The Great Bore
A Souvenir Of The Hoosac Tunnel

27 Copenhagen with a prize of $200 in his pocket to be spent abroad, he left his native country of Denmark after a two year’s apprenticeship to a joiner and brick-worker and came to this country. Mr. Weder- kinch landed in Boston completely ignorant of the English language, but with a determination to overcome all obstacles to success. Unable to obtain such employment as he desired, he worked at first as a common laborer, then as machinist and finally as assistant to a manufacturer of astronomical and surveyor’s instruments. While thus engaged he met Chief Engineer Frost and secured a position on the engineering staff of the tunnel. He was assigned work as assistant engineer in charge of the central shaft. After the shaft had been sunk to grade, in Aug- ust, 1870, the question of how to project a line fiom the top of the mountain to the bottom of the shaft and then to run lines from it to meet the headings from the east and west ends, became of the greatest possible importance. It was left to Mr. \\ ederkinc 1 to answer. It is not necessary to consider here t ic steps he employed in the solution of the problem. By means of special and ingenious instruments constructed by himself, he was able to establish at the foot of the shaft two points, twenty-three feet apart. It now remained to effect the true pi ojection