The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-02-02
A Marvel Of Engineering.


nitude to the projected draining of the
Zuyder Zee has been accomplished in
Italy, only some auxiliary operations
of minor consequence still awaiting
completion. We refer to the draining
of the Fucine Lake, executed by the
Prince Torlonia, an undertaking which
has eXacted the labor of twenty-five
years and an outlay of $4,000, 900. By
this achievement 10000 acres of rich
land have been opened to tillage, and
scheme which had vainly taxed the re-
sources of the ancient Roman Empire is
translated into fact The Fucine Lake
and the mountain-locked basin of which
until latelyit engrossed the larger part
is better known to the student than to
the traveller. The region is singularly
difficult of access, lying as it does in the
heart of the Italian peninsula and i'm
bedded in the Apennine chain. No
modern railway has replaced the Va
lerian road which traversed the district
eighteen centuries ago. When this
great highway was built across the
mountains by Claudius Caesar the edge
of the lake was dotted with thriving
towns and its fruitful slopes formed one
of the eranaries of Rome. 1t was in the
reign of the same Emperor that the de-
sign of sluicing off the waters of the
Fucine cistern was adopted, and the no.
torius freedman, Narcissus, was charged
with the conduct of the enterprise.
The Fucine Lake was a vast reservoir,
replenished by the rainfall and a num-
Der of streams, but without any natural
outlet Evacuation, therefore, by dredg-
ing and deepening an existing channel
was plainly out of the question. Some
three miles, however, to the northwest
runs the River Liri, at an altitude much
lower than that of the basin. 1t is true
that the high mountain of Salviano rears
its bulk between the river and the lake;
this obstacle the engineers of Claudius
proposed to surmount by piercing the
cordingIy, the head OF tHea smfee on erft
northwest rim of the cistern was fixed
at point twenty-five yards above the
bottom of the Liri, while, themouth be.
ing opened about thirteen yards above
| the river bed, there resulted total in
cline of nine yards in q course of three
and a half miles. Thirty thousand work
|
for eleven years in the undertaking,
and the tunnel was actually constructed,
but so imperfectly that an attempt to
draw off the waters of the reservoir en-
tailed a catastrophe which went near to
ruin the imperial favorite.
Neglected in the middle ages, the
Roman works lost even this measure of
efficiency, the waters of the basin re-
| covered their ancient area and the
periodical foundations wrought wide
spread destruction. twas one of these
calamities, the terrible flood of 1916.
which reused the Neapolitan Govern
ment to attempt the repair of the old
culvert. But the task was onerous and
the outlay stinted, and the sluice was
scarcely opened when the freshet of
1851 burst the locks and blocked up a
large section of the channel under an
avalanche of earth and stones. When,
therefore, a company was organized
with view of draining the basin, it
soon appeared that the scheme pre-
sented difficulties far exceeding their
expectations or their resources. Ac-
cordingly, the Prince Torlonia, who
had subscribed for One-half of the stock,
now purchased the remainder, and. OBJ
tanning formal cession of all land
to be recovered, undertook the work at
his own expense.
The economical fruits of the enter
prise can be stated in few words. To
the establishment of public security
should be added the direct enrichment
of the population. An upper belt of
the redeemed territory presenting to-
tai surface of 1000 acres has been aban-
doned to the owners of land adjacent
to the former shore. The amount of
arabic soil acquired by Prince Torlonia,
and now for the first time incorporated
with the productive area of Italy, is not
less than $4,000 acres, or, deducting the
quantity included within the reservoir,
which, however, can be titled in ordina-
ry years, he may still have under cul-
tivation $4,000 acres of virgin land
From whatever point of view this eX-
plot of modern engineering is re-
garded, its importance is capital and
it is clear that the private individual
whose name is linked with the achieve
ment has secured n solid title to re-
membrance among his countrymen.-
NJ Y Sun.
The young man who committed
SllipiUp i'm a Chipapo hotel n wan. ~.