Page:Walker (1888) The Severn Tunnel.djvu/107

52 By 5 p.m. on the 11th November the water was down 184 feet from the surface, and the stuffing-box of the 18-inch plunger being then above water, we managed to pack it, though the men in doing so were working under a perfect cataract of water falling from the upper heading behind the shield.

The men were so sanguine now, that the principal foreman issued an invitation to the Company’s inspector, Mr. Jackson, and others, to walk up the long heading with him on the 12th. On that day the water was all out of the Iron Pit, but there was a depth of 5 feet still in the heading outside it. We began then to open the door in the tubbing wider; but when it was full open and the water in the Iron Pit held to the level of the stage, there was still between 3 and 4 feet in the heading.

Just when we felt assured of success, on the 13th, No. 1 26-inch pump had to be stopped for repairs. Two days later No. 2 had to be stopped to pack the piston of the engine, and on the 19th the door-piece of No. 2 pump split; but having a new one ready we only stopped the pump two hours.

From the 19th November to the 1st December, No. 1 pump was under repair, and the water had again risen to 80 feet from the surface.

When repairing No. 1 pump, we took out the double-beat valves with which it had worked up to that time, and replaced them with four-beat valves, which worked much more smoothly.

At 6. p.m. on the 1st December the whole of the