CHANNEL TUNNEL.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2809, 25 March 1882, Page 2

CHANNEL TUNNEL.

Meanwhile; the preliminary ' 'labors for the ; construction. of the' * submarine tunnel which is to connect France and England are being carried on .(says the “ Argus ”) with great activity and a fair prospect of success. The layer of rook' that will have to be pierced, and which is a part of what geologists call cretaceous rock, is covered with a thick bed of clay, 1 placed there very fortunately tp. prevent infiltrations, the only danger that is in-; deed to be feared. In a month hence the two galleries pierced at L each'ex-i tremity with a view to meet eabh other in !the; geometrical- axis of the tunnel,* will have attained the length' of i 1600 yards on each side, being one-tenth of the total length (31 miles across).! It is calculated that ih ; five yeats’j time the French arid : English miners will meet in- the middle of the Straits five years, more ;will’be; doubtless re-: quired to give the proper width to the tunnel; and to lay down the -¥ailwhyysOj that it may already be forhfold thatj 1 in' ten years from the present time, a new' wonder, the most marvellous.of all, will take its place ' atnohg' the' tnany stupendous works pf the age. It will then be more easy, and certainly less dangerous, to pass the Channel by rail than it is to day to go on foot or in a cab from one part of Paris tp another, fqr here thh' .omnibuses,', tramway?; ‘ dabs, and coaches are 'insufficientfor the conveyance of passengers, nor can their number be increased without running the risk of impeding ; the circulation altpgther,. especially, .oa the grand Boulevards,. where from 3 o’clock in thp ] fcrnoon till 12 at night;’ the obstruction ,is so' > great! that 'you are anxiously, inclined,, to.agk yourgelf into how many little hits you* will be hacked and hewed by the wheels of .the carriages if you are venturesome enough to thread your ’ way among them. The only solution to the problem would seem to bo the creation of underground railways, like. ; the : London; or of railways in the air,; according to a plan which is just now under the notice of our Minister of Public Works.