Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-05-04
Carnage in the Channel Tunnel
Philadelphfa Record. Sd.

Channel tunnel literature is becoming
an interesting feature of English maga-
zines. England has already been in
vaded by the French through the tunnel,
according to the ingenious conceit of q
facetious writer-imitative of the battle
of Dorking--the bloody battle of Guild
ford fought and lost, London captured,
and peace only secured after disastrous
sacrifice. Particulars of an affair with a
more pleasant termination (from an Eng
lish standpOint) are narrated in late
number of Macmillan. A French inva-
sion is prevented in this case by the
strategy and pluck of locomotive engi-
ueer. According to this veracious chroni-
cler, the tunnel, with a double set of
rails, is opened in the year 1885, but
proves a veritable. white elephant to the
unfortunate stockholders, who decide to
employ it for commercial traffic only,
with the exception of couple of trains
daily. In the meantime, trouble has
arisen between the subterranean-j joined
countries A large body of French
| troops is secretly concentrated at Ardes
twenty miles from the French outlet of
the tunnel, and arms and equipments are
in readiness. On a certain Sunday in
1887 fifty Frenchmen come quietly down
to the tunnel station and book their
places. The Car doors are locked, in ac-
cordance with the usual custom, and the
train is under way. On Sunday the off,
cials are few IN number. Suddenly q
shrill whistle IS heard, and in an instant
every Englishman on the premises ex-
cept, luckily, the two men on the engine,
is seized, gagged and bound, the English
end of the Channel tunnel thus falling
into the hands of the enemy, just as the
good folk at Dover, in bllssful ignorance
OF all danger. are preparing for their
nights rest. Meanwhile four heavy
trains, each freighted with thousand
soldiers, are on their way from the
French terminus, and twenty thousand
more French troops wait ng to follow.
The plan is that the small surprise party
shall seize the Dover station long enough
to admit the safe arrival of troops, who
would in their turn at once attack and
occupy the Notifications commanding
the entrance to the tunnel, and thus ena-
BILE the main body of the invading army
to pass through unharmed. To the
bravery Of George Walsh, the engineer,
England owes her escape from this terri
bic calamity. He strikes down the fore
most of his assailants, and with
the assistance of the stoker,
who is killed In ter
rife struggle, two others who succeeded
in getting on the engine are overcome;
the train is then backed into the tunnel,
and when it is under full headway the
engineer jumps off and leaves the two
Frenchmen on the guards van to their
fate. The invaders had assumed that
both lines would be clear for the passage
of the trains carrying the first body of
troops, and two trains had been dis
patched on each line. The first of these
now steams along the clear line into the
English station, and as the French Gen
eral and his soldiers alight they hear the
echo of the awful crash which announces
the destruction of their means of retreat
and the death and mutilation of their COM
rades, whose shrieks and cries are now
borne down the tunnel The empty train,
which had gained terrific speed, had
dashed into the front of the two French
trains on the same line The drivers OF
the two rearward trains, on either line,
hear the crash of the collision and the
shrieks which rend the air, but are un--
able to pull up with sufficient sudden
ness to avoid running into the chaos of
smashed carriages, masonry, chalk and
their way. The English commandant
soon arrives on the scene, the French
General turns over a thousand prisoners,
Walsh is pensioned and knighted, the
tunnel is blown up to prevent the re-
petition of such daring attempt, AMI
England is again saved