The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1877-12-14

surmount by piercing the hill at depth of
some three hundred yards. Accordingly,
the head of the sluice on the northwest rim
of the cistern was fixed at q point twenty
two yards above the bottom of the Liri,
while the mouth being opened about thir-
teen yards above the river bed, there result
ed total incline of nine yards in a course
of three and half miles. Thirty thousand
workmen are said to have been employed
for eleven years in the undertaking, and the
tunnel was actually constructed, but so i'm
perfectly that an attempt to draw Off the
waters of the reservoir entailed catastro-
phe which went near to ruin the imperial
fvorite. 1t would seem that Narcissus had
nothing to learn from public servants of our
day, for he was accused of embezzling gigan-
tic sums through collusion with the contrac-
tors. 1t appears, however, that at a later
period, under the Emperor Hadrian, the
sluice was so far turned to account as to
considerably lower the level Of the lake.
Neglected in the middle ages, the Roman
works lost even this measure of efficiency,
the waters of the basin recovered their an
Citht oiChi hhu thO PNiiouiShi |
wrought widespread destruction. 1t was
one of these caamities, the terrible food of
1916, which reused the Neapolitan Govern
ment to attempt the repair of the old cul-
vert. But the task was onerous and the out
lay stinted, and the sluice was scarcely open
ed when the freshet of 1851 burst the locks
and blocked up large section of the chan
mel under an avalanche of earth and stones.
When, therefore, company was organized
with view of draining the basin, it soon
appeared that the scheme presented difficult
ties far exceeding their expectations or their
resources. Accordingly, the Prince Torlo-
MIA, who had subscribed for one.half of the |
! stock, now purchased the remainder, and |
obtaining formal concession of all land to |
| be recovered undertook the work at his own |
| expense.
| The French engineers who were success
sively charged with the management of the
operations, did not confine themselves to a
reconstruction of the old tunnel, their object
being not to circumscribe the lake within
the bounds maintained in Hadrian's time,
but to convert the entire Fucine basin into
dry, arabic land. In the main the excava-
tions followed the line of the former condu-
it ; but the walls were Strengthened and
greatly enlarged, the inclination of the floor
regulated and the passage deepened through
out its course, being for instance, on the
lake side at least ten feet lower than the
head of the Roman sluice. On the whole
it may be said that the chief advantage de-
rived from the ancient works lay in the nu-
merous air wells and ventilation galleries
hewn in the rocks hundreds of feet below
the surface of the mountain. Against this
should be set an almost insuperable obstacle,
due to the presence of the old tunnel, name
ly, a vast subterranean reservoir formed in
the upper section by caving in of the
walls, ascribed to the freshet of 1851. In
credible patience and vigilance were requi-
site in boring beneath this incumbent mass
of waters, and the success with which the
contents of this underground cistern were
gradually emptied constitutes a noteble fea
ture of the enterprise.
After many and grave vicssitudes, and
; after two partial evacuations effected by
tapping the lake at points above the true
head of the sluice, the labor of twenty years
: drew to 4 close. On the 22d of January,
| 1870, the main tunnel was opened, and by
the end of June, 1875, the bottom of the ba-
$ sin was uncovered, and tho Fucine lake had
, disappeared Nothing was left of the great
. land locked water about which had risen the
7 strongholds of Marislan power when Rome
was yet insignificant, over whose expense
PerseHs, the defeated King Of Macedon, had
r looked forth from his captivity, which had
witnessed the disgrace of Narcssus and the
t wrath of Cladius and Agrippina, and which
9 for so many ages had defied the restraining
= hand of man. But this, although incomosr-
1 ably the most difficult, was only the first
a step. The rainfall at stated seasons would
t continue TO fill the hollow, and the torrents
1 would seek their ancient receptacle The
mastery of these adverse conditions presup-
: posed series of operations which were be-
gun in 1875 and are now nearly completed,
0 In the heart of the old bed has been con-
/ structed an artificial cistern encompassed
= with stone dyke eight feet high and twelve
5 ity to confne the surplus water representing
$ the excess of receipt over discharge in the
wet season. This reservoir is connected with
the tunnel by broad conduit five miles
long, while other canals radate from it to
e collect and guide the tributary streams.
e BY these means it is found practicable to
e control the elements, and render permanent
% and perfect this conquest over nature The
e economical fruits Of the enterprise can be
e stated in few words. To the establishment
Is of public security should be added the direc
d enrichment of the population. An uppe
is belt of the redeemed territory presenting
h total surface of seven thousand acres ha
a been abandoned to the owners of land ada
= cent to the former shore. The amount o
ID arabic soil acquired by Prince Torlonia, an,
now for the first time incorporated with tn,
ID productive area of Italy, is not less thai
le thirty-ive thousand acres, or, deducting tn
lt quantity included within the reservoir
l. which, however, can be titled in ordinar
in years, he may still have under cultivatio
I'd twenty-eight thousand acres of virgin lane
d. From whatever point of view this explo
I'd of modern engineering is regarded its in
u portance is capital, and it is clear that Ii
as private individual whose name is linke
q with the achievement has secured a soil
tn title to remembrance among his countr!
n men.-Suu.
III
William Dooley an amateur detective