Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-10-26
1A}aaheeaau hanna1f p, paR.6xA0aMaaQss
interest on the money due for the
work (. as i y = 81 81 III
the stipulated term Of, twenty years,
italy would have lost 800, 900 for eV-
cry year in excess Of that period, M
'ssasss THE yoRise OF THE TUNNEL. o.
THE goRise OF THE TUNNEL.

the most dfst o,ira9ing Character. The
construction OF a tunnel nearly EIGHT
miles LONG, where 70 vertical shafts for
| light or air or refuse were possible,
where the WORK must be begun from
each erd, where the, levels and the
| angles must be perfect TO insure meet
ing, presented a problem which even
| the boldest engineer might shrink from
with alarm. ALI former experience in
constructing tunnels WAS of little avail.
| The OCCASION demanded man ofgenins
! gifted With determination. This man
was found in Sommeiller, who, how
ever, owed much TO the inven-
tions OF his professional predeces-
sors. M. Mans, Belgian en-
gineer, had devised machine to cut
rock, and this machine was to beiwork
ed with springs to cut the rock into
| blocks, and so do the work OF many
men. Mr. Calladon, of Geneva, struck
the KEY ofthe position by suggesting
the use of compressed air, but he had
not the honor Of showing howsit was to
be used as rnorsice power Mr.. Bart
lett, an English engineer, having IN
vented on engine for boring. which was
| worked by steam, NJ. Ssmmellier cdapt
led 1t 50 as 10 be used by compressed
! air, and thus the means Of boring the
| Mont Gents Tunnel was secured.
ia Another invention, however, WIS
| needed to utilize all these triumphs of
human ingenuity. The use. OF steam
az a motive power was hopeless in SO
confined space; the labor of human
hands was equally hopeless in point OF
/ time, but with wondrous adaptation
of means to the ends, the falling waters
OF the Alpine valleys were imprisoned
! TO compress the air; the air was con-
! Quoted along vast tubes as the cuttings
advanced, and, after doing all the hard
/ work for human hands, escaped from
its imprisonment, and made existence
| possible for the very men who made
this air slave! The machine en-
/ ployed by NJ. Sommellier weighed
about 800 pounds, and bored hole II
! inches in diameter and 3 feet deep in
/ 10 minutes. Eleven OF these machines
We're placed on movable support, and
could be worked at almost any angle
Three or four large holes were bored in
the center of the heading, and round
these other holes of the ordinary size,
in all 80 holes. The largo holes were
only tor the purpose of Weakening the
rock. The other holes were filed with
explosive material and were fred in
succession and in detachments, begin
ming with those nearest the center. and
! working outward. The advanced head.
ing was the only place where these ma
] al, ha al A,,t
| &c, Wore all performed by mammal Ia
/ Dor. The space thus excnvated in the
rocky sides OF the Alps was % feet 6
inches wide, and 81 feet high, fully nd
hitting OF four separate lines of rails
to traverse the tunnel. The daily pro-
gress IN the work, after some time,
showed u gratifying Improvement, -
! From halt "A yard n day, at first, the
! progress increased to more than 10 feet
( per day. Each yard bored cost not less
than $1,000 The boring as described
was repeated, yard by yard, until the
entire eight miles was completed the
work becoming more ar,iuous as the
| tunnel increased in length. Seventy
I yards of rock were displaced for every
I ward advanced, and this had to be re
. IA.
/ yards of masonry had To be built in the
same yard of tunnel, with materials
I brought ON the Average more than ten
miles
One half of the tunnel WAS completed
/ in nine yeap 1890. the third quarter
/ by the end OF 1868, and the whole
mountain mass, thickness of II, 236
( meters, or nearly eight miles, was
I pierced through from end to end be-
! fore Christmas day last year. '
/ The constructing Of the tunnel gave
( constant employment TO abont 1000
men, who were provided with dwelling
houses along the banks OF the torrent
/ Of Rochemolles. When ut work in the
tunnel the men relieved each other
every eight hours; in the workshops
they did on the average ten hours work
daily.
All approximations of mephitic air in
the tunnel, il they ever had any founda-
( ton, are by this time fully Gispeiled
4 correspondent of Lyons Journal
whu recently went through the tunnel.
( says; THE ventilation Is excellent
and the current OF air perceptiblv felt
in fact, the heat was so moderate That
. an oyeycoat was not To be disaained
All the Swiss stories about heat intense
enough to produce asphySia are pure in
veutlons. obi
/ The usefulness of the tunnel viii be
retarded for while by the want of
railroad communication between st
Michel and Fourneaux, distance of
zen miles The railroad now construct
ing will be completed in November
and it viii then be possible to make an
unhroken railroad journey between
Paris and Turn. Since British mails