The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-07-17
The Tnaiisi BefwSen Englara aasd
i France = g ..

= Z; rta a;., Il, 4 .ces,f fssry
since s iii te pfoieat was breaeh driying o
hinI,eI throilai, the Chalk
lvsnE ], tue British Channel between, YsoLie.
p,ojnt on the, English coast and the ppoSitel
Mint on the eoast 0f Fran ,ce. Although the
distance between Dover md Calais IS onl;
twenty-five, miles, and, III; traRArsed by:
steamers An An an hour ana = halt IN fair
weather. ret the roug ghnesspfI the channel is
at tines sush as to be Tsry distTssstns 10
ail but expesrriienc s.1rayelle lers, and deters
many persons from making. the, trip
at All: Since the introduction OF railways
forty years ago the tunnel project which
Mr. Matthew iaa French eiIgineers laid ahe-
tors. .Bosaparte. in 1902 has acquired .yearby
year additional importance. About ten
years ago the subject was revived with
much earnestness, and after the expert
mental testsiwerc found to be satisfactory
the Governments OF England and France
granted theFight ei4Way to- aehannel com
pany which was, Incorporated in 1872. Thls
company has since decided to place ithe
route of the tunnel S on line drawn. from
the south forelgnd on, th4 English side to q
point betweeen Sangatte and Calais, IN
France iilas@4 1.'' .3lT ~, ..Si'i2 s,.5.
The tunnel, if it should be constructed.
will commence and end at some distance
inland, to allow for a. agradual descent on
one side and. ascent on the other. The in
land parts or the tnnnel viii be nine miles
In length, counting the distance UNDER
ground Mt both ends. The length OF the
tunnel under the channel will be twenty
two miles, making the total length thirty
one miles. The cost OF simply driving the
tunnel from end to end through the under
ic foH Of foY
millions OF dollars, and the time it would
REQUIRE, to construct the driftway /, two
years. ~ The engineers, calculate that it
would take four years more TO finish the
work, including,th arching Of the tunnel,
building the Offices, and making the ne
cessary connections with the railways on
both sides. The total cost is put at twenty
millions oi dollars. a short time ago q
meeting Of the Tunnel Company was held
in Paris. at which were read the reports OF
the engineers engaged during the past"year
in making the, preliminary submarine sur
yeys. These surveys were, pronounced
Quite satisfactory, q continuous bed OF chalk
having been traced underlying the channel
from shore to shore AS further expert
mental test Of the practicability Of the
scheme the sum Of one hundred and sixty
thousand pounds sterling has beenprovided
fprincipally by the railway companies inter-
ested In the prosecution OF the work. to
sink pits on both sides into the chalk beds
and drive section Of the tunnel half
mile under the waters Of the channel. ~
Thus far everything works favorable to
the ultimate completion Of this great en-
gineering project. Whether the necessary
amount Of capital can be obtained is the
chief problem now to be solved. An attempt
has been made to show that sufficient reve-
nue. could be derived from passengers to pay
a fair interest on the capital invested, in ad-
dition to the current expenses OF lighting,
yentilating, and operating this long line OF
road under the bed of the sea. The number
OF persons crossing the channel annually
between Dover and Calais is believed to be
about four hundred thousand. The theory
is that this number would be doubled II the
tunnel were built, and the sickness incl
dental to the sea.voyage thus avoided. But
It is not shown that tunnel thirty-one miles
In length would itself be tree from equally
serious objections: The project, neyerthe-
less, is grand one, and il capitalists can be
induced to believe that the tunnel can be
made. to pay there is abundance OF Inoney
wherewith to build it now seeking invest
ment.-Battinsore Sun. - - ~ ~, -