Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-23
A New Scheme for Crossing Be-
tween England and France.
SUBMARINE BOAT ON A CABLE
May Possibly Be in Operation
Within a Year.
SURPRISES FOR PARISIANS

It begins to look as If the submarine
route between London and Paris might.
after all. be ready before the close of the
exhibition in which case the real the
long-sought cloud of the Partisan jubilee
the rival of the Eiffel tower of 1Sst-will,
by the irony of things, be the gift of Brit
ish enterprise. 1t is, of course, not the old
channel tunnel scheme. nor yet the Calais
Dover bridge-both of which, by the way.
have been nearer to realization than gen
orally is known. The present plan has to
do with comparatively inexpensive sub
marira boat that shall tow itself along a
cable stretched between the mainland of
Europe and the tight little island. More
over, the experiment will require as little
time money-twenty miles of cable
against twenty miles of tunnel-and the
British jealousy of isolation. which the
French call fear. Will meet shock.
Being recently at Calais, had the curios-
fty to look up what was left of the old
Channel tunnel works abandoned fifteen
years ago the peremptory demand of
the British government. Looking back
ward. it is astonishing that so much effort
and expense should have been brought to
nothing by a London silly season news
paper scare whose beginnings not
more than half serious. The Channel tun-
nel had been duly authorized by the two
governments and its first works cordially
acclaimed by the TWO peoples. The enter
prise was in competent hands from every
point of Vew-nnanCial. scientific and pa
triotic-and the work was being pushed in
the manner of a first-class business under
taking. free from stock-jobhing methods
when all al once the English public worked
Itself up to the point of hysteria over the
destruction of Englands ancient bulwark-
which Is the stormy sea-and the poSs bill
ties Of a continental invasion Yet it was
perfectly understood that the tunnel could
be flooded from either side at moments
notice.
Almost Forgotten.
Between Cape Blanc-Nez and the little
beach of Sangatte, near Calais, l found a
group Of constructions almost at the sea
level. Two large brick buildings with great
chimneys remain in a good state of preser-
walton, while mass of wooden and CORFU
gated iron sheds are in various stages of
decay 1t Is the old French boring station,
silent, dead and abandoned A kind of
cantor lives in one of The edifices, while a
French engineer, NJ. Berton of Calais
comes from time to time to look over the
ruSting neutrality-suspicious. pumps and
drilling apparatuS-an immense and costly,
and 81 the present value of old iron. The
entrance to the tunnel, a great cavelike
descent twenty feet in diameter is boarded
up but the old janitor willingly unlocks
the small door in the hope of "gratifca-
tloh- Moreover, no one cares to penetrate
far into the brick-Iined darkness which
slants tn a black waste of water The two
miles of the highroad of invasion are en-
guiie4 completely by the sea, exactly how
Calais
lIlaslneS that The water might be pumped
out. but no one has learned the amount Of
damage done by the neglect of years Tn.
corporate existence of the company is kent
alive, at least in France, because The route
has stin some specula live value-because of
the concessions, the engineering plans and
estimates and the prestige of the first be-
ginning; put the Channel tunnel seems 10
be dead for the moment, and the present
state of French opinion is no more fayora-
bic TO 1t than the English.
Submarine boat Plan
The submarine boat scheme is another
story, Indeed, it is likely to be in success
full operation before the mass of French
men, at least, come to hear of it, Necessi-
tating nothing more formidable than the
laying of another telegraph cable. the poll
tics OF neither country can find an excuse
for exploiting IL; and, the capital is
nearly all English, there Is no reason for
decay The scheme. apart from its sub
marine feature IS nothing more than that
of the welknown continental Ike tie or
toueur which means tower" by which
barges drag themselves up and down the
Rhine, the Elbe. the Seine and many an
other European river. a chain or cable
stretches all along the river bed for hun
dreds of miles. The barges furnished with
stationary engines, take up this chain over
immense drums and lei il out again thus
pulling themselves along at a considerable,
speed, with no more navigation than that
of steering. Substitute a submarine hoaI
the snort twenty miles of the channel from
Calais TO Dover for the long cable stretches
OF the rivers. and you have it.
How 1t VIII Work.
The accompanying plan is clearer than
any verbal description: IA are the drums
winch revolving, take up the cable and pay
II out, c the dynamo that operates them.
DID the accumulators; FF are water cham
bers TO aid in submergins the boat. and XIX
the pump for emptyng them: y represents
a safety weight thai can b.. detached In
case Of danger. permitting the boat to rise
To the surface; 90 reservoirs of compressed
oxygen; Z K 5 I the salons bars and
smoking rooms OF the passengers. and L
Is the lockout chamber Two mechanics
are TO be continually in charge OF the
drums ready 10 cut the cable. detach the
safety weight and pump out the water
Chambers at the first danger signal. So the
boat will be able to dart to the surface
The compressed oxygen is for the renew
Ing of the vitiated air. and. as there Is to
be no seasickneSs, the shortness of the
passage does away with the necessity for
berth and lounges. Forging ahead al
twenty miles an hour, with no slowing nm
Tor logs or possible collisions at depth of
thirty feet below the surface of the water
with no moving panorama of clouds and
waves to strain the nerves. the passengers
Will not be conscious that they are In
movement.
To Avoid Seaaickness
IL IL hIlOWn lldt at the depth of thirty
feet all wave motion, even that of tempests
ceases This guarantee against seasick-
ness Is the strong point of the scheme for
there is nothing like the choppy little chan
mel for this terrible maady. and hundreds
of thousands of dollars have already been
wasted in attempting to overcome it, A few
years ago a swinging deck channel boat
enjoyed Heeting reputation. 1t was COM
posed OF kind of hull within a hull. the
theory being that the deck would keep a
level. however much the boat itself might
pitch and roll Unhappily. the only result
was to add a third motion to the horrors
OF the pitch and roll, which the most hard
ened old salts could not resist. The sub
marine route from London to Paris Is
promised TO be in operation within a year
1t remains to be seen II 1t will really con-
Quer that species of life in death which
the French call NAL de mer-sea evil
With the opening of the new century all
along the line the movement seems to be
beneath the surface Of the earth that men
have always trodden The French are not
likely to exhibit the submarine boat Sc