The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-03-03
Under The Ans.


way has long 6eeaa felt end especial,
for goods traffic during TIE winter sea
son. Passengers from Northern ant
Central Germany havo also been com
PEELED. in attempting to reach Milan il
winter, to make q considerable detour i
they wished to 60 by rail. OF the greater
passes over the Alps, the Mont Cents
&implon, the St. Gothard, the Splugen
WOrmserjoch and the Bremen, only the
FIRST and last have hitherto been furnished
with f.ilnoads. Passengers from France
have preferred the route over Mont Cents
and those from Bavaria and Austria tina,
ever the Bremen, both very good so fal
o those countries are concerned, but moi
% convenient for the Rhineland and
Switzerland itself as the st. Gothard,
which falls almost in a straight line
drawn from Frankfort-on-the Main,
through Zurich to Milan. The Bremen
hne. BY Inspruck to Verona, has not put
Switzerland into any closer cOmmunica-
ton with the Mediterranean; nor can the
route by Mont Gents be said to have as
sisted the Central European Republic in
any way. Hence the desire for genuine
Swiss railway. like the St. Gothard, which
IS expected to be in working order next
July Even now that it is nearly finished,
there is serious talk of rival lines over
the Simplon, Napoleon's great military
road. by piercing the mountain pass be-
tween Brieg and Domo d'Ossola; and
another, suggested in France, by making
a more direct route from Geneva to
Turin by burrowing under the monarch
of nlountains," Mont Blanc ITSELF The
Simplon scheme favored by Western
Switzerland has apparently only one
drawback, the necessity for an Alpine
tunnel eleven miles long. 1t was there
fore thought by the governments of Ger
many. Switzerland and Italy, that the
ST. Gothard scheme was most deserving
Of encouragement, and they contributed
large sums toward its completion. The
line. however, is not government one,
but the work OF an ordinary company
snhsidised to q large proportion of the
TT. 500. 900. which it is estimated the line
Will cost. The first chief engineer was
NJ Gervig, who was succeeded by Nj.
He'.wag, now of Vienna. whose post the
present chief engineer, Mr.. Bridel, occu-
PIES. The greatest height above the sea
OF the rails in the great tunnel from
Goschenen to Airolo is 1878 feet, being
about 6l0 lower than the highest point
in the Mont Gents tunnel. Its length is
mime miles 468 yards, about one and
miles longer than the Mont
Gents tunnel! Its width varies from
feet three inches to twenty
four feet eleven inches, and its height to
the crown of the arch is nineteen feet
eight inches. above which rises the
mountain peak known as the Kastle-
horn
Tie approach to the tunnel from
the Italian side is at first gradual,
lying along the eastern, side, of
she Valley of the Ecino. Subsequent
steep hssents are overcome by the agency
of spirais. Below the village Giornico
is a fine lattice-girder bridge over the
T.cino. with two spans OF $50 feet each.
Aoout a mile to the north is the spiral
tnH:ei of Travi, passing through hard
granite. and IS 81 yards long near which
n second spiral. that of Piano Tondo,
n.,ari..e as lolfg. These spiral tunnels
r,,lc'.. as Mr.. c. G.. EthelstOn points out
iu las valuable "Notes of a Visit to the |
~. Eothard Railway" are to an Alpine
a;!yay as locks to a canal--present an
az. :.rently unexampled and most re-
n'., kable feature in engineering science.
Wien on account of sudden change in
the levels of the valley considerable
Hi is required, the line is run into the
side of the mountain, and the tunnel be-
ing constructed with a sharp curve and
a steep gradient, the line, at a much
higher level, crosses its former course.
like those cOrkscrew staircases which |
Mr.. Burnand happily thought were in
vented by I" inebriated architects Be-
yond Faido is another spiral tunnel, and
again at FreggiO. the next stations to
which are Ambri and Airolo. At the lat |
ter the line enters the grand tunnel. the
contractor for which, M. Favre, was one
Of the victims to this important work. |
having did of apoplexy in the tunnel it.
self in July. 1879. Commenced in the
middle of November, 1872, the nine miles
aud little more than quarter have
taken nine years to complete. the rock,
through which it was necessary to bore,
being composed mainly of hard granite
gneiss. Between tho Goscbenen end of
t1lc AIT. OOtIidTu LuIlIIcl anu AltuOEl there
are three spiral tunnels in various parts
OF the valley of the Reuss, much resemb-
ling those in the Valley of the Tcino.
At Leggestien the aspect of the railway
is remarkable. For nearly mile are seen
three almost parallel railways at different |
elevations and apparently unconnected.
but in reality joined by the spiral tunnels |
Of Wattingen and Leggestein. The line
fakes these parallel runs in order to en-
able ii to rise to sufficient height to en- |
ter the great tunnel two and half miles |
farther south. Lower down the valley |
is the Pfaffensprung tunnel, bored |
through the hardest granite, and after
passing Amsteg the works are of less |
grandiOse character down to Fluelen, but |
between that place and Brunnen are
numerous tunnels. Toward immense |
the work is lighter again. and the ex-
trcmity of the St Gothard Railway, prop |
eriy so-called, is reached. Switzerland
may well be congratulated on the sue
cess of great national work. 1t is true
that the Governments of Germany and
Italy contributed to the cost, but this they
could well afford to do in order to be |
brought into close connection. AttimesI
some opposition has been made to the
work; 1t was urged that through train