold had built it. Nine
thousand men and nearly fifteen bil
lion* of dollars had been swallowed
up in it. And now that it stood there,
an accomplished fact—lo! the world
had already ceased to wonder.
Yet there was a reason for this.
Allan recognised it in a two column
article which he wrote under Insistent
urging for a New York newspaper.
"I must confess." he wrote, "that
time and the march of progress have
overtaken ne. All of my machinery,
above and below ground. Is now obso
lete, but it has served its purpose.
Even the design of my construction
engines has been changed three times
since the tunnel work began. The lo
comotives that will drive the passen
-1 ger trains are of a far different type
j than those I had in mind when the
I earth was broken on the Jersey coast
j a quarter of a century ago.
"A tunnel has been driven through
the Rocky mountain country in less
time than I could have done it. Air
ships are crossing the ocean in 36
hours, and racing steamers in less
than three days.
"But there is this still on our side—
my work is permanent. There it stands
; and there it will stand for genera
tions. We will go to Europe in 24
hours, and as much faster as the pub
lic demands. There is practically no
limit to the speed with which a train
can be shot like a projectile through
these tubes.
"Even now we are handling trans-
Atlantic mails by means of pneumatic
tubes, and when the speed is demand
ed of us we will shoot trains through
in the same manner.
A KAD
"And again, the nirship route—the
fastest up to this time —is the fad of
the rich. The tunne! will lop 12 hours
off the air schedule at a trifle more
than regular railroad fare. This tun
nel is the property of the people of
the world. It is destined to be the
popular pathway of communication
between the two great halves of tho
earth. When we begin regular oper
ations next week, we will be able to
handle 40,000 persons daily. As the
necessity becomes apparent, side gal
leries will be constructed and we will
be able to transport more than double
that number in each direction inside
of 24 hours."
The entire world awoke in a state
of pleasurable excitement on the
morning of the twenty-fifth anniver
sary. The first train was to start at
midnight that night and arrive in
London by midnight the following
night, with Allan in charge. Tunnel
City was decked out in bunting and
was gay with soldiers and visitors.
All of the big hotels and restaurants
announced that the progress of the
trial train would be recorded by bul
letin and tele-cinematograph—the new
process by which a moving picture
could be reproduced at any distance
and in any number of pfcices as the
actual-view was taken. The company
which had the concession planned to
show the start, the crowds and the
scenes at the Tunnel City terminal,
the arrival and departure at Bermuda,
and go on.
Continued Tomorrow
Jack (after several drinks >—Say.
Mac, you've been used to wearing
kilts, haven't you?
Mac —Hey, mon, rather.
Jack —Thought so. I haven't noticed
you put your hand lc your pock*:
lately.
9