Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-12-29

lowed the line of the former conduit
but the walls were Strengthened and
greatly enlarged, the inclination of the
flOor regulated, and the passage Deep
ened throughout its course; being, for
instance, on the lake side at least ten
feet lower than the head of the Roman
sluiee. On the whole it may be said
that the chief advantage derived from
the ancient works lay in the numerous
air-wells and ventilation galleries hewn
in the rock hundreds of feet below the
surface Of the mountain. Against this
should be set an almost insuperable OBJ
stacle, due to the presence of the old
tunnel, namely, a vast subterranean
reservoir formed in the upper section
by a caving in of the walls, ascribed to
the freshet of 1851. Incredible patience
and vigilance were requisite in boring
beneath this incumbent mass of waters,
and the success with which the contents
of this underground cistern were grad
ually emptied constitutes a notable
feature of the enterprise.
After many and grave vicissitudes, and
after two partial excavations effected
by tapping the lake at points above the
true head of the sluice, the labor of 20
years drew to close. On the 22d of
January 1870, the main tunnel was
opened, and by the end of June, 1875,
the bottom of the basin was uncovered,
and the Fucine Lake had disappeared
Nothing was left of the great handbook
ed water about which had risen the
of Marsian power when
Rome was vet insignificant, over whose
expanse Perseus, the defeated King of
Macedon, had looked forth from his
which had witnessed the dis
grace of Narcissus and the wrath of
Claudius and Agrippina, and which for
so many ages had defied the restraining
hand of man. But this, although in
comparably the most difficult, was only
the first step. The rainfall ut stated
seasons would continue to fill the hol-
low, and the torrents would seek their
ancient receptacle. The mastery of
these adverse conditions presupposed q |
series of operations which We're begun |
in 1875 and are now nearly completed |
In the heart of the old bed has been |
an artificial cistern encom-
passed with a stone dyke eight feet |
high and IL in circuit, and which has
ample capacity to confine the surplus
water representing the excess of receipt |
over discharge in the wet season. This
reservoir is connected with the tunnel |
by a broad conduit five miles long,
while other canals radiate from it to |
collect and guide the tributary streams. |
By these means it is found practicable |
TO control the elements, and render per-
manent and perfect this conquest over
nature. The economical fruits of the |
enterprise can be stated in few words |
TO the establishment of public security |
should be added the direct enrichment |
IF the population. An upper belt of |
he redeemed territory presenting a to-
al surface of 1000 acres has been aban-
Toned to the owners of land adjacent to
he former shore. The amount OF ara
Die soil acquired by Prince Torlonia,
md now for the first time incorporated
With the productive area of Italy, is not
ess than 35, 900 acres, or, deducting the
quantity included within the reservoir,
which, however, can be titled in ordi-
larry years, he may still have under Gull
ivatiOn $4,000 acres of virgin land
rom whatever point of view this ex-
'loitO of modern engineering is regarded,
Is importance is capital, and it is clear
hat the private individual whose name
) linked with the achievement has secur-
d a solid title to remembrance among
lis countrymen.-NeO York Sun.