The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-01-11
Under the Alps.

Under the Alps.
Tie AOnt Gents Railroad Tvnnek Chm
pkted-T The Alps Cat 7hso2ohf os
Eight Nizes.
by the completion of the nbovs
great work railroad Communication is
secured between France and Italy,
through the. rocky Mont Cenisy a dis.
lance of eight miles from the termini
on either side of the. mountain 4 175s
tunnel is situated about fifteen miles
from che old Mont Gents road, icon
stsucted by Napoleon for the passage
of his army, in 1906, at a cost'of q
eQO, 900 francs. This ROAD wps thir-
~ miles long and eighteen feet wide.
1t served fol many years as tho only
highway between Frahre ard Italy;
bat within the last FIVE years n raii-
way has been built over tho Ridge,
upon which a steam-engine of peeu-
liar construction slowly drsss q single
car. Twenty years ago the idea OF
piercing Mont Gems with a tunnel was
ir.t brlachsi. After 4 great dsalof
argument over the feasibility oof the
work, France and Italy contracted to
undertake the work Jointly
; BEGINNING OF THE WORK.
; TIE work begun ie 1857. After
patient investigation and trials of diff
ferent planss it was finally decided to
bore through the sides Of the .&oun-
tain from either end as the only meth
Cd ofeproceeding The point If de-
parture on the French ride Of the
Alps was the town of FnrneauK, near
Modane, in Savoy, and On the italian
side TIE town Of Bardeneche in the
7slley of the Dorartperia The Cen
tral summit of the ridge, beneath
-whichathe tunnel was to be bored, is
1900 feet above the level. AT first
the ordinary hand dril was used to
PIECE the rock. and the solid masse
we're blasted out with-pewd-r. This
method OF operating, which WIS kept
on the GFrnch side until 1888.
Mould have required upward efif!ty
years for the completion of the work
Accordingly it behooved the project
erI to bethink them Of some-More ex-
ecditiattsE method of proceeding. The
use of steam IA out OF the question,
and the attention of the Italian engin-
GERS vas therefore turned to a deYice
f>r using compressed ait as the mo.
tiSc power.
THE MACHINERY USED.
A machine was finally invented and
put incorporation which -caald stand
outside by one of the slreams that
came down from the mountains, and
with its aid force the air through long
tutes to the drilling a~ppasatus. lTiiis
Il: tier Is a machmc which works III d
G ,llerf nine feet square, and carries a
large punbcr of the perforators, each
of Which beresa separate holein the
rock: By the COMPRISING machine
the air is forced into a reservoir, and
thence it passes through flexible pipes
to the eylihd .rs containing the drills
of the PENETRATING machines By the
opening Off valve each dfiil is forced
AGAINST the face i the~ r ok with a
force of about 200 pounds, turned
slightly. and withdrawn. Two hand;
red of these blows are given geters
pinuie with each drill{apd when koles
ofthe required depth have been bored
the air is turned off and the machine
Withdrawn a short distance Hhe
holes arc bored IN ouch a. way as tn
converge slightly towards each other,
50 that every blast.wfli bring down a
considerable mass of rock. at first
powder was used in the blasting but
'thore were many obvious objections
to this. As soo as aIv considerable
progress had been made, In4 eubse
~qucntly, gun-cotton was tried this was
afterward displaced by the 5 Of nj
tro gfyeerme. The rate of progress
has varied, of course. with the -hards
hess OF the rock, and has Eeen from
'ope and a half to three fectper day
Among the incidental appliances EN-.
ployed by the worknten are n sashouse
miflttare water-works, and machinery
for supplying their own lungs with
air as well as those ofthe perfofating
machinery. Thus the threea essentials
of comfortable life-light, air and wa.
tteE-lre received from the outer
world by machinery.
SIZE OF FIIE BORE.
g The tunnel is in the form ola seq.
ment of n cylinder, the bottom being
l3v,l for the robbed ofthe. proposed
railway. The height Of the arch is
pa feet Z inches. the width of the
broadest the base 25 feet 81 inches,
and the widthin the broadest part 26
feet p inches. As fast rs the rock is
blasted out tits removed and party
of masons follow close behind the busy
machinery to complete the masonry.
The work has gone on in this way day
and night for more than-a dozen years
and at last the two gangs of workmen
have met-so VIC are told by the tele-
graz h--far beneath the summit of the
Grand WALTON. The progress has
been a little nor rapid on the French
than on the italian side, the average
being $3.50 metres on the former tc
1920 on thelatter. e
The completion of the tunnel itseT
has been achieved three or. foul
months sooner than was anticipated
a year ago, April, 1871, being
the earliest date assigned for tina
contamination. 1t will require abou'
six months more to complete the rail
Eoad which is to thread the tunnel, ant
make n journey from France to Ital,
as easy as that acros the Germa,
border. 8
10 80
The Position OF Raris.
/ S SS;aaiN
Day by day the grasp of the besieg