The Great Bore
A Souvenir Of The Hoosac Tunnel

 28 into the tunnel of the short line connecting the points. To accomplish this Mr. Wederkinch de- signed another set of instruments, involving the same principle as those used on the mountain, only differently applied. Two years later, in December, 1872, when the meeting of the east end and central shaft workings was effected at a distance of 1,563 feet from the shaft, Mr. Wederkinch handed his chief the proved answer to the question,—the miners met and shook hands over lines which wanted but five-sixteenths of an inch of coming together ! PROFESSOR MOWBRAY AND HIS NITRO-GLYCERINE. During the past quarter of a century, and until his death in June, 1891, North Adams was the home of Professor George M. Mowbray, widely known as an operative chemist and as the in- ventor of tri-nitro-glycerine. He was a quiet man, with a strong, kindly face and courteous man- ner; always busy with his books and experiments and much respected by the citizens of the town. In 1865 when the state commissioners became anx- ious to push things faster than black powder en- abled them to do, they sent for Professor Mowbray to introduce his nitro-glycerine into the tunnel as an explosive. He came at once from the oil fields