CHAP. XII. THE TAR-BARREL DRAINS. _'r> 



and towards the edges of the Moss ; and it required no 

 small degree of ingenuity and perseverance on the part 

 of the engineer successfully to overcome them. 



The Moss, as has been already observed, was highest 

 in the centre, and it there presented a sort of hunchback 

 with a rising and falling gradient. At that point it 

 was found necessary to cut deeper drains in order to 

 consolidate the ground between them on which the road 

 was to be formed. But, as at other parts of the Moss, 

 the deeper the cutting the more rapid was the flow of 

 fluid bog into the drain, the bottom rising up almost as 

 fast as it was removed. To meet this emergency, a 

 quantity of empty tar-barrels was brought from Liver- 

 pool ; and as soon as a few yards of drain were dug, the 

 barrels were laid down end to end, firmly fixed to each 

 other by strong slabs laid over the joints, and nailed ; 

 they were then covered over with clay, and thus formed 

 an underground sewer of wood instead of bricks. This 

 expedient was found to answer the purpose intended, 

 and the road across the centre of the Moss having thus 

 been prepared, it was then laid with the permanent 

 materials. 



The greatest difficulty was, however, experienced in 

 forming an embankment upon the edge of the bog at 

 the Manchester end. Moss as dry as it could be cut, 

 was brought up in small waggons, by men and boys, 

 and emptied so as to form an embankment ; but the bank 

 had scarcely been raised three or four feet in height, 

 when the stuff broke through the heathery surface of the 

 bog and sunk overhead. More moss was brought up 

 and emptied in with no better result ; and for many 

 weeks the filling was continued without any visible 

 embankment having been made. It was the duty of 

 the resident engineer to proceed to Liverpool every fort- 

 night to obtain the wage's for the workmen employed 

 under him ; and on these occasions he was required to 

 colour up, on a section drawn to a working scale sus- 



VOL. III. Q 



