The Portland daily press., 1899-11-15
THE SYMPTOM TUNNEL.
Third Outlet Through the Alps Begun
and 10 be Finished by 1908.

A bout 1, 900 men are now engaged In ex-
ravating the Simplon tunnel which Is to
give France and Switzerland direct COM
Inunicatlon by rail- with Milan. stte
greatest distributing point In 1til Ian
ira 10. The work Is Icing pushed day
and night, and there il every prospect
that 1t will be completed In the four al d
n half years. rsmaining to the Jura
Simplon Railroad company under Its
contract. The company has every incen-
tive to carry out the work, II possible in
less than contract ume, for it will receive
an extra 81 900 for every day 10 saves,
while the same amount will be deducted
from the price Co bs paid for the tunnel
for every day of delay beyond the stipu-
lated time. The work Will differ from
that Of the Mount Cents and st. Goth.
ard tunnels, as there will be- two tun-
nels, one for each line of track, the tun-
nels being fifty eight feet apart and con-
| neoted every 30 rect by cross-outtinRs;
the present work, however, contemp plates
the mpiet;on Of only one tunnel ard q
gallery through the other, the gallery
being use to return cars loaded with
material into the tunnel while the debris
of excavation Is removed through the
tunnel itself.
Excavation Is in progress both at the
Swiss and Italian ends and the work com
to I,O45 feet about two-thirds OF VIII OF
Was on the Swiss side. Tbs statistics for
| the second half year. ending this month.
will show an important increase In the
rata Of progress. The tunnel. twelve and
half miles long, will be a fourth longer
than ST. Gotthard and nearly half
| longer than Mount Cents, but with the
improved methods Of tunneling and the
better machinery now In use, the cost
and the time consumed will not be com
mensurate with its greater length.
The work on the Italian side has adj
vancsd more slowly than In Switzerland
| because large Tass of gneiss has been
encountered which, even with an enor-
nous amount Of blasting, is great OBJ
| stacle in the way. On the Swiss side.
however. the excavation thus Tar Is In
clay slate and is comparatively easy The
work on that side also has the advantage
of the use of liquid air for blasting pur-
POSES, which has proved to be great
success In Its direct effect, while, at the
same time, 1t does away with an I'M
pleasant feature Of ordinary blasting In
tunLeIs, /. e.. I'll ing the air with nitro
gen gas. The Italian government has
not yet given permission for the use OF
liquid air as an explosive and dynamite
Is, therefore, still used at the south end
" The The temperature Jlehs excavations. is
already hi IN and Is increased by tbs ex-
plOSlveS. "A Rredt utdl VI Wheef oioS oSH7o
from the walls The gallery Is being used
both for drainage purposes and to 10 rec
currents OF air into the tunnel In the
central portion the tunnel will be about
| 10, QUO feet below the mountain peaks
directly overhead, and the mean heat
there Is expected to be about f0i degrees
Fahrenhs 1t, much too high a temperature
for comfortable working. In addition to
| the forced air circulation IL Ia intsnded,
in this part of the works to use water
| sprays which, IL 10 thought. will reduce
| the heat to o. degrees Fahrenheit.
| France greatly desires the completion
| of the tunnel and Switzerland will derive
| large advantages, for 1t will connect the
whole of western and central Switzerland
with Italy. Switzerland, swithout port
or mile of seacoast, occupies high
place among commercial nations because
of its splendid communications with all
the countries around 1t ana with their
ssaports from which Its products are sent
to ali parts of tho world. The new tun-
mel will place Switzerland In direct rela-
lions with Milan, the third largest city
/ OF Italy, and will be Its best Iouts TO
Genoa which is now rivaling Marseilles
In The volume Of its international ship
ping business. When tbs first tunnel Is
| In operation side tracks will permit tbs
passage of trains, and the second tuDnsl
will not be completed until the inoreasir Z
business requires it New York sun.