The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1903. UNDERGROUND LONDON AND ITS DANGERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7759, 10 March 1905, Page 2

The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1903. UNDERGROUND LONDON AND ITS DANGERS.

The great cities of the world have to pay the price of their importance in many ways, not the' least ol which is the using of their underground areas for railways, drains, electric wires, etc. In London (says a contemporary) as a case in point, the tunnelling that has been going on for generations is at last effectling the, stability of the ,Kurfuc( jaroas, and "the last straw on thi | camel's bnck," to mix one's metaiphors, is the construction ol the j"tubc" railway. In spite of its j famous underground line, which hni , done duty for more than half a cen- : i tury, there was constunt complaint ; j that intercommunication in the i I world's metropolis was relatively Blow. The tube railway, therefore, , I was cordially welcomed, and few ut- : itered a word ol warning ugainst the undermining that would ensue. Now, however, the tunnelling for the line, iadded to the existing excavations for ivarious purposes, and the constant j vibration of traffic, has cause:! some ; I very curious and distinctly alarming ] .developments. * ! I In the first place there lias been a i serious diminution in the water t hat j is found everywhere in and around London in gravel beds superimposed ; on u hitherto Impervious l v od of I clay. In many places the "rotting" ' of the clay through the disturbance .' of vibration, shaft-sinking, ami tun- j nelling has sent the watct io much I lower levels than hitherto, and the sinking for wells and similar pur- i poses has consequently become more I; difficult and expensive. Then, too, i many of the great buildings are beginning to rest on anything l>ut i sure and solid foundations, and as ' a result there Is "sagging," and \m- ' underpinning has to be resorti'd to, even jn many quarters not in the ira- ,■ mediate vicinity ol the tube railway. St. Paul's- Cathedral was one of the ' first buildings to show signs of sink- J tng. A year or more ago ominous fissures were discovered in the stone- ' work of the southern transept, where ] one wail, on examination; was found , to have receded several inches from , the perpendicular. Lately, an even ' more serious matter has come to light, the gigantic ball and cross which surmount the edifice being j found to be three feet "out of i plumb." |' The Hank of England has recently I shown signs of the effect of the tube j' tunnels in its vicinity. The struc- |' ture has had to be extensively un- I derpinned, and it is feared even • more elaborate and costly means ' may have to be -resorted to in order [ to keep the building "plumb." Suv- > tral new places on the City Koad ' have also shown signs of "sagging." 1 and have had to be underpinned, ' while Nelson's column at Charing ' Cross may become' another leaning ,' structure like the famous tower in •'' I'isa, if indeed it does not fall right ' over. In fact, many doubt whether '' the column will merely lean should , J its foundations sag. Unlike the leaning- tower oi I'isa, the column < at Charing Cross has- little width i and girth :sn' proportion to its I length, hence the giving way of e, 1 side of the foundations might preci- 'j pitatc the superincumbent mass ou [• the adjoining buildings some lino and .' unexpected day. The .column is not 1 far from those great centres of 1 traffic, and consequently vibration, I the Baker-street and Waterloo rail-'i way stations, and this undoubtedly '< adds to the danger. It is only na- ; i tural, thoreforc, that the enormous 1 hotels in the vicinity are being pro-ji tccted, or that the proprietors, not i to say the residents, are getting |> somewhat scared. [i » * * * The most serious case of under- s mining, however, is that or St. 'i Paul's Cathedral. The Bean and !j Chapter have pooh-poohed the danger, but experts are insistent that 1 it needs immediate attention. The ' whole district, in fact, is now on an j unstuble foundation, and as a evj- ! [denee of the menace to St. Paul's Cathedral it may be mentioned that i many large warehouses that have 1 grown up round the Cathedral have > shown signs of alarming hollowness 1 beneath Ihem, As London's vast I financial enterprises have their t home in the locality round the Hank < I of England and St. Paul's Cathe- i dral, the prkie that may huve to be J paid some day for rapid and con- i lenient communication may bo cnor- i luous, and perhaps more than the t underground system of trallie is I worth. \ at ' (JN THIC I'OL'UTII PAULO. I.ileniture. An Ambassador's Ways.