The Great Bore
A Souvenir Of The Hoosac Tunnel

- 24 above the trees which shade the dormitories and college halls of old Williams, and to the south can be seen the houses, factories and churches of Adams. Down the valley from the north and through the valley from the south come the two branches of the Hoosac to unite and work their way westward as one river. Above all, and as if guarding all, stand the everlasting mountains, withGreylock, the highest point in the state, rising majestically in their midst. It is three miles across the valley which separates the crests of the mountain. The scenery is quiet, though by no means inane, and the air delightfully bracing. The Cold river flows peacefully through the valley from north to south and the town of Florida, with its scattered houses and broad pas- tures, enhances rather than detracts from the seren- ity of the landscape. About half a mile west of the lowest point in the valley and a mile and a half from the road is the central shaft, probably the most gigantic chimney in the world. It is in the form of an ellipse whose major axis coincides with the line of the tunnel and whose dimensions are twenty-seven by fifteen feet. Before the comple- tion of the tunnel the central like the west shaft had its community of rriners, its cluster of shops and the requisite machinery for pumping air and hoist- ing rock. A rough by-road leads to the shaft