The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-05-11 00:00:00

ACROSS the CHANNEL, from LONDON to

PARIS.

WOTIII

them:

Referring to the different schemes that have been mg.
gested to ratite this thsagre-able passage across the Channel
a little more pleasant, Ike Tivi,s has the fellowing leader :

The question of improving the means of (70mmunt-
oath& across the Channel between this country and
Trance is rapidly as,uuting a practical shape. Atten-
tion is fairly directed to it, and, in days when capital-
ists are ready to go to the ends of the earth to
find employment for their money, it would seem
impoisible that so urgent a need as that of bringing
Lon(lun and Purls closer together can long be
neglected. Accordingly a bill is now before Parlia-
ment, entitled the international Communication
Bill, which is certainly not deficient in enterprise ;
and the Board of Trade, at the request of the House
of COll3lllOllB. has lately presented a Repert upon the
proposaL This repia t oilers an instructive companion
of the various seht men already suggested on this sub-
ject ; and our readers will be aware that a new mug-
ge:tion has within the last fi w days been put for.
ward. ... If that suggestion be practicable it may
at least postpone our difficulty ; but it will be
convenient to bear in wind the general
titles of the problem, and to review the solutions
hitherto auggentel. They may be divided into two
classes. It is either proposed to abolish the Channel
ot to diminish its inconveniences. The former [nude
of proceediug would of COUrde be the smut satisfactory,
since it would be complete; but, unhappily, there is
no sufficient ground for hoping that it would prove ina-
mediately ptacticalrl. 'Phe Channel can only be
abolished either by a Bridge or by a 'runnel. The idea
of a Bridge bag really been entertained, and it would be
rash to pronounce any scientific dream incapable of rea-
lization. But, at all events, kis as yet only a dream, and
the Board of Trade only rnertions it to dismiss it from
consideration. A Tunnel would have seemed but a
few years ago a scarcely Wig ambitious project; but
sotne steps have actually been taken towards testing
its practicability. The only opinion the Boaa-d of Trade
expresses with respect to it is that it ought nut to be
allowed to stand in the way of improvements mere inp
mediately available. It must cert amly beawork of yearn;
and meanwhile it would be hard for travellers to be de-
barred from such relief to their present discomfort
as shipbuilders and engineers might device. If, how.
ever, the Tunnel be really practicable, it would seem
to deserve consideration in comparison with any scheme
which, though nominally less ambitious, would risk a
corresponding expenditaire of time. Even should a

ondi-

Turmel be ever constructed, a certain number of pas-
sengers would, perhaps, still prefer the sea passage;
but it would not be worth while, for the beneft, to
eonstruct works RN elaborate as if there could be no

