The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-11-24
THE ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL.
The Greatest Tunnel la Eur0Pe-The Di-
rect Route from England



The foreign correspondent of the Boston
Herald, writing from Leipsic says:
"While at GOeschenen | had an Oppor-
tunity of seeing the st. Gothard tunnel,
which is now being bored through the
mountains from Goescnenen toward
Italy, and from AriOlo toward Germany.
The approach to the tunnel on the
Goeschencn side is In the midst of the
widest and most picturesque scenery. a
| number of workshops, sheds, cantines,
and various small buildings cluster about
the mouth and give to an otherwise wild
spot the busy hum and noise of enter
prise, for the clinking of machinery,
whistling of the engine, and hammering
from the blacksmithing is incessant, as
! the work is continued by day and night by
gangs Of two thousand men, who, under
NJ. FayTe's direction, prosecute the work.
The men have been at work, In varying
numbers, however, Just four years the
present month, and it will take all their
energies, united to the work of those on
the Italian side, to finish the undertaking
by 1880. This, of course, if the money
does not give out, and there is good
deal of trouble in securing all that Is
needed. At present the entire route Is
surveyed from LuZerne and Zurich to
Milan, and parts of it cut. In the tunnel
three and three-fourths kilOmeters have
been completed on the German side, and
about four and half on the Italian.
The tunnel will be ten miles long. The
workmen employed are almost all Ital-
ians, and work eigth hours out of twenty
four. Dynamite IS used for blasting, and
all the drills are ordinary chilled steel
the diamond drill being unemployed.
The usual machine for driving the drills
is employed, and works by means of COM
pessed air, which is brought from the
reservoirs by means of large pipe. The
reservoirs are supplied by number OF
condensing engines, turned by water, for
which purpose a mountain stream Is,
some way above the mouth of the tun-
mel, diverted into sluicewaY. A strength
of ten to twelve atmOspheres Is always
maintained. Compressed air is also used
to work the engine, which carries its
reservoir behind, like tender on an or
dinary engine, only it is a boiler sixty
feet long, and OF the cylinder boiler
make. 1t runs easily and smoothly, and
being without any heat is much pleas
anter to work. It is used mainly for
hauling the stone from the interior to a
side-track, after it Is brought away from
the immediate vicinity TO the blast by
means of horses. Although this tunnel
and route will take long time to COM
plete, it will unquestionably be of the
greatest service when time is considered,
as the route is from England to Cologne,
along the Rhine to Frankfort, then Basel,
Luzerne ahd st. Gothard, and you are
in Italy. The engineers il charge prove
sufficiently that the high grade to which
II If, .,,TyN = l,o
tunnel will in no way impede the hauling
of freight, and that with a good speed.
1t will, unauestionably, be part Of the
direct route to India from England, and
decidedly the shortest to Italy. A com
petitive route through the Rhone valley
and by Simpson pass to Italy is projected
in France tG keep this travel through
France, but is still in embryo. 1t would
have the advantage of having the rail
road finished as far as Seisse aud built as
far as the foot of the pass.