Page:Walker (1888) The Severn Tunnel.djvu/108

Rh pumps were started again, and the water was lowered as follows: and on the 6th December the water was all out of the Iron Pit and there was only two feet of water in the heading outside it.

On the 7th the foreman of the Cornish pumps, James Richards, was able about midday to walk up the heading to the door which the diver Lambert had shut, and then he found the cause of our disappointment at not gaining upon the water as soon as Lambert had succeeded in shutting the door.

The rails were properly pulled up and removed, and the door was properly closed. The flap-valve on the pipe on the south side of the door was also shut, but the sluice-valve on the other side had a left-handed screw, and the valve must have been closed when Lambert reached it; and when he had given it the right number of turns to close the valve, instead of closing it he had opened it to its full width. Richards at once screwed down the valve, the effect was felt immediately, and the pumps were then slowed down.

Several other members of the staff took advantage of the news brought by Richards, and went down at once to explore the headings.