A TUNNEL TO AFRICA.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 16 November 1901, Page 3

A TUNNEL TO AFRICA.

A French engineer and a syndicate of German capitalists are now seriously considering the advisability of constructing a submarine tunnel which shall connect Europe and Africa. The engineer is confident that the scheme is practicable, and is now working hard to convince the governments of Spain and Morocco that it is to their interest to further tho construction of such a tunnel.

According to him, one end of the tunnel should be on the coast near Gibraltar and the other eod should be at Tangiers. The total length of the tunuel, including the necessary strips of land at both ends, would be about twenty miles, of which sixteen miles would be under water. Such a tunnel would not cost more than any of the great tunnels that have been cut through the Alps, and could bo constructed quite as easily. The cost for each running yard would be, as in the case of tho Simplon tunnel, about £ll9, whereas the cost in the case of the St. Gothard tunnel was £l5O, and in the case of the Arlberg tunnel £l6O. If work should be begun simultaneously at both ends, the entire tunnel could be completed within ten years. Tho total cost is estimated at nine million pounds. Whether anything like adequate interest for such an outlay could be obtained from the traffic through the tunnel is now the main question. Some of the capitalists who are interested in the matter are confident that it could, whereas others, it is said, are rather doubtful on this point. At the same time all admit that such a tunnel would prove of immense benefit to the commercial world, and the general opinion is that, if the scheme receives any encouragement from the Governments of Spain and Morocco, the work of construction will begin at an early date.