The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-01-14
The Mt. Gents Tunncl-An Interesting and
Most Important Work.

Orange Judd thus describes the Mt. Gents
Tunnel and the passage of the Alps, in
! Hearth and Home:
| Looking at 4 map embracing England in
the Northwest, and India or the Red Sea
at the Southeast, it will be seen that to
pass between these points one may sail
| down the Eastern Atlantic, through the
long stretch of the Mediterranean, and
land at Alexandria: or, crossing France to
Marseiles, he may save part of the distance
by water; or by land route he may cross
Belgium and Germany into Austria, and
passing round east of Switzerland and
returning around the head of the Adriatic,
am Trieste and Venice, he may go down
through Ia stern Italy to Brindisi, and
| then by short sea-voyage reach Alexandria.
But direct line, hundreds of miles shorter
than the others, is to go through France
by way of Lyons, thence over to Susa and
Turin in Italy, and so on to Brindisi
But right across this route the Alpine
barrier. The pass of Mt. Gents over the
Alps is on the line, but though traversed
by the great armies of Hannibal and of
Napoleon, it is a fearful passage. Three
years ago, on October 18th, we went over
Mt. Gents with n small party wife, three
three children and friend) To merely
cross the mountain, 70 miles from St.
Michael to Susa, cost us 10t hours of we're
travclling-very dangerous, we should cal
it, did not so many go safely. The route
ran along the edges of steep gorges, often
impeded by large masses Of snow; the
cold was intense; and relays of twenty
stout horses were required to take our one
carriage up and down, at 4 cast of 800
francs go gold. Two and twenty hospices
or shelter-stations are established, and
needed, along the mountain-road, to afford
shelter and assistance to travellers. Many
hundreds of heavy vehicles, diligence, etc,
were passed or met on the mountains,
transporting passengers, mails, and mer-
chandise between France and Italy. 1t
was well to try this route once for the
grandeur of the scenery, and to know by
actual observation what difficulties are sur
mounted we would prefer a journey of a
thousand miles around, and by sea at that,
to making another October journey over
the Mt. Gems Pass.
But the end is at hand That great
mountain, requiring u miles travel to get
over it, was too great to be levelled for the
iron horse, and the enterprise and energy
of have fpnnI u IN
our way up, we saw at Forneaux small
opening, nearly filled up by immense build
ings and machinery at its mouth, and near
10y were mountain heaps of de5rts-brekcn
stone and earth. To the inquiry of our
driver, when the tunrel would be cut
through, he answered with shrug of the
shoulders: g Never; nobody expects it,
The engineers then lselves hoped to get
through by 1874. b ut the telegraph brings
us word that the " orkmen on either side,
who had penetr ated in distance of three
or four miles each, had met in the bowels
OF the noun lain on Christmas, and that it
now only remains to smooth over the open
ing and i.y down the rails, when the iron
horse Will in less than an hour take from
France co Italy train of comfortable cars,
with people enough to fill a hundred dill
gences and freight that would require
thIusan DIS of horses by the old road. In
short, his tunnel through the Alps opens
! a sho' t, direct, easy road between all of
Westf IN Europe and the Indian Ocean,
and the famous realms beyond. With our
Pacific railway, the smooth passage Of the
peaceful pacific ocean, the railways
already built across Hindoostan, the Suez
| Canal, and the completed Alpine tunnel, a
voyage around our planet will soon become
a brief pleasure-trip, less fatiguing, and
consuming little more time than did
journey from New England to Illinois,
W thin the memory of the writer and Of
many of our readers.