Idlehacker

I like the idea of tunneling as a hobby. I’m slightly obsessed with secret tunnels and the like - such as the secret subterranean cinema in Paris or the Post Office’s mini underground railway.

This page is taken from ‘Modern Mechanix 8-1932′ and says “ONE of the oddest hobbies in the world is that of Dr. H. G. Dyar, international authority on moths and butterflies of the Smithsonian Institution, who has found health and recreation in digging an amazing series of tunnels beneath his Washington home.

Almost a quarter of a mile of tunnels has been completed, lined with concrete. The deepest passage, illustrated in the accompanying diagram, extends 32 feet down. Every bit of earth was removed unaided by Dr. Dyar, being carried out in pails. He found the tunnel-digging an appealing form of exercise to relieve the intense strain of his work day, which involved much close work with high-power microscopes.

The catacombs are constructed in three levels, with steps and iron pipe ladders leading between different tiers. The idea first came to Dr. Dyar when he sought to make an underground entrance to his furnace cellar.”

You can read more about Dr. Dyar here.

Whilst this kind of hobby does seem like a lot of hard work, it does promise the kind of pay off one might expect from an allotment or garden shed - quiet, private contemplation. Italian Scientist Maurizio Montalbini likes the idea too, hoping to spend the next three years of his life living in a cave. He spent just over a year living in a cave in the 1990s.

Read More:

pruned.blogspot.com

modernmechanix.com