Durango semi-weekly herald., 1903-04-16
PLAN CHANNEL TUBE.
Immense Engineering Feat Projected
to Connect England and Continent.

Immense Engineering Feat Projected
to Connect England and Continent.
PARIS, April 15.-England is to
cease to be an, island. Within a few
years she will be united to the conti-
nent OF Europe by two iron tubes,
each something over yard In diane
ter and through these tubes Will pass
the mail and small parcels at high
speed driven by pneumatic force.
Capitalists and engineers ore now
engaged with the specifications of the
great work. Who these gentlemen
are remains secret for the present,
but from the same source from which
these executive details are obtained
hitherto guarded secret-it Ia learned
that a certain all-powerful English pol.
ltician, himself commoner and OF an
immensely rich and active industrial
family. having It's interests not a hun
dred miles from Birmingham, has ac-
corded the project his benevolent at
tention Hence 1t IL probable a great
part OF the iron tubes will come from
Birmingham, and that the present En-
glish government Will rather aid than
hinder the work
Inside, there is no reason why Eu-
gish patriotism should look askance
at the proposed tubes. The prepon-
derance OF the British marine is an
established fact. 1t contributes nota-
bly, to the richness Of the tight little
island Therefore English patriotism
watches over 1t to guard It, This Is
one OF the reasons why the English
are determined to prevent at any
price the construction of channel
tunnel whose railway would change
their island to part of the continent
With the postal tubes England will
also cease to be an island, but only
TO the extent Of aiding and not him
dering the march of England's mari
time supremacy, Only samples will
travel by the tubes parcel post!
Whether the tubes are to be laid
along the bottom of the chanenl or
sustained at a certain heieght by pill
lars, is not yet decided A third idea
is to lay them In a comparatively
small tunnel. but this is the tunnel
Idea again, an dmlght prove unpopu-
lar in England. Whichever system IL
| adopted, II must permit workmen to
traverse the tubes for the sake OF re-
pairs. II must also be possible to lay
new tubes. according to the needs of
the service
The suspension tube'offers the least
objections. II can be made about a
yard In diameter in comparatively thin
sheet iron. and Its lightness will per-
NIT the pillars being placed consid-
cradle distance apart-say 500 yards
The pillars would be made to project
above the surface OF the water, like
lighthouses, and they would sustain
the tubes at sufficient height in the
air At night they can alternate red
and green lights, and be an aid to nav.
igation instead OF hindrance
The building of the pillars on foun-
dations, the construction on the spot
OF suspension cables and the posing
OF the tube all belong to q mode OF
engineering and construction already
perfected by long practice. The only
serious difficulty anticipated settles
round the laying OF the foundation In
the open sea part OF the channel,
where there are depts as great as six.
ty yards at high tide. As will be seen
1t is proposed to surmount this diff
Guilty with the aid Of floating founda.
ton piles during the period OF their
construction. which can be grounded
or foate dat will. before their com.
| pletlOn.