Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-01-25
The Il. Gothard Iunne:.


phere rapidly alternating between the
heat of an oven and the clammy chill of
a wet morning in late October, beside
being thickly impregnated with the
smell of exploded dynamite and the
greasy, sickening smoke from innumer-
able oil lamps of the most primitive
construction; in addition no slight per-
centage of danger from being crushed
by passing trains or single trucks loaded
with building material or debris knocked
in the head by the pick Of some yigor-
Gus workman, unseen and unseeing in
the gloom or Drained by stone from the
arched Ioof, loosened by an explosion of
dynamite in the floor below-such are
the necessary experiences to be gone
through by any individual desirous of
obtaining thorough knowledge of the
present condition of this most gigantic
enterprise.
On arriving In the Alpine village 10
Goschenen the traveller who has visited
the western frontier districts of AD:erica
will be struck with resemblance of this
place to the settlements in the western
wilds which are Just beginning to as
sumo the garb of civilization. Regularly
built stone houses and hotels are sur
rounded by wooden shanties of simple,
unplaned board construction, with the
interiors fitted with rough tables, bench
es and sleeping hunks for the accommo-
dation of the workmen III the Swiss end
of the tunnel. The engineers office of
the tunnel division is small, barren
looking room, in which 1 found Mons
ieur Zollinger, in charge of this portion
of the line, who not only readily acced-
ed to my request to visit the tunnel, but
volunteer, d to take me with him on his
tour of inspection, which he repeats
feur times per week. At p. N. l was
shown into a grimy room containing a
bench, rough washstand and grating,
behind which a stock of dingy clothing
was hanging. This was the dressing
room," where necessary preparations
ale made before entering the yawning
mouth of the tunnel. had put on my
Goa, considered myself capitally equip
ped for any subteranean exploration.
To my surprise, NJ. Zollinger directed
me to doff my waterproof as well as my
coat, felt hat and tie. NJ Zollinger
himself donned rough garb. and then
needed his spectacles to even family
distinguish him from any ordinary
''navvy." With greasy cap and we'll
oiled and tarred blue linen blouse. l
mounted the little locomotive which
was to transport our train to the point
IL. o,r fncAr,.ntrr-a.
would relieve it. As We scrambled into
the corners of the dirty machine, l
could not help contrasting NJ. Zollingers
equipment aud means of making his
rounds of inspection with those which
an American engineer wOuld have spor-
! ted in like circumstances. The latter
would have invented a natty dress,
suitable for the work, yet readily dis
tinguishable from the workman's garb;
then he would have had light steel
handcar, with cushioned seats for three
persons, and cranks for two men to work
the machine behind him. This car
could be easily lifted off and ON the
, track when trains were encountered, and
the engineer would have made his
rounds i'll one quarter the time and with
one-tenth the physical wear and tear
of the st. Gothard member of the fra
ternity.
The tunnel is perfectly straight from
eud to end, and the engineers met each
lines were within hands breath of an
exact coincidence. As the headings
approached each other the explosions of
dynamitewered distinctly audible through
nearly 400 metres Q.325 feet) OF inter
vening rock. The total length is 15 XII
lometres . l 9 miles,. The grade as
cends uniformly from Goschenen to the
summit of the tunnel, which is l., ,154
metres above the sea level, and 45 me-
tres 14Sl feet above Goschenen. while
it is only nine metres above the mouth
at Airolo. The ascent from Goschenen
to the summit is 5:S2 per cent, while
the descent to Airolo is 125 per cent.
The summit of the tunnel is 800 metres
! (990 feet below the surface at Ander-
matt, and 1000 metres 5000 feet) be-
meath the peak of Kastelhorn of the st.
Gothard group. This tunnel summit is
,l54 metres, the Mont Gems tunnel
summit is 1.33S metres, and the Pacific
railway summit is 2,513 metres above
the sea level. There are no air shafts
in the st. Gothard tunnel, the two en-
frances being tn only openings. When
the mechanical operations cease inside,
and the many existing distinctions to
free passage of air, such as scaffold-
ings, heaps of debris and unfinished
parts near the centres are done away
with, there will be nothing unpleasant
in the passage through tins tremendous
tunnel, which is 200 metres Il ;mile)
longer than through Mont Gems.
The engineers assert that the tunnel
will be ready for traffic by the 1st of
January although the whole line
from Lucerna to Bissca will not be OPP
ened until next July. Although the
great enterprise is successfully approach
ing completion. and that is the lest
leyidence of good management there is
room for some improvement in what
may be called the niceties of construc-
ton. The means of access to the tun-
, mel could be advantagcously improved.
There is too much delay in getting the
shifts of men to their work, much yalu
able time being lost at the points where
they have to change trans. Another
! thug struck me as being desirable
, There was certain absence of clearing
l ND in the completed portions of the
! tunnel, and this. of course, necessitate:
, needless expense in sending gangs o.
men to places where there should b,
nothing to do. There is nothing tc
4 prevent the ballasting being finished
: wherever the tunnel Is completed, ant
. the temporary track. transferred to thii
S improved surface, would be much safer
e and fewer accidents, with consequent
t loss of life and money, would occrr
e There is also an absence of sc entifi
t methods of lighting the great passage
c Money would have been saved by NOR
, general system of illumination. In fac
/. the general impression made upon
; foreign professional mind is that O
: ''main strength and awkwardness" to
: greater extent than one would expec
to find in this highly inventive and sue
!, gestive age. There is no doubt in m
= mind that large majority of the case
: of injury to the employees has been du