The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-30 00:00:00

THE TUNNEL THROUGH MONT CENIS.

This work, the most gigantic among the railway
achievements hitherto undertaken, has lost much of its
econoitiied and commercial interest, but it is still of the
very greatest iinpottance in a technical point of view,
as it Will tioli,e the pliotteni of thepossibility of a direct
tajlway Communication across any other po-Int of the
diipitie eta& • The main motive which induced the
Sardinian Govertitheiii Bide this line the preference
over the St. Gothard's oriittairdinffer,
.which might
have brought Genoa into communletifion with the
Swiss and German Rhine, the object most immediately
conducive to the development of the Italian trade,
was a desire to establish a speedy intercourse
between the capital of the Sardinian monaray,
arid Its transalpine possession of Savoy. The
treaty of the 24th 1f March last, by making over those
hereditary domains of tite: to fining house to France,
rendered the Mont Cenis tunnel a wait of only secondary
usefulness. As, however, the Italians now trust &ft by
Opening railway lines from Susa to Ancona, Brindisi,
and Taranto, they can open the shortest route for the
Overland 1?1al! through their country, it is evident that
they would be labouring hi vain till they have
.also
facilitated by all physical means the itittreourse between
their country and the great capitals, Paiii and _London.
The tunnel across Mont Cenis possesses, therefore, as
much a European as an Italian importance, and nothing
Ccmterning the progress of the work can be matters of
indifference td the tenders of the Tinzcs.
• The tunnel to be °Petted throngh Mont Cenis from
Bardonneche in the Upper Val sad; a Val di Dora,
above Oulx, and Modane, on the Ave, in Savoy, on the
old carriage road, is to be 12,600 metres (about 7;
English triad) in length. The Sardinian Parliament
voted a yearly outlay of 8;900,000f. out of the budgets
of 1857-8-9 ; the actual expendit7tet however, does
not exceed one-half of the money assigried for the
purpose-- -

The fears entertained by those who showed disincli-
nation to fainur the enterprise were grounded on the
fact that d bole dt..± in the earth -beyond a depth of
2,000 Metres becomes imfitattfc/ble on account of the
foul air and high temperature. The fat-alms engaged
in this present tunnel would, if only ordinary means Were
employed, be suffocated before they had achieved one third
of their labours, as it was impossible to supply fresh
air from Vertical shafts or windows, as is done in other
tiiniteis; res the shafts would have to be made several
thousand metreg dt.,l; and the same difficulty of the
mephitic-air would have id b'e eittotenteted. There aro
people who still think that the phenoinened observed in
verticle holes would not reproduce itself in au tiorizon-
tal tunnel, as the whole work would in the present in-
stance be accomplished on a level with the earth's sur-.
fdEe; hot the engineers at the-,head of this achievement
flatter thenisefiee they have found the means of doing
away with the obstacle at CAC fephitie air altogether.
• These gentlemen, Messrs. Grattoni Ssommeiller,
have invented boring machines which are set to Crork
by air compressed by hydraulic power, whereby they
not Orly have found the Means of hastening the process
of excavation', bait' din of 'supplying .the labourers with
an inexhaustible Current of flesh wholesome air.
The experiment with these ma6lrints only began at
Bardonneche, on the eastern side of the Wild,* on the
14th of this present month. One of the boring
machines, worked by compressed air supplied by five
hyOrenlio compressors, established outside the tunnel,
has shown di& teseilt of 49 centimetres (about one foot
and a third English), limited to the boring of the holes
for the mines, in five•minutes. Prom Chat time to the
present day the excavation upon this new plan has been
proceeding favourably, both as .to the effect of the
hydraulic compressors and of the boring machines.
There has been a delay in the commencement of the
far the engineers had intended to begin their
operations towards the end of October last, and a day
had even been appointed for CrOtint Caroer and the
Minister for Public Works to view the novel eiperiment
at the outset. The delay was occasioned by the giving!
Way pf two of the compressed air pipes during a pre-
liminary trial, and• the breaking of a piece connected
with one of the water pipes and the valve of one of the
air Coinpfessors:
The mishap of the aft pipes arose from some flaw in
the casting, and as, as yet, orgy et font atmosphere
pressure had been applied, it was instantiy remedied;
but the accident resulting from the breaking of the
valve. of the compressor was of a more serious nature,
and depended on some defect in the system of the
valves. 'he *hole of the month of -November and
December was spent ill pfertiding a remedy for this
defect.

