The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1871-01-12
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Emerson Antelllgentcr,
/ lTks N5ui:s .ccsis Tunnel.

4
A.cass dssspara has ihfora.d rs that the
Mount Ceiiis tunnel, one Of the most trcmen-
dous engineering tcatS OF the age, would soon
be completed. 1t is an international work, un-
dertaken jointly by the. French and Italian
governments; aud the fact that the French are
Just now occupied in a task with their German
neighburs more difficult even than the boring
of the Mount Gems tunnel, led: us sto suppose
that the latter enterprise would be. neglected,
or at leayt retarded. Its, compilation. in-the
midst of great war that would seem to exact
ell the resources that the French have at COM
m4nd is 6n7mPf se proof OF the imminent
Importance that,this; age attaches to works OF
eapihteS standardization s2-
The Mount Gems tunnel, whose completion
We now witness, has been before the eyes OF
the world for thirteen years, is not on the line
of any railroad, and is not a part Of any rail-
road scheme, but is, as we have stated, great
taarnet between France and Italy, drilled
through three peaks of the Savoy Alps, Colo
mel de Frejus, Grand Vallon and de IA Koue-
and, in fact, has no connection with Mount
Gents, seventeen miles distant, whose name 1t
bears Before the beginning OF the work, there
were notywanting engineers of high standing
and-rebutation who gravely declared that the
undertaking would prove failure-that the
workmcn would perish by fire, water or noxious
gases, and that, all sorts of insurmountahle OBJ
stacies would meet them as they approached
the heart of the mountains. In spite OF all
these discouraging professional predictions, the
work was begun in 1857, and steadily prosecu-
ted for four years, when perforators were called
into requisition.
The usual method oil, sinking shafts along
the line Of the proposed; tunnel, and working
through from one to the other, was not appli-
cable to this work, on account of the great
height of sthe mountain. Fhe only feasible
plan was to begin boring both ends, and con-
tinue it-steadily until the opposite drills should
meet and give complete aperture. This made
it difficult to. supply the workmen with sufticl-
ent quantity of fresh sir at distance OF two
or three miles from the entrances. To over
come this. a machine that was perforator and
air pump combined was devised, which moved
by air compressed to one-sixth its usual bulk.
A portion of this was. conveyed into the tun-
mel and released for the, consumption of the
workmen, and another portion was applied di-;
rectly to the drill which bored into the noun
tain at the average rate of nine feet day.
Ten perforatoTs were kept constantly at work.
The motive power was conveyed to the drill by
flexible pipe, throwing the compressed air
into cylinder, in which worked piston driy-
ing the drill into the face of the rock. The
drill made TIVE hundred revolutions minute,
each having q stroke. of two hundred pounds
weight. TIE hardest substance 1T encountered
was white quartz, and every stroke against this
brought forth a shower of sparks that caused
the work to resemble display of fireworks in
the dark cavern. Asa preparation for blasting,
about ninety holes, three feet in depth and two
or three inches in diameter, were bored with
the drill, charged with powder, tampcd, and ex-
ploded The shock would bring down the face
of the rock to the depth of several feet, when
charged dsand,exp and thus the work kept
steadilyson for-years. The workmen were di
vided into three relefs, eight hours being given
to labor and sixteen to rest. The most skilful
of them were paid FIVE francs a day, and the
others only three.
The directors of the work declare that only
fifty or sixty workmen lost their lives by acci-
dent during the boring; but as accidents, such
rs premature explosions, and the falling Of
rocks were frequent, it is thought that these
figures fall short of indicating the injuries suf-
fered by the men engaged in the work. The
hardness of the rock made the wear and tear
OF machinery very great, and it was necessary
to replace the drills every few minutes. The
estimated average progress was about nine feet
a day; bat in Lhe white quartz, only distance
of 10 to l9 inches per day was made. 1he dis
tance. betyeen Fourneaux and Bardoneche, the
two extreinitics of the gallery, is lt,000 yards,
or nearly7 As miles. The estimated cost of
the entire work is 15O,0OO,O00 francs, or about
$30,O0O,OOO. The entrance on the French side
is 25 feet wide, and about as many in height
A double railway track running into it was
used to>convey the tools. and supplies :to the
worktnen, and to bring out the shattered rock.
The next greatest work of this kind in the
world is the Hoosac tunnel in Massachusetts,
which was begun four years before the Mount
Gents gallery, and isynot yet completed. The
French and Italian engineers, who had super
intendence of the enterprise, often had their
ingenuity severely taxed to devise methods for
overcoming the many unusual difficulties they
ENCOUNTERED. .sand -they ccrtaiply-are entitled to
high credit for the patient assiduity with which
they prosecuted their slow and laborious task.
AS means of avoiding long and difficult
crossing of the Savoy Alps, in the passage from
France to Italy, the tunnel is a convenience
whose value cannot be estimated, while, as q
worsz of engineering, it will rank next to the
Saea canal.-Miami Republican.
How TO BE HArPY-Sala, in one of his es-
cova sova. hapnened IN ha nasainv ono hox-