THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1021, 14 August 1883, Page 4

THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

*"A tall shaft, a steam engine, an air locomotive, -and a couple of wooden shanties mark the spot destined, it may be v to abut upon f the English mouth of the Channel tunnel—or rather of • a Channel tunnel—for there are other schemes afoot td join London and the extremest 5 point of the Continent of Europe in a continuous railway journey and, without change of carriage. Sir Edftdtd Watkiri airily calculates that the cost of the enterprise in which he is interested would amount to 3,000,000 sterling, and that the tunnel would allow the passage of • 250 trains each way every day# at ah average speed of f®Wy-ffVfe 'miles ah hour. So that the tunnel of .twenty-two miles in . length rSifhthe travelled in half an hour—a speed, be it said, very much higher than that kept up in the longest tunnels of the St Gothard between Switzerland and Italy. At the bottom of the shaft, at the mouth of the boring, no more than seven feet in diameter from end to end —excepting here and there a somewhat wider square opening, technically called.a “ turnout”—we found a couple of trollies, fitted with seats on eithctfc'side, ; after the manner of the tram*fearS J dfthe-military train familiar to the habitues of Wimbledon Camp. Running along the sides of the trolly, close to the ground, was a footboard like that attached-tb a railway carriage, and above the seat was a semi-circular hoodflthed "with red baize,.sufficient to head and shoulders from, dropping^wet. nr^pafticles-- of falling debris , but not wide enough to save the legs and feet. By reason of the space taken up, in the lower arc of the circle, ;to. fhake a level floor, along which raUs -were laid, it was necessary that;we should sit with knees drawn up and heads bent during the whole time occupied in journeying to the face of the tunnel and back again.

*Rembrandt or a■ ■ Salvatpr Rosa nj|^i@'ha^ o, dbhe ■ pictorial’ justice to SiKh 1 S r |scetie. Underfoot for a great. pMj.‘df t|ie way the ground is almost ankle-deep in. slush, and .the stalwart fellowsiwho. drag and push the trollies —■«:trifdging manfully along have enough-to db to keep their foothold. The travellers, for the greater length of‘time moving through a dim twilight, cannot,well make out the features of e\(bn those who sit beside them. Now and them the., little electric lamps, set in rude niches of the naked grey chalk, castabrilliarit but fugitive light on the passing tfaifa. Then, for awhile, all is again but darkness visible. There are sh^4<? w S, ab.ove and beneath and all arppnd- ii Looking backward or forward through the deepening gloom the traicUtt sees-Art'-' ever-receding, ingly tririnel-sbaffed perspective, lit at long intervals as with fiery eyes. On¥kfa, and' po sound );he sp)a?hipg made by the tailworkmen tramping through mud, and the drip, drip ot the water upon the hoodA&bve' our heads—we are dragged and- : pushed* beneath the shingle and the sand of the shore for a time level with the beach, and then down, a quarter ofamile deep, past low-water mark, under the bed of the channel.

-‘The bore‘has cut clean through the gray.chalk in a circle as round and true as th : <£ of a wedding ring. So thoroughly* indeed, is the instrument adapted tO; the work and to the material that in dry places it is possible to see thfe' : chisel mark made a’ couple of ybars-ago. At intervals along the route, where is feared the water might come through/$e sides And roof have been paced with lead dr clay and held up with solid iron bands, apparently about eighteen inches wide. Sometimes, in the fitful flashes of light, the eye rests udohifelling red rivtilets, like streams of blood, pouring down the. damp walls. Eve't arid : ariori there are “ faults ” in chalk,not.yet remedied. So we 'gp' ( pji,ahd, l on,: moments seeming as until the electric lamps ceaSe altogether and the long, awful cave is enveloped in a darkness that would be impenetrable but for the glimmer of a few tallow candles stuck into the bare wall of the cutting. Even a mile and and more from the mouth of the. shaft it is pot difficult to breathe,, for the same machine which works the bore pumps drives a continuous supply of fresh .air, into .the seven foot pipe, which at* present forms no more than the nucleus of a tunnel. At a distance of 2,300 yards from the pit mouth we comSdpbn the [simple and wonderful piece ( . of Machinery which can pierce thrpugh tnfe'bed of the sea with extraordinary celerity arid at a cost cheaper than is required for the making of an ordinary tunnel Under a hill By permission ofthe President of the Board of Trade, the engineer is allowed to make a couple of turns, in order to show our sarty. the method of its working, Presently we remount our not too comfortable; carriage and pass stooping once'tnore along the fearsome narrow way; pass by spaces of horrible shadows andghrapSes of welcome light. And finally, we ’ are swung up through the into the outer air, where the glad sunshiny Catches the tall cliff’s face and bathes rthe. smiling and yet unbetrayed Cbarinel in- 1 an atmosphere of golden gl Telegraph• .