llp to the 14th of January, as I said, die Wolk Was
carried on with the usual means of excavation. I At.
the above period the tunnel on this side by these means
had been opened to the length of 721 metres; of these
I.l° Metres were completely finished, the remaining 193
metres were oral' rdttlally bored through.
At the west, or French did; at Modane the work is
less advanced, as a deal of time was taken tip with the
building of huts, workshops, &c., necessary for the
application of the air compressors ; the excavation on
that side has only been effected by the ordinary means.
At the close of December last the tunnel opened at
Modane by these usual means was 511 metres 60 cen-
timetis, aid there were besides 23 metres 50 centimetres
not yet thoroughly finished.
You are aware, I have no donbtj that, besides the
difficulty of the mephitic air which the engineers trust
they have successfully Obviated, fears are entertained that
the works of excavation may be interfered with and even
utterly prostrated by the breaking in of the water from
the almost unfathomable little lakes which are to be
met with on the summit of this mountain, as on almost
all the other Alpine passes and summits. But the engi-
neers work on with good strong faith, prepared to
meet evil whenever and from wheresoever it may
arise.— Times' Correspondent.

TILE BRADFORD BANQUET TO MESSRS. GLADSTONE,
COBDEN', AND GIBSON.—On Monday a meeting of the
committee appointed fur the worsted and woollen dis-
tricts to invita Messrs. Gladstone, Cobden, and Milner
Gibson to an entertainment, held a meeting at.Bradfold ;
Mr. W.H. Ripley in the chair. Letters had been received
from Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Gibson, in which the tight
hon. gentlemen intimated their willingness to receive a
deputation on Thursday week, in London. The deputa-
tion will consist of the riding and borough members of
Bradford, Leeds, Halifax, and Huddersfield; and of six
gentlemen from each large town in the united district,
viz., Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury,
and Wakefield.

BRADFORD CHAMBER ,or COMMERCE.—A meeting of
the council of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce was
.Monday. at Bradford; --H. -W. Ripley, Estil !
cccupied the chair. This being the first meeting after
the annual meeting,.offieers were elected and commit-
tees appointed. H. W. Ripley, Esq., was re-elected
president; and John, Whitworth, Esq., and W. E.
Foster, were re-elected vice-presidents or the ensuing
year. The president and vice-presidents were appointed
a deputation to.represent the chamber at a meeting to
be held in Manchester to-morrow (Thursday), to discus 4
the political and commercial condition of India. —Mr:
Foster also introduced a proposal oil the 1011-t of the
African Aid Society for the establishment of a consul at
Abbeokuta, on the, Western Coast of Africa, and the
result was that the council adopted a memorial to the
government, requesting the appointment of consul at
Abbeokuta, as a means of protecting settlers on the
coast, in connection with the efforts being made for the
cultivation and export of cotton there.
NAPOLEON'S TOMB ,AT ST. HELENA.—TIM Union
Company's 'Royal Mail steamship Cambrian, Captain'
W. Strutt, Which arrived at .Southamp,ton on Saturday,
brought. from St: Helena Captai4. Masselin, and' two
soldierS, of the 3rd Regiment of French l'igineers..
They have been- employed in repairing the tomb of
Napoleon at St. Helena, by direction of the French
authorities, and with the: permission of the English
Government. The tomb has been completely restored
to the condition in which it was at the period of the
deposed Emperor's interment, and Longwood, the house-
in which he died, has been put into a state of substan-
tial repair.- Longwood is unoccupied and unfurnished,
and . the premises had been allowed, prior to Captain
Masselin's visit to the island, to fall into decay ; hut the
walls and roof have now been restored, and will in all
probability stand, for many years. Captain Masselii!,
and his engineers were despatched to St. Helena, 5?
Southampton, two years ago, and they have beenoeeeßTt
' pied with the work of restoration-ever since. Havre,
.f
the soutSouthamptonh_ly e
sat
et r
u midnight
Company's
steamerl r d
for Paris. enroulticl

3tT'IP)

MR. JOHN BRIGHT, M.P., BEFORE HIS

CONSTITUENTS.

