New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-10-02
VOL. XXXI....NO' 9,5l3.
TuE MONT GEMS TUNNEL
,cco.nvT OF IT'S OPENING.

ASPECT OF THE CASh ~ rIIP
TOrupoUeH THE TUNNEL DIN N
nnISn GALLERY OF THE ALfo'..,,,r
ShA '.Do~ orr SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
saUt t7-To-day the old boast OF the Grande
TURIN ~. al a, y Pies de PyrenHees might DC
NoEarqHs InS1 az Car more truth by the saying
PArSpnfS'0r lJpes." The formal passage OF the
taP', IA, been accomplished, with complete
Alpine 'uIn .uccess; and, as soon as certain unln-
and un'fON % which shall speak shortly nave
pOr'on' through trains may run nom Ca'ais
been Gomple%u' mid have thought beforehand
TO BrnuiSi t;on Of this great Franco-ltalian en-
that inc 0Oi "a ovcte immense interest and symps-
tnrpnse "VuIN Tbis has not been the case. Though
Wy ,.,-al ceremony was hHeu seFeFa
the in"us hr Sunday, the nth, there
"o0AI yss no allusion of late TO the
80 Cor,s Tunpel in the French papers; and, up to
evening when quilted Paris, it was impOs-
1I - obtan any information in the French CAPT.
a the arrangements made for the opening OF
-. .urre except through the courtesy of the italian
r~honv The reasons Of this apathy ore not 49,
-, INN rtsnce. In the first place the French ere
.nnlsd with their Own internal politics. and, even
80 happier circumstance feel slight interest N
~ urrely industrial enterprise. In the second
,..a the credit of the undertaking accrues justly
= Taly and both Italy and the Italians are in the
,tnost disfayor in France at the present moment
Ao6 lastly, by narrow, though not
,niptsJhgible Interpretation ON tho part Of
france the SOb-Alpine tunnel is deemed
vtey TO prove prejudicial to French into
-, ALI over the Continent very exaggerated es-
,iDssein nv opiniOn-is formed Of the value of the
,,.rland trade between England and India. 1t is
,Ay;Ous that with the completion Of the Mont Gents
tunpA this transit trade will be il great measure
transferred from France to Italy or, at any rate, that
Rdpais. not Marseiles must henceforward be the
mt Of departure for the East,
HOW TIE TUNNEL AFFECTS FRANCE.
Now. naturally enough, the dissatisfaction with
vhieb this alteration in the route of the Overland
tr,le is generally regarded throughout France is de-
ylOped most strongly in the great Lyons and Modi-
srsnean Railroad interest. Anything which Injuries
rsGkely to injure the prosperity of Marseilles Is
lsrimental to the Mediterranean line aud the fact
Tat the Indian mails will, in future, only run over
Ss line between Modane and Paris instead of he
tween Marseiles and Paris, that is, over 691 as
Lrinst SOS Kilometres represents o serious loss to
he company. The consequence of this state of
Mnn is that the French company has long been on
derms with the Alta Italian line, the company
which DOW at length, joins the Paris and Lyons
Hne on the slopes Of Mont Gents. For
bug time past, the French company has
suppressed the express trains between France
nd Italy, as far as the section from CulOz to st.
Nsbel-the old VittOrio Emmannuele line, in the
bays when Savoy belonged to Italy-is concerned; ;
pA every effort has been made to favor the circuit
~ ruute to Italy by Marseilles, Nice, and the
huiebe, at the expense of the direct Mont Gems
wstA Then too, as is always the case in my expert
aa in railway quarrels, there have been all sorts
MsUnal squabbles between the officials of the
hsca.o,ding lines; and the net result is that at
ahm the Paris and Lyons and tho Alta Italia
Huss Sre not IL may use the phrase, or speaking
uruA At the Care dc Lyon in Paris the authOri-
hes up to last Friday, prOfessed absolute lg-
DoraDce a. to the date of the Tunnels opening.
No invitations had been issued to the French
COMPANY BY the Italian line, and the officials
Of the French railroad had been instructed to de-
cline the few invitations which had been offered
them in their private capacity. As usual the public
suffer when railway kings lose their temper; and
even though " NiHa, the Italian ambassador, had
spilled for special train to take himself and the
invited guests 10 the inaugural ceremony the re-
guest refused point blank; and all persons who
wished to be present at Modane, the trystingplaCe,
10 time for the Inauguration at 10 on Sunday morn
ing, were compelled to leave Paris at on Friday
hight that s, to take some IS hours in performing
OUney Of about 40 miles.
THE JOURNEY TO THE TUNNEL.
The Paris station, on Friday night, was not rs
FUvded as have often seen it, in the hight of the
tourist season. There were not many notablities
mid the knot Of 50 or co gentlemen penned up in the
VIting-roOm before the departure of the night mail
kGeneva. There was NJ. Nigra, NJ. Lefranc, the
Raw Miuiatar ~ puhlip Worlys u,Jar ho lio,
Gde LeSseps looking baler and hcarticr than ever
tter his progress in Ireland NJ Buloz of the Rerue
Ia Dear Aondes and several minor fry of Partisan
journalism, the great stars of the Paris press not
tseuing the occasion of sufficient Importance to
f~Adty their appearance Noticed amid the company
@E one EnRlishman, Mr. Edward Dicey, and
~ American, DR.. Hewston of San Francisco The
RCOey by the night mail from PARASITE Geneva is
FoOAbly familiar to your readers. At any rate,
ased say nothing about it here. We reached Culoz
IVA NJ and 80 far we had no cause of complaint.
run CuloE, however, ~ st. Michel, distance of
mules we erAwled along at a rate excluding stop
P~seS winch were long aud frequent, Of ten miles
DO" Inc route is singularly beautiful, but
uen you have passed AK les Bains its aspect is not
u tnnk' very satisfactory to the partisans of
~ mont GEMS route The gradients are steep the
p anu the track OF the line Ll-placed.
.,Om AK up oNOdane runs alongside tie mountain
oN~' ne Arc, which feeds the Lake of Bourget.
a. WeAn rs even more given to sud
"ern0WingS than the bulk of Alpine
~, and hardly a year passes with
-. hood sweeping down the valley,
on,---- t great powders and blocks of stone in its
-" u II they were pebbles. Now the line
~,ne- beng constructed Oh the slopes of the
49, - woes runs along It's bed. Already long
-. Oe'"een AK and Chambery has had to be
49, % higher level and there is scarcely a
A-S - VI the line north of Chambery which has
ca. aS damaged by the floods at one time or an
-. Iafee years ago the bridges and abutments
~. o. Jean de Maurienne and St. Michel
80 :" away by sudden rise in the Arc; and
-, were required before the track could be
$3.50 'uSt before you reach St. Michel YOU