European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a a the stars and stripes monday june 11,1990victims of tunnels dust remembered Gal lev Bridge . Apr Arthur Stull a every Laboured breath reminds him of the Silica dust he inhaled 60 years ago while working on the Hawk s nest Tunnel. Historians say up to 700 men most of them Black died of silicosis and other lung problems after working on the Aqueduct. Bored through a Deposit of nearly pure Silica in Gauley Mountain. Other men like Stull survived but Are still suffering decades later from the effects of Silica dust. Quot there was no Protection from it Quot said the ?8-year-Oid Stull who lives in nearby mount Lookout. Quot work was scarce then. You could t find work anywhere. Hardly. You had to take what you could  work on the 3.s-mile Aqueduct about 40 Miles East of Charleston began 60 years ago this week. Born in the Bleak Days of the great depression the project proved to be one of the darkest moments of . Industrial history. The Tunnel was built by a Nion Carbide corp. Through a contractor. Rinehart and Dennis construction co of Charlottesville a. The purpose to divert the new River to a Power station used by a l Nion Carbide smelting Plant in nearby Alloy. Martin Chemack. A Yale University assistant professor of occupational Medicine studied the Case and wrote Quot the Hawks nest incident Quot in 14$6. Crews blasted a 3l-foot-wide Tunnel through almost pure Silica a Glassy substance found in Sand and Quartz. Then the Tunnel s Width was nearly doubled to Cash m on the Silica which w As so pure it could be used without refining at the Alloy Plant according to Chemack. The whole protect took about two years soon after work began Many workers began complaining of hacking coughs  searing Chest pairs. The average worker stayed in the Rob vast 15 to in w weeks Chemack a d. A comma no doctor a the to Tunnel Sarrimar Arthur Stull stands near a Marker saturday in Gauley Bridge . The condition  and gave the men tablets nicknamed Quot Little Black devils Quot Many did t quit in time. An undertaker was paid s55 each to remove and Bury bodies in a mass grave near Summers vice. Congressional records say 16 men eventually were buried there. But. With jobs hard to find reports that workers were dying failed to deter others. Men who died or fell sick and refused to go Back to work in the Tunnel were easily replaced. The number who died while working on the Tunnel or died later of lung diseases is Only a guess because Many of the More than 4.000 workers were migrants  left the area. Estimates Ranee up to length exposure to Silica causes hard nodules to form in lungs until scar tissue replaces healthy tissue leaving Little room to breathe. Tuberculosis and pneumonia often develop. The hazards of Silica dust were known to civil and mining engineers in the 1930s, although company officials later claimed they did not know of the dangers. Chemack concluded that racism was a Factor in the deaths. More than 75 percent of the workers were Black migrants who came from across the South. He wrote of Quot a widespread attitude of condescension if not contempt toward the  Many Whites believed that the workers were dying not because of Silica dust but because of poor nutrition or a propensity to violence. Quot in Spile of All the evidence to the contrary some people still say that Knif Ings shootings and beatings took the greatest toll Quot Chemack wrote Xai bling out of doors before open frees in death Quot is and supp it ked cause of about 300 survivors and relatives filed lawsuits against Ninehan and Den Nis. They eventually received $ 130 Goa half of which went to lawyers Ris and Dennis now defunct admitted no wrongdoing. A 1936 House labor committee investigation into the deaths brought in. Welcome notoriety to Gauley badge it became known As a the town of the living dead because of the Many disabled workers who remained there until they died. Townspeople resented outside interest in the tragedy. Researchers had difficulty finding cooperative sources and sometimes were threatened Chemack said in an unrelated dispute Federal authorities contended in a lawsuit that Union Carbide should have sought Federal permission before diverting a navigable waterway. The supreme court eventually decided in favor of the government in that dispute. The Tunnel is now owned by elem metals co. Of Pittsburgh which bought it along with the Power Plant and Alloy factory from Union Carbide in 1980. Stull said he was Lucky because he apparently was assigned to a part of the Tunnel with the least