(BY BRITIBIr A 1517 /RIM MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.).
_ _

Last evening, at the Birmingham Town-hall, Messrs.
Stholefield and Bright met their constituents. The lame
and beautiful ball was crowded.toexcess, and consider-
ing that the' only seats in the building were those in the
side and end galleries, where were several ladies, not
fewer than 6,000 perspire were present. His Worship
the Mayor, Thomas Arthur Rowland, Esq., presided,'
and on the platform were several of the borough magis-
trates, anti most of the members of the Town Council.
As the. honoirrabfe members entered, preceded by the
Mayor, they were loudly cheered, the cheers being
several times. repeated.
The chair was taken at half-past sclen o'clock.
Mr. Scholefield, in addressing the incethig, said he
would never earn popularity by voting. lot economy
which he believed would impair our national defences.
He was not in favour of the circular which
sonic) members of Parliament bad addressed to Lord
Palmerston; for he felt that the attitude of Europe was
never &ore' threatening than it was at this very moment.
Speaking of. the French treaty, he said no amount of
public honour that the Queen could lavish upon Mr.
Cobden could be 'too great. For all she could do for
him was well deserved. He (Mr. Scholfield) thought
that great saving might be effected in the enormous
expenditure upon the army and navy'. He then went
on to'Speak of a new reform bill, which ltesakl mast, to
be satisfactory, give,,a larger extension of the suffrage,
vote by ballot, and a redistribution of seats. Whether
a bill would be introduced this-session be could not sue,
but he could sal that if one was not brought in, govern-
ment would find that they had neglected a treat
oppor-
tunity. If Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell
wished to retain the good opinion of their countrymen,
they nittst bring in a reform bill this session, and see
that it was passed into law.
Mr. Bright, on rising, was loudly cheered. He began
by saying that it was a good and wholesome custom for
representatives in parliament to annually, at least, meet
their constituents, to discuss the great questions of public
policy of. the day, and their influence for good or evil.
A week this Teri night parliament would assemble, and
we looked to its assembling wall more than ordinary
interest. He feared the same reckless and profligate
expenditure would, as of late years; be its chief charac-
teristic, rather than attending to internal affairs, which._
were for the welfare of the people. ludging from what
he saw around him, the public mind was opposed to the
extravagant expenditure of late years. The past year
had been one of great prosperity ; but he was sorry to
say that the present year was not at all promising in
that respect, but quite the contrary. This being so.
everybody Was asking with some degree of wonder, at
least in Lancashire, how long the Chancellor of the
Exchequer would be able to raise £70,000,000 in taxes.
He charged the governing classes of this country with
being guilty of a wasteful expenditure of the resources
of this contitry; because of the amount they spent upon
keeping the people quiet when there was no fear of their
revolting. Every parish and town governed itself- at a
cost of something like £17,000,0000r £18,000,000 in local
taxes, and then Government called upon the people for
£43,000,000 more for the same purpose. He asked
them to go back to 1830, when the expenditure of
the Government was, including the cost of collection.
£43,000,000 sterling, of which sum X 28,000,000 was as
now to pay the interest of the debt contracted by the
vile intet'rneddling of their forefathers. After the Re-
form Bill had passed—viz., in 1834—the expenditure
was £49,000,000 only, and remained so till 1837. But,
eleven years after the Reform Bill had passed, the
Tories took office, and then the' expenditure again began
to rise, and in 1842, 1843, arid 1544 it luid ,risen to
£553000,000, and remained at that till IR4B-and 1849,
when the revolutions on the Continent were seized upon
by the Government us a pretence for' agkin,► the people
of this country to pay.rnore taxes. They:then came to
1854, when the Russian War, broke out: Broke out!
Why, they talked of war breaking cart as they talked of
the scarlatina, the smallpox, or
,the cholera breaking
out. Well, in 1854 the expenditure was £65,000,000,
in 1856 it was £88,500,000, and in 1856 £75,500,000. !
In the three' years named the expenditure of
the income from all sources was £30,000,000, and
