The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-01-21

stable and Anarcnlsts TrOSA
with Assistance-yastL nbyrinths
Unchartered and Unknown to the
Authorities = Anarchist BurroW-
inrs and Royal Secret Subway
Tunneling Feats of the Century.
Among the most remarkable features OF
the nineteenth century, now rapidly draw
Ing to, a close, has been a revival after
more than thousand years OF that dis
position to burrow beneath the surface
of the soil which seems as instructive
with man as it is with the mole, the
analogy between the two In this respect
affording food for reflection to those who
favor the doctrines of evolution In connec-
ton with the origin of the human race.
Give child of tender years a spade and
q heap of sand, and the first thing that
he will proceed to do is~to tunnel, and:
as he grows up the fascination of the
Underground grows upon him to such an
extent that sooner than go over a. noun
tain or river he will prefer to pass be-
meath, while in a number of the leading
cities Of Europe the people. called upon
to choose between an aerial and q sub
terranean means Of traffic and con1muni-
cation, have unhesitatingly to announce
themselves in favor of the latter. 49,
If attention is drawn to this at the pres
emit juncture. 1T is because of the an.
nouncement in the cable dispatches to the
effect that England's parliament is about
to be called upon to institute measures
for the purpose Of putting a check, II not:
an absolute stop, to the process of honey
combing the foundations and subsoil of:
the British metropolis. Moreover, says
''Ex- Attacle' in the New York Tribune,
an alarming accident has recently taken
place at Paris, where the celebrated Res
taurant Champeaux, on the Place de la
Bourse, where the princes of finance are
wont to foregather for their midday meal,
was wrecked the other day by an explo-
sion Of terrific force, which is ascribed to
the accumulation of gases in the subter-
ranean passages and tunnels which ira
verse the French capital, maze fashion,
in every direction. Then, too, the works
of the new metropolitan" or under
ground railroad beneath the crowded Rue
de Rivoli that skirts the Tuileries are
encOuntering almost insuperable difficult
ties, owing to the extraordinary number
of vaulted galleries that tier upon tier,
intersect the entire route of the pro-
jected railway, and which Will require
the most delicate handling in order to
avoid danger to- the huge buildings that
line the Rue de 5Rfvolt throughout the
greater part Of its length. Finally, the
anti-anarchist conference at Rome which
has just brought its sessions to ter
minatiOn, Is asserted to have had under
consideration the disposition which the
nihilists and anarchists have shown Of
late to avail, themselves of tunnelings
and of tunnels for the preparation of
fhkY SraS a. q nCf f1o. if,,to
thorities; and against society. 49,
The peril that threatens London ard
that Is about to lend to statutory actions
in parliament is serious. But it is one
by which Paris, Rome and a number
of other great cities of the Old World are
menaced in the same way One hundred
years ago there was practically no under
ground London, save along the rivers
edge, where wine cellars centuries old
extended for several mills. To-day there
is almost as much life and traffic beneath
the surface of the British metropolis as
above it. Two and even three tiers Of
Under ground railroads, with their under
ground stations and shops, as well rs
other huge conduits, tunnels, sewers and
subways of every description, honeycomb
the subsoil Of London to the depth of
more than one hundred feet, and unless
some check Is offered to this form of en-
terprise there is no knowing where it
will end. ~
The results of this tampering with the
foundations of London are beginning to be
felt, and are giving rise to no end of
alarm. A goodly portion of the metropolis
appears threatened with subsidence and
the gravest fears are entertained for
Westminster abbey, st. Paul's cathedral
and other historic state edifces In fact,
no one would be surprised to learn that
their safety has become affected by the
inprudent interference with their founda-
items. 1t was only the other day that the
London papers placed on record an alarm
ing subsistence in Hyde Park, where the
ground suddenly showed a rift several
hundred feet in length, and week later
the sinking Of about a hundred yards Of
the roadway on one side of Fleet street,
While the police reports and the weekly
returns Of the building inspectors are said
to furnish sensational reading with regard
to the large number Of big edifices in the
city and mansions, both great and small,
In the residential districts, that show
cracked walls that are tottering, or that
are actually wrecked by the subsistence of
the ground.
A curious feature about the whole af-
fair is that, in spite Of all these burrow-
ings, no one seems to- possess any def
mite knowledge as to their extent, and it
would appear that they are, so to speak,
unchartered. For it was only ten years
ago that general amaztment was caused
by the chance discovery that gigantic
metropolitan sewer passed right under
buckingham palace. and that it was 50
imperfectly constructed as to have i'm
pregnated the entire subsoil of this, the
queens London residence with sewage,
a circumstance which served to account
fer the fact that her majesty invariably
complained Of feeling Ill after spending
more than twenty -four hours in this pal
| ace. That big sewer Of this kind should
1,aV }cfn S{ep6$
IN a few feet Of the floors of the royal
cellars without any one being aware Of
its presence there speaks volumes for the
| py7go-lucky methods that govern the
supterranean portion Of the British me-
tropolis. s.s# 81 a
| re same Ignorance prevails with re-
gard to the underground portion of Paris.
Tor which, however, there is more excuse
than in the case OF the English netron-
ons. For the subterranean part Of the
Galhc capital is OF ancient origin. and
any centuries old True, the state main
ta1ns an engineer, who bears the title of
inspector general OF this Plutonfan re-
zion, and he has at his disposal liberal
resources, as well as a large star for the
purpose of snoring up wherever the sur
race SHOWS signs OF subsistence. But he
| is obliged to wait for. these manifesto
tons, as no plan or chart OF subterranean
Paris Is In existence, and a large portion
tLereof, at any rate. is as yet unexplored.
7 is asserted that more than third,
indeed nearly one-half, OF Paris is UNI
derrun by the quarries out Of which the
stone that went to build the city in an
Client times was extracted. These under
ground passages and tunnels bear the
name OF catacombs, but were not original
~ intended as such. Indeed, 1t was only
at the close Of the last century that the
government conceived the idea Of con-
verting portion OF these tunnels in the