The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1871-01-11
Completion Of the Mont cenis Tunnel.

The greatest achievement uf the age,
the completion ol the Mont CeAiS Tun
mel, BY which the Alps have been pierced
through from France to Italy is all
anunced. 1t was prcdisious work and
occupied twelve Years of continuous la
Dor, light and day, Sundays not excepted.
The whole distance bored was { ( .
miles, being bored from the Italian
side. and from the French ahont 3, al
which points, in the bowels Of the tun.
nel, with more than mile cf Alps tow
ering abuvc their heads, the workmen
met To rif=r congratulations after so great
wo:k. The frs, Napoleon constructed
road through the pass of Mont GEMS,
Il, an elevation of 5400 feet above the
level of the country, thirty miles long
ana eighteen feet wide, at a cost OF l..
600, 600 francs. The present undertak-
ing cost>,he lives IF about !, 900 men,
killed at different stages Of the work
through accidental explosions and other
wise, and l70 ,00O, 600 francs. L e work
men were divided into three rellefs, eight
hours being given to labor and s'xlee"
10 rest The height Of the arch Is u
f.rt 7 inches, and the width in the broad
est pnrt 26 fee, p inches. The compile
ton of the tunnel has been achieved
three or four months sooner than was
Anticipated, and it will now require
about six months more to complete the
railroad which is to thread it and make
the Journey from France to Italy.
Tie work was begun in 1857. At
first the ordinary iland.d drill VAS used to
pierce the rock, and the solid masses
were blasted ont with powder. This
method "f operation, which was kept up
on the Italian si,e until 1861, and on the
French side until 1868. would have re
ouirei upward Of fifty years for the COM
pletion of the work. Accordingly il
brhnnvcd the projectors to brth'nk them
Of some more expeditions method Of pro-
cee,i:ng. the use ps steam was ont "i
the question, aud the a,tcntion OF the
Italian engineers was therefore turned
to a device for using compressed air as
the motive power. This matter present
Ell no very great difficulty in It's general
principles but great deal Of expcrimen
ting was necessary before it could b.
put into successful practice.
A marhine was finally invented and
put into operation which could stand out,
side by ono Of the streams that catnr
down from the mountains, and, with its
aid, force the air through long tubes 10
the drilling. apparatus. THIS latter is 4
machine which works in galley nine
feet square, and carries large number
of pertorators, each Of which bnres sep
arste hole in the rock. BY the com
pressing machine, the mir is forced into a
reservoir, and thence it passes through
flexible pipes to the C., finders containing
the drills of the perfnrating machntS.
BY the opening cs valve, each drill is
forced against the lace of the rork with a
force OF abou, 200 pounds. turned slight
", and withdrawn. Two hundred Of
these blows are given every minnie with
each drill; and, when holes Of the re
quired depth lave been bored. the air l.
turned off, and the machine withdrawn a
short di ,tance. The holes are bored III
such way as to converge slightly to
wards each other, so that every blast will
bring down a considerable mas: of rock
st first powder was used in the blasting.
bnt there were many obvious objections
to this. AS soon as any considerable
progress had been made, and subSc
qucntly, gun cotton was tried. This
was afterward displaced by the use OF
nitro glycerine. The rate of progress
has varied, of course, with the hardness
OF the rock, aud has been from one and II
half to three feet per day. Among the
Incidental appliances employed by the
workmen. are n gas-house, miniature
xater-works, and machinery for supply.
ing their own lungs with air As well az
,hnSe Of the perforat!ng machinery.
Thus the three essentials of comfortable
life-lisht, air and water, are received
from the outer world by machinery.