alternative means of transit
The immediate question, therefore, relates to the
second claw of prejects—those for diminishing the
inconveniences of the Channel passe 4e. These also, as
discussed in the Board's Report, al . two in number,
but the recent letter of Captain Dicey must now be
taken into account as offering us a third alternative.
Of these schemes the boldest is that of the Inter-
national Communication Bill. It, in fact. approaches
very. nearly to an attempt to abolish the Channel,
for it would practically provide a moving bridge in
the form of a Steam Ferry. It contemplates the
construction of very large harbours both at Dover and
on the French coast—either at Calais or at Andreselles
—to &commutate steamer* 450 feet in length, capable of
taking on is iard ordinary railway trains. It is thus
intended that the steamers should simply afford a
movable junction; there would be no 'Change of
carriage for passengers, nor any alteration of truck or
transhipment for goods. The trains, in fact, would
ran through between Loudon and Paris almost as di-
rectly as if the Channel were really bridged or tun-
nelled. The conveniences of such an arrangement are
obvious; but the question is whether they are so much
greater than those offered by a moderate scheme as to
justify the heavy'sslditional cost which would be in.
curved. The promoters of the second scheme would be
satisfied with improving the existing barlsews BO far
as to admit steamers as powerful and commodious as
those which now run between Holyhead and Kings-
town. It is estimated by the Board of Trade that
the cost of the former scheme would be about
23,000,000, while that of the latter would be
t 1,500,000. In both cases the 'cost 'fif the works on
the French side is taken into account, as well as the
price of the new steamers. Now, we have already
expreseed a strong opinion that, jut be necessary to
go on board ship at all, there is very little advantage,
if any, in avoiding the mere trouble of changing seats
between a railway train aml a steamer. On the con-
trary, to those to whom all sensation of a sea passage
is disagreeable, the deck or the saloon of a spacious
steamer would probably be much more pleasant than the
interior of a railway carriage. But on whichever side
the balance of advantage lies, we are quite certain it is
out of all proportion to the difference in the balance
of expenditure represented by the comparison be-
tween three millions and a million and a half. If wo
could rely on crossing the Channel in Holyhead
steamers for an expenditure of the smaller sum, it
would be extravagance to spend the larger. It would
seem decisive of the question to observe, further, that
while the smaller scheme is undoubtedly practicable,
we are at least without auy experience to convince us
of the practicability of the other. The liydrographer
to the Admiralty doubts whether during gales from the
south-west heavy trains could be carried across the
Channel in such vessels as are designed; and the ex-
tensive works necessary at Dover alone, in addition
to the expense and the time they would require,
I probably interfere considerably with the
existing constructions of the Admiralty and the
War Department. The smaller scheme is designed
by Mr. Hawkshaw for the Dover Harbour Board, and
it receives the countenance of the Hydrographer to the
Admiralty and the support of the South-Eastern Rail-
way t'ompany. The Board of Trade, however, ob-
serves that "it rests with the Dover Harbour Board,
who, it is understood, are opposing the present bill, to
prove that they can and will carry into effect their own
plan." The promoters of the International Communi-
cation Bill possess the advantage of having alone pre-
sented an actual proposal to Parliament. But, on the
other hand, their scheme depends on so many un-
certain conditions, among them being the anticipated
co-operation on the French side, that it may be doubted
whether, after all, it can as yet be regarded as a definite
proposaL
Still, it will be admitted on all hands that something
ought to be done, and if we had to choose between the
Steam Ferry and nothing, Parliament might be tempted
to let the promoters risk their money. But another
consideration has still to be taken into account, which,
even if the Dover Harbour Board actually put their
scheme into working shape, might justify a suspension
of judgment. Let us remember that the whole
problem starts from the inadequacy of the existing
harbours to admit vessels sufficiently large for the
commodious accommislation desired by travellers.
The only reason why Holyhead steamers are not now
running between Dover and Calais is because the har-
bours, especially on the French side, will not admit
them. 'Die sole object, accordingly, of Mr. Ilawk-
shaw's scheme is to impreve the harbours on both
sides to a stuflicient degree for the admission of comfort-
able vessels. But what if the ditticnlty could be
solved by a mere improvement in the coustruction of
ships? That is Captain Dicey's suggestion. Ile be-
lieves that vessels could be constructesl which would offer
all the requisite comfort and convenience, and which
would enter the harbours of either coast with even
greater facility than the present packets. Ile de-
rives his suggestion from a rude device employed in the
coast waters of the Indian seas for neutralising the action
of tne surf. To give a rough description of his plan, he
would cut a ship in halves from stem to stern, and unite
the two halves by girders, placing the paddle-boxes
in the midddle, and constructing over the
girders a !spacious deck. Such a vessel, he be-
lieves, might have a very shallow draught and
would be extremely steady and buoyant. Professional
opinion can alone decide whether such a plan is as
feasible as Captain Dicey believes. His authority is
considerable, and he says he has the support of practical
men. But if such vessels can be built it is at least
evident that the scheme of the Dover Harbour Board
will become superfluous, and still more any larger
scheme. Moreover, it is no slight argument for at least
tryin g Captain I ficey'sscheme that the experiment might
be made at the cost of a single steamer, aml without any
co-operation from France. All schemes for improving
the harbours must be hampered by the latter conell-
lion, while schemes for improving ships are entirely
within our own competence. The ingenuity of
.our
men of science is now fully directed. to the question;
and mechanical science would certainly seem as capa-
ble of accommodating ships to harbours as of adapting
harbours to ships.