The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-06-25 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

Eke ,stourbribge Oberhr.

SATURDAY, JUNE 25th, 1881.

THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

THE Chairman of the South-Eastern Railway
has laid before the shareholders a statement
which goes fur to show that the idea of a tunnel
between England and France under the Chennel
is an undertaking which no longer presents
insurmountable difficulties, and that there is a
reasonable prospect that the experiment will
now be tried in earnest. Thus far the boring
upon either side has proved that the bed of the
ion is of the same formation, consisting of grey
ehalk, and should it extend in an unbroken mass
under the water, all will be well, and there will
be no obstacle in piercing a tunnel through it.
The only doubt is whether in any part of the
twenty odd miles there is a rift in the chalk
which would let in the water, in which case of
course the attempts of the engineers would have
to be abandoned. There is one chance of making
the tunnel, and that is in the solidity of the
material which is now being pierced. It is obvi-
ous that any flaw in that must be fatal to the
entire project.
How far a Channel tunnel would pay, could it
,be constructed, is a matter which concerns only
the persons who are prepared to embark their
money in such an enterprise. There can, how-
ever, be no reasonable doubt that the making of
such a sea way would be an immense benefit to
tho trade of England, whatever its result might
he as a financial speculation. Even a break of
gauge on aTailway, and the necessity of trans-
ferring large quantities of goods and merchan-
dise from one to the other, is a material inter-
ference with the progress of commerce. But
when, as is the ease at present, everything has
to be turned out of the train at Dover, trans-
ferred to a steamer, and re-transferred to the
train at Canis, not only are the loss of time delay,
and inconvenience considerable; hut it is impos-
sible for trade, under such circumstances, to
attain that degree of development which is
ssential to the national prosperity. It is a
complete fallacy to al-sume that the only advant•
age of the Tunnel would be to render the passage
between England and the Continent more rapid
and comfortable; its main benefit would be to
facilitate the transit of goods between our island
and the mainland without transliiiiment, and
thereby to open up new marks's for English
trade. Hitherto the former reason bus been
unquestionably paramount: The horrors of the
" middle passage" undotilite4ly °deter large
uumbers from visiting France and other parts of
the Continent, who would have no hesitation in
going had they not to cross a stormy sea. There
are many who would rather make the voyage
over the Atlantic than over the choppy ;surface,
of the English Channel. The deep rolling
wave of th,, ocean is preferred to the irlitiling
~etion of the restless body of water which divides
!hese islands from the main.

A point has been raised that the existence of
a tunnel between England and France would
diminish our security from invasion. Nothing
could be easier than for us to erect forts at the
Engiish mouth of the sea-way which would
absolutely obviate the possibility of its being
-Nei without our consent for the trans' ort of
troops or for any purpose whatever. It is ex •
trewely improbable that any Continental Power
would undertake to invade England by placing
its armies in a submarine paesage where they
ooa:d be drowned with the most perfect ease and
without the slightest possibility of escaping
from their fate. Whether England is accessible
to invasion at all is another matter *hich does
aot affect possibilities in the construction of the
Channel Tunnel. Times have altered since,
early in the present century, Napoleon gathered
together a vast army on the heights of Boulogne
with a view of making a descent upon our shores.
lie was compelled to abandon the enterprise
because of the enormous flotilla necessary for
the transport of such a body of men, and also
because its slow passage across the Channel
would have exposed it to.an unpleasant visit from
the English fleet. It may be that in these days
of steam and telegraphs, the supposed protection
of the " silver streak " has become a delusion ;
hut the dangers of inva'ALn, be thy great or
suiall, are, in no way increased by the fact that
in times of peace trains might run to and fro
beneath the Chanr el without pny breach of con-
tinuity. That such a facility would tend im-
mensely to the development of trade there can
be no question whatever.