The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-28
A HOLE A MILE DEEP
ONE OF THE NOVELTIES AT THE
PARIS EXPOSITION OF o
A Dive of Nearly n Mile Towar the
Earth Center-ProbIems which
the PROTECTOR Hopes to solve.

$500 0fNt 81 IN a - a. ~
1900 will be, it Is expected, a dive into tina
bowels of the earth. M. Grousset's plan,
which. it has been announced, has been APP
proved by the management, is to dig a
series of eight vertical shafts, each six
hundred feet in length, one beginning wheEs
another leaves off. Two passenger eleva-
tors are to run In each shaft and there
are to be galleries or stations at the end
of each elevator journey, where refresh
ments will be served under the blaze OF
electric lights. We are told that the ex-
cavation will be thoroughly ventilated. by
what means has not yet been made known,
and that the traveller who descends to the
lowest gallery depth will be 1850 feet be-
low the surface from which he started.
The estimated cost Is $500. 900, which. one
would think, is quite moderate for so large
an undertaking. The protector says he
hopes to throw new light upon the ques-
ton of the Increase of temperature as
greater depths within the earth's core are
attained and upon other subterranean prob
lens.
One thing is quite certain and that is
that the men who will dig this prodigious
hole will not be involved in the pr~edicament
that defeated the Russian merchant in
Yakutsk. Siberia, about sixty years ago.
The Lena river water was not good enough
for him and so he decided to dig a we'll.
His men had only excavated a few feet
with pick and shovel when they declared
that they had struck solid rock. 1t was
only frozen earth, however, and so the
merchant kept his men pecking away, ex-
pecting every day to get through the
stratum of frozen earth. He was a little
surprised when the summer season ended,
and he was still in solidly frozen soil; but
the next spring he courageously began work
O ooip opd dfH not cfar, until ha had drfr
his way through 1O5 feet of earth as hard
as a rock. Then he covered the hole with
boards and decided to use river water a
while longer.
The Academy of Sciences in st. Peters,
burg heard the story and thought it would
be a good thing, in the interest of science,
to carry on the work. The academy, how
ever, wearied of paying the bills when its
diggers had reached a depth of s2 feet
and were still in solidly frozen ground.
From the temperature at the bottom they
estimated n N ed that aantt the e. gT r a. was S,nd probably ABLY
The big hole, with its frozen walls. still
exists, unless some one, in quite recent
years, has taken the trouble to fill 1t up.
THE DEEPEST BORING.
There is reason to doubt that NJ. Grous-
sets proposed big hole in Paris will add
very much to our present knowledge OF
subterranean problems. as he seems to hope
it will. Borings have now been carried
about nine hundred feet nearer the center
of the earth than it is proposed to ex-
tend the underground pleasure route in
Paris. 1t is probable that the deepest bor-
ing yet made is that at Schladebach, be-
tween Leipzig and Merseburg, Germany.
where a distance of about $40 feet from
the surface has been attained, with a tenn
perature at the bottom of 56.6 degrees Gen.
tigrade, a little more than half the way
between the freezing and the boiling point
of water. Nobody can tell yet whether the
passengers at the Paris fair will be made
very uncomfortable by the heat at the bot
tom of the shafts. Such a thing as a uni
form rate of heat increase apparently does
not exist in the subterranean regions. Mr..
G. x. Gilbert says that the rate of increase
varies in different places. ranging from one
scent. The general or normal rate is per-
haps one degree in se~venty-five feet. There
are many local causes that greatly affect
the increase of heat. For instance. in some
Of the lower levels of the Comstock mines
as deep as the boring at Schladebach. the
men could work only three or four hours
at a time. owing to the terrible heat. This
from lower depths, which raised the tenn
perature to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
1t does not quite follow because the Paris
tourist will descend nearly a mile into the
earth that he will find there almost in
tolerable heat. But then again he may. As
this excavation is to be. by no means. the
deepest on record, and as we have no
f fSe Common sD neI wiii be enc found nee'f i viii not be
surprising If about the only scientific in
terest attached to the enterprise will be the
tNGdiih u tAC Aito VitNi Ill
derlying Paris. The work will be quite
sure. at least, to tell us how thick is the
formation of chalk which underlies Paris,
for we know that the same foundation
that shows itself in glittering whiteness
France and that Paris is built above it.
We often hear the erroneous statement
that the temperature of the earth Increases
the crust. A moments reflection would tell
any one that. usually, the temperature de-
creases until a point is reached where
solar and atmospheric influences no longer
have a particle of effect. In this latitude
the line of perpetually even temperature is
believed to be gained at a depth of about
sixty feet. Below that line no influence
from without penetraIes ana ,ne rncreb bse
low assert their sway. But the Paris shafts
will not even reveal to US the line OF even
temperature in that neighborhood, for 1t
has long been known. Perhaps a few visi-
tors may be admitted TO the excavation
the famous Thermometer that has not been
removed from its place for over one hum
bred years, and, registering steadily n.2
degrees Centigrade. 1t has never recorded
in all that time a variation OF 2-1O0ths OF
q degree. IN other words, IL hangs prae-
ture which is found within
the earth's crust at a greater or less dis
lance from the surface, according TO the
environing conditions.
1t is not likely that the great hole OF
attractions for visitors. Perhaps. the novel
ty OF the descent a considerable distance
into tn IS e likely w to &. rather snerSatins.
There will be none of the sense OF exhila-
ration such as comes from being lifted to
a considerable height and none of the In
spring sensations derived from the wide
spreading view obtained from elevations.
From top to bottom IL can be made little
more than a hole in the ground. with none
of the subterranean scenery and variety
that give such zest to the labors of NJ.
Martel. the great French explorer Of cav
ems.
AS A FEAT OF ENGINEERING.
AS a feat OF engineering the project will
undoubtedly be very interesting. The pres
sure Of the superintendent mass upon the
walls OF the lower levels will be very great
who knows that some rock stratum Will
not be encountered that will prove. too
soft TO Withstand the pressure? Who knows
that some unexpected and hopeless diff
Guilty. such as an uncomfortable inpouring
Of water, may not be met? When NJ. Effel
planned his tower he knew just what he
was doing. and he had demonstrated the
perfect practicability of his enterprise while
the tower was still on paper. But nobody
---.-- nLAfAAn NJ CRnnaAAffA hnla ~ FlV