Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1878-09-28

be wsebd's runaels-
Foay yssn ego Nev Yosk shoeeht
the little s9air % tks Hsriea r.ilsuod,
% zfresA street, - sopAatieally . bag
skiax- il hss shruakea % sl0ose BOD
ing since the thea hasrea rccks we're
graded in the rssissie-s march ofshe city
oae a the frss tunseis ef considerable
sIxe IN the Cniied States rs that % the
AlIrxhesy Parsaxe rsilrosd 80 fses long.
Thea came the Black REX Tssnel, %
the Reading rood, l.Ss2 fest long. 6sish-
ed 1896 On thu Bslsimors and Ohio
rsilrusd there ere no ic.s than fs.sty-fous
tsnseis. eth IN aggregate leagth of 81
Isl feet. or seven and oae-sixth niiss.
OF subsqoeoas tanneis, the first bexun
sss that saaes the Tkaaea. in Lssdsn
This vak vs beRss. nc. ut least. seri-
ously asdertakea, in 1907. L, vas abaa-
doeed not loaG sfservard, and forgostea
until le9s. vhes the distinguished Gu
gine<r, lsaabert Bruse,, set 10 cork and
naisaed u, 20 that IL vss opened 10 fco,
psssesgefs in 1skS, Though but 1, 600
feet losg. il vas cousidercd 90 great =
triumph Of scientific skill that Brunel
vas hooesed with knighthood.
Chicago boasts of remarkable tunnel
running out into Lake Michigan for two
miles. With characteristic Western push
this job was dose in three yesrs-Is6i
to 1851. II 10 solely for the purpose OF
bringing pure water to the city.
Mr.. Lstrobe, the first authority in such
matters. writing two ycars ago. made 4
catalogue Of 957 railway tunDels, and Of
these total length Of 2Sl miles were the
work Of the previous half century. Great
Britain hes 40 tunnels, total length, ST.
4 miles; France has ESQ, Of IS miles I;
Belgium 90, of four miles; Germany and
Austria go. of SIN miles; Italy 70, Of
ION miles; Switzerland s. Of four miles !;
North America l15. Of So miles, and
South America -, Of nine miles.
In New England there are few railway
tunnels. But il this may be called de.
ficiency, tho Hoosac Tunnel, now about
completed, makes ample amend. There
are several tunnels on the Hudson River
Railroad, but none of importance. The
New York Central runs over almost q
dead level, and has no signs of tunnel.
The tortuous Erie road winds like an
enormous serpent around the slopes of
the mountains near the Delaware river,
and succeeds in doing without tunnels,
except the one through Bergen Hill, at
Jersey City. Between Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh there are six tunnels, 10 all
about two and one-tenth miles; the long
est at Allegheny Summit, $500 feet.
The Reading road has four, the lonses.
2,100 feet. The Delaware and Lacka.
wanna has three, the longest being
through Bergen Hill, 1900 feet. On the
Amboy extention (of the Lehieh Velley
road) there 10 tunnel 1890 feet long.
There 10 tunnel through Locust Noun.
tain of $500 feet. On the Allegheny VAL
ley road there are five tunnels, the long.
est 1850 feet. The Baltimore and Ohio
road has, ~ We mentioned above, ~ tun.
nell, the longest 1900 feet. On the Chesa-
peake and Ohio road are II tunnels, ono
Of which 10 Q, 400 feet in length. Tho Un.
ion Pacific road has only four tunnels, in
all 1898 feet. The Central Pacific has Is,
an aggregate of 6,218 feet, the largest
crossing the Sierra Nevade, with length
Of 1859 feet.
It IL contemplated to make, ct tho AL.
legheny summit Of the Chesapeake and
Ohio canal, canal tunnel about 10000
feet In length. A much larger work is pro.
jected on the line of the James river and
Kanawha Canal. This immense tunnel
will be nearly eight miles, or more than
10000 feet in length, and is estimated to
cost SIC, 100000. It is to carry an aver
age depth Of eleven feet of water.