The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-11-06
lfrom the London Times.l
rhe science ef Engineering ana the


aid Louis XIV. when his grandson set out
10 take possession Of the disastrous legacy
az the Spanish Crown. These mountains
continued to exist, In spite Of this historical
mot. as some OF LouiS's successors iound
10 their cost. Politicians must recognize
them. travellers. must make dttourS 70 go
ycupd their flanks, or must painfully climb
their steep passes or ports. They are still
The barriers which they were in ancient
times, and In spite OF modern progress
fhe people OF Folk, for example, have az
little connection or dealings with those
Of Urgcl as II they lay not few but
thousands OF miles apart. II a project we
mentioned In our foreign news oil yesterday
be successful, this may be altered; there
may indeed bee no more Pyrenecs IN trGer
sense than that In which the saving was
uttered by the Grand Monarch. The span
ish Government wish TO shorten the Jour-
ncy by railway to Paris. They propose 10
introduce Into the Cortez n biilautborizing
the making Of railway from liucscl, where
the line froyl SaragosSa stops, TO Caniranc,
A hamlet on the frontier. A tunnel would
be necessary, and. according 10 one report,
It would pierce the Pyrcnees near Somport.
the well-knOwn route which has been used
slime out Of mind by merchants, smugglers,
and soldiers DESTROYS Of entering Aragon
or Navarro. The Government wish to
enter into negotiations with France on
the subject, in the hope that the tunnel
may be constructed at the joint eX-
pelise OF the two countries. There IRE
excellent reasons for undertaking the
work. Paris and Madrid would be brought
sixty miles nearer TO each other, and the
detour which must at present be taken
would be avoided. The promoters OF the
scheme hope. too, that communication by
the new route will be less precarious than
Il il i'm winter. The outside world VIII
heartily wish success 10 the enterprise.
Spain has never been visited by strangers
I'm proportion to its interest and attractions.
Stories of discomforts. traditions which
have survived long after the realities on
which they were founded have disappear
ed, have repealed English travellers, who
prefer hackneyed routes to the imperfectly-
appreciated charms Of the Peninsula. Few
know intimately the beauties Of the Pyre-
necs. An Englishman goes TO one or two
watering-places; he stays ut Faux BONES
or Luchon; he makes n few mountain eX-
cursions from the French side, and he
leaves the country with the impression that
much the wilder, and left very much as
Nature made il, is rarely explored. 1t will
be an advantage OF the new route that IL
will help TO open region seldom pene-
frated. But the real interest and value OF
the enterprise lie in the fact that il seems TO
symbolize the end OF that isolation
in which, anfd all changes without and
even within her, Spain has stood.
oh hn ii
between Paris and Madrid is leSsened is a
distinct gain to civilization Where the
money for the work is to be raised and
how Spanish credit is TO meet the strain
put upon it need not at present be too GU
Tiously inquired. We welcome the project
in the interests Of those who viii have n
new stimulus 10 visit land so rich in
beauty and romance; but it Is still more
worthy Of encouragement on account OF
the advantages it offers to the people OF
that country, which it will tend to push
more into the full current Of modern life.
Whatever be the fate of this bill, the
scheme, i'm some form or other, must one
day succeed. This is, indeed, an age Of
great tunnels. II this generation has any
distinct mission, It seems to be to accom-
plish great engineering feats-t0 fill valleys
and lay low mountains. A peak too lofty
or steep to be suTmOunted by steam, a river
or channel too wide to be bridged, is ae-
cepted as a challenge 10 science and capi-
tai to do their utmost. These natural OBJ
stacles are regarded very much rs war
like State looks upon an unsubdued neigh
Dor; conclusions with them must,
sooner or later, be tried; they are
still unvanquished, and shat is a sufficient
cdSus beih. Flushed with a long series
OF triumpbs, modern engineers, from mere
love of their art, will delight 10 grapple
with such a problem as the piercing Of a
great range OF the mass OF the Pyrenees.
They Will scarcely wait until commercial
necessities have pronounced in favor Of the
scheme. Such question is pretty sure to
be taken up and studied by some of that
band Of enthusiasts who, luckily for hui
manity, never fail-enthusiasts who in
their souls believe that mountains were
thrown in mans way TO be tunneled, and
rivers were made to flow in order that they
might be bridged or forced to feed
canals. Modern engineering is audscious,
and delights In cOupS. IL likes to
rear huge structures which at once
charm and startle by their lightness
aQd alrlpesS. II putt no more iron
into girder than is sufficient, on careful
to bear the calculated strain,
j. does not think that it is good workman.
ship 10 use heavy masonry or brickwork
where light materials will suffice. En-
gineers who have carried tunnel under
Mont Gents through a wall OF rock miles
thick are not easily daunted. TO round
an obstacle, or to patiently follow the
wIudings Of valleys, or to employ zigzag,
gentle gradients, or TO interrupt railway
at some point and get oyer the Intervening
river or hill by some other mode 81 Loco
motion than steam, is not to the taste u
the modern engineer. The shortest way
Is generally the best in his eyes. A detOur
Is suspicious; it looks as II be who sane
toned II were timid or did not know all
the resources of his art. AS the crow flies,
or as the Roman engineer carried his mill
tary road, so proceeds the modern engineer.
when cautious directors do not cut his
wings. This policy generally meets with,
as IL merits, success. In the end the quick
est way is, in q commercial point OF view,
most often the best. To risk a little capital
and save an hours journey, to study the
comfort OF travellers, TO insure expedition,
even though il be necessary to burrOw UNI
der mountains, proves, as rule, the most
advantageous policy TO projectors; and any
expedient by which the tedious railway
Journey from Paris 10 Madrid can be re-
duced by two hours and hall ought to be
appreciated by the public.
Engineering science could not long ig-
more the PyrenSes. Bestriding the road
TO Paris, unsurmountable except by few
passes, which, for the most part, are as
rough and steep as they were hundreds of
years ago, they were distinct challenge to
engineering science to attempt to subdue
them. The authorities ut Madrid have no
doubt considered the military aspects Of
their enterprise. They cannot be insensi-
bic to the strategic importance Of the Pyre-
noes, which serve, always have served, as
y huge wall or bastion 10 protect them
anninsf ihair rnounrlnI nnio.hhnr "a, IL