amount of Silica. Nevertheless be said the dust led to pneumonia and surgery to remove part of his lung shortly after he stopped working on the Tunnel doctors blame the Silica dust for his current lung problems. Besides the dust Tunnel workers coped with Gas from vehicles that carried the Rock from the Tunnel he recalled. A some Days the Light would get awful  Stull said. A you could Tell there was Gas. We just went ahead and worked. You just got used to it and did no to pay much  Minn governor wins endorsement of his party for a record 4th term Minneapolis t apr or moors gov. Rudy Perpich a crowned 3 week that skirted with Sov gets  Mikhail s. Gorbachev s visit by we my his party s Edo use Roe  fourth term. Fyrn cab e 1. Wee the ferry s Ness my or the French Halo. Def inc is former Roeno Erre Oor rms score. Nike cited. Nee Coc it Perez of the vote re put Sod it. Rived Idee in 4 error Hatch and his running mate former state sen. Emily Anne Staples. Hatch woo served As Perpich s Commerce commissioner from 19s3 through 19s9. Was rejected by delegates of s carry be chaired from 19s0 to 19s2. The Esdore Sesseso was a defeat for supporters of be dined Shomon. Whose pro Choice position is the Parry a optics so stance. Per Vrh opposes abortion and Hatch is an abortion rights advocate. Hatch. 42. Called the do Estes decision a personal  but not a major set cent for his Campaign. He vowed to coed nue on to the sept. 15 primary. Itch disagreed and said abortion win not be As a the primary election As it was in the Bis Perekh gov Moriece a of to abet 34 4 be soc Issue in la Pindo ement contest. Four r eau a vicars a heir Faro. Yhvh. Wod e seeking the nomination of a Vose a candidate next week judge drops charges against boy who retaliated when called a fatso fort Lauderdale. Fol up a a to year add boy charred with aggravated Battery for alg sch fattening the nose of schoolmate who called him Quot fatso Quot walled out of court a free oh3c after a Jodge dismissed the Case. A or. He court judge Law Nen re Ronda dropped the change Freda against Bobby words after a prosecutor told him. The on a witness to the Schod Byrd area Fate last August now says the other boy started the right. Bobby s lawyer Paul Stark was dated but still angry that prosecutors Ever bothered to pursue the Case. A this matter should have been re soned in a Princi pal s office not in a court of Law a Stark said. Bobby sad Khalid Fai Habah. Also 9 Ai the Lime and a amp other boy Cadd him Quot fatso Quot sad Quot oink oink Quot and tried to stick him during the encounter on the Phy Euid of Plantation Park elementary. So nov Bobby. Tab and 101 kit and in the nose. Pounds responded by Grid s parents Hassib and Nucio Fai Habah of Santa Ticol said their son s Boss was broken. They pressed charges after Bobby father. A Ciao words refused to pay More than halt the medical huh. Ass Sara state attorney Susan a Aronov sad the other boy Cave a sworn Siateta eat to suit hacking Bobby is a film that khad started the right. Stateside Nasa drops plan to build a space tug to service satellites Redondo Beach. Calif. Apr Nasa has scrubbed a s700 million program to build an Orbital a space tug Quot designed to service satellites including the Hubble space Telescope. The National aeronautics and space administration said Quot budgetary pressures Quot and the Lack of a a firm near term requirement Quot for the spacecraft influenced its derision. William b. Lenoir Nasa s associate administrator for space flight said the space tug Quot eventually will be needed in our space infrastructure but we will have at least two or three y ears to develop firm requirements before it will be necessary to begin development Quot cops get Down and dirty during Chase in sewer Albuquerque . Apr h Slimy. It was spider infested. And it was All in a night s work for a few police officers. Police followed a group of burglary suspects into a storm sewer and spent an hour chasing them in the cramped and dirty dream. Quot it was Slimy and Skinny Down there said sgt. G. Morimoto. Fire or six men were seen carrying items out of a House on Albuquerque s West Side Prince said. Morin onto said witnesses told Ponce the men tied Down the Street. Vonen police showed up. They saw the suspects Duck into the sewer. Six Oft kers dimmed  the tuned Entrance to the sewer. The three who were arrested sees 2s. 22 and la were caught before they a Xxiii squeeze into a narrow Section of the sewer. Monr Aoto said the others escaped through a sewer grate. The three were arrested on charges it breaking and entering and conspiracy