River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-10-10
Inside the st. Gothard Tunnel.

busy brain.
Inside the st. GOtfard Tunnel.
Four of us with the engineer stood on
the cow catcher platform at the end of
the engine, and were soon hurleu off into
the darkness. The screaming of the en-
CINE whistle right at our ears was fright
full, and the darkness was so utter and the
smoke so thick we fancied we could feel
them with our hands. The gases began to
be almost unbeaTable, and the miscellan-
eous noises throughout the tunnel was
something terrific.
| presume our train was not running
fast, and yet it made so much noise, and
the surroundings were so unusual, it
seemed as if l had never in my life
bounded along at such rate | had had
many strange ride, too, before, but new
er had | felt so completely helpless, or
more likely to be snuffed out by the I'M
seen should anything happen to the rails,
or to the novel machine ON which we
were riding. AS we rushed by dripping
walls, and saw here ana there ghoul-like
figures with dim lamps hiding behind
rocks or in deep inches, l involuntarily
recalled what our conductor had said Of
a glimpse of the bowels of hell.
1t was impossible to speak and be
heard. l might as well have addressed
myself to the granite walls of the tunnel
as to have attempted word to either of
my companions. Suddenly our locomo-
tive gave one extra, unearthly yell, and
stopped. We aighted, got our lamps
burning, and with a little motion on ON
own feet soon felt ourselves again. The
engine sped back, screaming and rafting
like the voices of Millions damned.
We now started forward in the tunnel
on foot, and, as we recovered our breath,
had abundant time to look about, though
there seemed something fatally wrong
with the perspective of the pic ure of
which we formed part.
The air was so thick lights could not be
seen twenty yards ahead of US, and we all
walked close together for fear of being
lost or tumbling into some subterranean
hole.
Far ahead Of us we hear the dynamite
explosions, sounding like h 3avy mortars
in the midst of battle. In some places
where we were walking the water was
nearly f. OF deep, and again it came
through creva ses above our heads like
April showers. Our conductor tells us
that on the AiroIo side o. the tunnel the
waters have sometimes come in at the
rate of 1000 gallons per minute. and in
such torrents as even to upset the work
men and carry away the tools. Again,
an occasional spring would burst out into
a stream as thick as aman's arm, while the
track for the drills was frequently laid in
rushing water two feet deep. The water
comes from springs in the mountains
about US, and from eternal snow fields
lying in the sunshine thousands of feet
above our heads.
1t is very impressive to reflect that, as
we stand here in the dim light of the
tunnel, far above us are lofty mountains
and fields of snow, tumbliBg avalanches
and roaring torrents. Almost above us
are the peaks of the st Gothard, reaching
above the clouds; and there, too, is the
rapid, roaring river Reuss, with its leap
ing waterfalls, and the Devils Bridge,
where French and Austrian soldiers met
in deadly conflict. Up there, too, are
the bright sunshine and the cold snow of
the winter, and the diligences and sledges
filled with freezing passengers, while we
heat, and the Italian workmen are almost
naked. There, too, above our heads, in
the gllstening glaciers, are the first rip
pings of the baby Rhine Behind US
are the cold hills of Switzerland. In front
of US, and just outside those granite rocks,
is sunny Italy. How strangely we feel
Our conductor stops US to name the
strata Of rock through which we are
walking. The first 1000 feet at the
Goeschenen end has been through dark
gray granite or granite gneiss; then fol-
lowed 900 feet ofschistous gneiss, lying
in vertical lodges; then 500 feet of cTys-
talline limestone, with here and there a
streak of black serpentine, followed by
3 900 feet of micaceous schists, and som
20, 900 feet of gneiss rich in mica. This
is followed again by 5000 feet of schis-
tous gneiss, with threads and Jumps of
quartz, and nearly 10000 feet OF mica
schist, ending ON the Italian side with
some 1000 feet more of mica schist mix
ed with gneiss and rich veins of quartz.
Such were the calculations made by the
biologists from the mountains above the
tunnel, and the boring so far has proved
these observations to have been pretty
nearly correct. But little gold, silver, or
other precious ore has been met with, and
even stone-coal has failed to put in an
| appearance, much as it would be wei
coined by the Swiss, who have scarcely a
pound of coal in their whole Alpine
| country.
The tunnel has about the same dimen
sions, except in length, as the Mont Gents
Tunnel that is, 1t is, in round numbers,
twenty -four feet in width at sleepers,
twenty six feet wide at springing of arch
and nineteen feet high between sleepers
and centre of arch. 1t starts into the
mountain AT a point 1850 feet above the
sea, and comes out at Airolo, on the
Italian side,3,757 feet above the sea-leYel
4 On the north axis the tunnel ascends
one foot in every 172 feet, or about f42
/ feet in traversing the distance of %, 462
feet. 1t then follows a summit or level
Inc for the next sol feet, when it des
ceuds 10 Airolo, 24,279 feet farther. at q
gradient of one in 1000. The highest
point in the tunnel, hence, is 142 feet
| above the entrance at the north end and
| twenty four feet only above the outlet a.
the south. These gradients are for the
purpose of permitting the water to pass
off through a channel of Missionary cut
| between the two tracks Of rails TO
ward either end.
/ Almost the entire tunnel Is being arch
ed and lined with solid masonary. eigh
| teen to thirty inches in thickness, ane
/ that, too, in places where the granite ant
| serpenrine blocks seem TO the ordinary
observer the perfection Of solidity.