The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1881-12-22
Piercing the Main Range Of the Rocky
Mountains.

The work of tunneling the Rocky
mountains for the Northern Pacific
railroad is in progress. AS the chief
tunnel is almost mile in length it
may require nearly two years to COM
that this will be the last section of the
present the tunnel Is being worked
duly from one end, with progress of
three feet a day. But next spring
work will be pushed from both ends.
OF course this tunnel, considerable as
it is, is Il small undertaking compared
with many others of like kind. We
need not think that in running tun-
ne!s through mountains or under
ground or water even, we are doing
more than nations before the Christ
ian era, for Herodotus tells us of
tunnel in the island of Lamos SXS feet
through mountain 900 feet high that
was 4247 feet long. The city of Alex
andria had underground conduits
from the Nile to supply it with fresh
water in Caesars time. But the RO-
mans, with world of slaves to do
their bidding, surpassed all nations,
ancient or modern, in the magnitude
of their tunnel achievements. One
aqueduct, the Aqua Claudia, passed
374 miles under ground. The Aqua
Appia, built in the 4th century before
Christ, passed through six miles of
arched tunnel. Another, known as the
Aqua Virgo, was of equal length of
underground passage. Lake Albanus
was tapped by tunnel over mile in
length, six feet high and 81 feet wide.
1t was through the hardest lava, and
the work was finished within year.
Al Roman tunnel of still greater
length, employing 10000 men for ten
years, was finished a. ID. 81, connect
ing Lake Fucinus witht the river Liris.
The ancient MeXicans and Peruvians
as well understood and achieved many
mighty works in this direction. But
modern achievements are more inter-
esting to our readers, and there has
been an entire revolution of methods
of carrying on such work within
few years past, by which machinery
| is made to perform all the work at a
great saving of time, cost and accident
to life. When work began in 1857 on
the Mount Gents tunnel, the rate of
progress by hand labor was less than
400 feet per annum, but the intro
ductiOn and improvements of machin-
cry enabled the contractors during
ls'4-5 to accomplish more than four
time the work. III this connection it
may he remarked that there is diff
ference of over 400 feet in elevation
between the northern and southern
entrance to the Cents tunnel, the
southern entrance being the highest.
The Gents tunnel is about y miles
long and cost Sl5,O000,0O0. The st.
Gothard tunnel, just completed, be-
tween Lucerne and lake Maggiore, is
9f miles in length, and the contract
price was less than $4,000, 900. Ever
since work began in 1872 on the latter
tunnel, improvements of machinery
have enabled the contractors to double
the rate of speed. The greatest tun-
mel in this country is the HOosac in
northwestern Massachusetts. Though
but little over four miles in length it
cost nearly Sl5,0OO,000 or about the
same as the Cents tunnel, which is
two miles longer, and fifty per cent.
more than the st. Gotlard tunnel,
| which is almost twice as long. More
and more tunnels are going to be con-
structed in the future. 1t may cost
more to begin, but they are much the
cheapest in the end.