New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-11-05
rhs Pa..ags Through m die Alps.

- p 1
The work of tunneiing Mount Gems is being
rapidly executed, and its completion is now pro-
missed in 1866. few days since, the Italian Him
lister OF Public Works, accompanied BY q French
engineer and several members of the Chamber
chiefly scientific and practical men, went to- Bar
doneche to inspect the works, and have since de-
clared that they feel no doubt0f their completion
by the time named. For some hours they wit
messed the working of the machines for cutting
the rock. The opinion of the scientific men who;
were present at the experiment, and among whom
were NM Sella, Cadolini, and Peccefo, is, thatthe
mechanical difficulties of the cutting will be fally
overcome.
The perforating machine, in somewhat less than
an hour, made seventy holes in the mountain at
the end of the opening. The holes which were
made IN the center, in order to permit breach TO
be Effected by blasting, were three eentimetres
Tather more than one and three-quarter inchesy
in diameter; the others made round 1T, for the
same purpose, were two centmetres. Thesd depth z
of the holes was from sixty to ninety eentrnetres
| (rather more than twenty three inches TO abeut
thirty.fiye and half.1 From repeated expert
ments made in the masses of schist, with q single
perforating instrument, it was proved that ten
minutes labor was sufficient to make q hole Of
sixty centimetres, whereas by the ordinary means
three workmen would be occupied for an hour IN
5ffeeting one. 3s
/ The machine employed cuts stimuli Itaneously from
twenty to thirty holes In aspace of four square
metresthat is, one in which it would not be handy
to employ three or four men, The machine thus
presents an advantage which, as regards space, is
three or four fold, and as regards time, six fold
| what could be done by workmen. The Advantage
is, however, somewhat diminished by the fact that
the machine must be dragged back to distance Of
one hundred metres or more, whenever blasting
has to be resorted to- and that itcannot be got to-
work again until after the ground cleared Of the
i fragments of rock, and until the front of the noun
tain is made tolerably smooth Bat it is certain
that when the workmen shall have obtained greater
skill they will be able to perform the three opera
tions boring blasting and clearing away in three
4 or four hours at the outside. Fsfss lft
+ When operations can be commenced on the side
of Modane as they viii be in a few weeks, it is
certain that sx meters of rock can be removed in
a day. This will make moEe than two kiloneters
4 {fye-eighths Of q mile each1 q ysAr: and it is
4 probable from what is now being accomplished
that three kilometers may be attained. In that
case the cutting of the tunnel can be Terminated
by 1864. 1t follows that NJ Grattoni, the engineer
runs littlerisk by offering to bet, it is said he
has done. l00,000f that this great work will be fin
ished in five years Unforeseen obstacles may,
however, arise from the rock becoming harder
water springing, or assures taking place. But
nothing thus far causes such obstacles to feared
Il The rock, at least on the side of Bardoneehe, is
of schist, which is OF great resistance, and In
which are slicious veins and instead of ineonTe-
nience being eaused bywater filtering through, as
has been feared, some is caused by insnfcieneyof
moisture. The hydro pneumatic Z force applica-
BILE is equal to 250-horse power but the machinery
has never yet been fully tested. By simple con-
trivance the same machine supplies a constant
current of fresh air in the galleries where the men
are working. Aboutl2 200 meters are alreadyeom-
pleted and they proceed at rate of three meters
day, which they expect shortly to bring to q
, much hghersayerage. as the men get more used to
working the machinery. 49, B ttgs 5S Wy 9{tse5
| NJ Someler is joined with Signor Grattonin the
undertaking and also, tits said ,in the invention OF
, of the engine used for boring The completion
, this work would bring Turin Within twenty hours
, of Paris and thirty Of London, and would give a
continuous line Of railway of Genta, Milan, the
lakes of Maggiore and Como, to Bologne, Mantua,
Venice and Trieste, from which stations the lovers
:. of oeomotion may return via Vienna to Paris, and
all in few hours. s~ss-s -