that sum had to be raised on Government loans.
Coming to 1857, the expenditure was £68,000,000. In
1869 £69,000,000, and in 1860 he believed it would be
found. to have been £76,000,000, including the estimate
for the China war. Mr. Bright then contrasted the
difference as between the expenditure of 1834 and ISM
which, he said, wag not as £49,000,000 to £71,000,000,
Why, we were the same people, and, if anything, more',
orderly and peaceful than they were in 1834 ; and yet
the expenditure was £22,000,000 more: This state of
things made a prodigious difference to the working
classes _of. this...country,: who had to—live-on -their own
earnings; and if it did., not exist, we should see not so
much poverty as *e now saw. It appeared to him diet
the House of Commons eared not whether the expendi-
ture was 50, 60, or 80 million's, a-year. Somebody had
once said that he (Mr. Bright) was never in the house
when the money was voted : but he asked whether for
years he did not back up the late Mr. Hume for
economy. but never did they succeed in getting
off the estimates one penny. How beautifully all
England. and. Wales were cultivated by our agri-
cultural labourers, and that, too, at a cost of only
some £25,00,060' sterling. He believed so that the
expenditure of the Go' ernment was three times more
than the whole cost of cultivating the country; and if
they took in the cost of cultivating Reiland and "Scotland,
the expenditure was more by' one-half than it cost to
cultivate the soil. If every member of the House of
Co'mntons were responsible to his constituents, this
extravagant expenditure would • not be allowed to go on
on as it did—unquestioned. If agriculture had to bear
this heavy amount of taxation, it would be its ruin. The
towns were the chief contributors., and they itwas to whom
we mint look for redress of thegrierairee. At present there
were going on in Atinrica transactions which struck
every thoughtful man with feelings of alarm, and it was
fearful to contemplate the consequences if the result was
the stoppage of 'cotton being- sent to this country, where
many hundreds of thousands depended upon it-for sub-
sistence. Mr. 11right then went on to speak of the
House of Lords, and said ft was principally com-
posed of peers, who were the offspring of the
slime of the rotten boroughs; therefure they
never need expect such peers to be on the side
of the :people. The peers that were on the side"-
of the people were more frequently those who were the
descendants of the atistovraey as old as the Monarchy
itself. The House of Commons as it existed was only a
show of representation, and three-quarters of its mem-
bers owed allegiance to no constituency whatever. John
Milton, speaking of the condition of the Church in a
metaphor, said it was like the wen which, growing on a
manes hand, deanded that, when it became bigger
than ' the head, 'it should not be cut off, but the head
should. That metaphor was applicable to the present
position of England ated its military services. After
speaking of the, military.ifien,;_arallini they were.to be
found everywhere upholding their profession as the only
right one, Mr. Bright went on to speak of the present.
state of affairs in Europe, and demanded that England
should not meddle until we were interfered with. They
might depend upon it that the Emperor of the French
bad o*et manytenemies upon the continent to interfere
with list l'i'lt. Night vrarned.ihem that if our expenditure
was this year* tis extravagant as it was last year, there
was some party in England that meant war.' The
Emperor has always been friendly .to us, and he (Mr.
Bright) would undertakil to say—and he spoke not
without authority—that if Mr. Cobden were deputed to
do so, an arrangement would readily be come to' with
the .French Government that their fleet shoUld not be
increastd ttcycrud what it now' was, provided we did
not • increase ours. From one end of the nation
to the other, the French people were trying for peace'.
Mr. Bright then went on to.say that Our navy numbered
84,000 men and boys, while that of .France was only
30,000. Mr. Bright having then alluded to the French
treaty concluded a speech of an hour and twenty minutes
by one of those stirring perorations for which lie is so
noted. Throughout his speech Mr. Bright was loudly
cheered.. .

Resolutions viewing with alarm the increasing expen-
diture of the State, and thanking both the members for
thei,r services having been carried, the meeting concluded
with a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding.

r.‘,‘.