Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-30

down to the italian lakes, across the plain
of Piedmont, on, on, past Turin. and up
and down, over hills and mountains, day
by day. through stressa, Urea Bella and
Aosta, across the valley of that name,
and up and over the Little St. Bernard
again. Or we might return by way Of
Turin, the Genevre pass and Briancon and
SO on to Grenoble, in France. Yet here. If
we could have the horses and a little sun
light, was an eight hours shortcut to the
heart of Switzerland-to civilized cooking,
the mails and the daily papers!
While 1t was still dark at Condo We re
ceived the telegram:
1.-TWO horses, $40"
We said YES and in an hour or more
we heard a tinkling out in the lone cloud
planted his two steeds before the Inn, and
said that he was ready. Tn this muck?"
we answered. "Sit and drink liter till
the clouds roll by' And then, as SION as
We had paid its price a marvellous thing
happened. A strong wind came down the
big ravfne 1t swept the clouds like a
broom. All the roosters of Condo began
growing. and daylight came-at 10 am. We
would just have time to make it.
A Real Farce
They are a thrifty folk. the Swiss. Fiji
teen horses could scarcely have pulled that
big automobile to the Simplon Hospice a
mile and a half above the level of the sea.
everybody does it. The two horses trotted
ahead and in the end it was enough for
them. When we met a stage coach we
shut off the motor, and those horses made
a bluff to earn their $40, but the passen-
gers themselves grinned-the farce was OBJ
vious
Throughout all Switzerland we met the
same hold-ups, operated on the principle of
the Utah hotelkeeper who charged So for
a Steak-"becauSe he needed the money"
No h ~ Gr,~ o. vtgt-
little towns have their tariff posted-"S2.
$50, So for excess of speed and when
the local gendarme is not there to collect
1t the children hurl brickbats at you. 1
got one on the coco going down the valley
of the Rhone that would have broken the
bone of 1t had we not been going in the
same direction the brickbat.
So we went up over the Simplon pass,
the horses trotting ahead Of slack traces
and the motor doing the rest, up through
Its wild scenery to the high plateau. where
stands the hospice of the monks of st.
Bernard their branch establishment We
saw three sore-eyed dogs of the celebrated
variety, but none were for sale, either there
or elsewhere, and We got the impression
that they are very rare, indeed Then we
went down. down, into yawning depths of
light, through white clouds and pae blue
sky. into the valley of the Rhone and up
to-date Switzerland. At Brigue We passed
the Swiss entrance to the tunnel. 1t is all
ready for traffic. and big hotels are build
ing round 1t.
A Short Cut.
A few hours had done It, In eight hours
we had leaped from the italian plain over
the Alps into another world. 1t is a star
Ting short cut, this Simplon Pass road,
completed by Napoleon, as first consul, in
1905. 1t is forty miles long, has GIL bridges
and seven galleries against snow in certain
exposed sections, and cost over 50 900, 00O
If you include the forced labor exacted
by Napoleon from the people OF the Va
lais. The stage coach takes ten hours to
traverse 1t In summer.
Now for the magic of the tunnel Once,
at almost the highest point, the driver of
our blackmailing horses pointed out lit
tie lake in the distance. The tunnel
passes asses directly under that pond, he said
NO danger of the water soaking
throughY' we asked
The tunnel is a mile and a quarter be-
low IT, was his only answer.
At another point we stopped at a guards
house and refuge inn. The tunnel passes
just beneath u.s. they said. and then. 10
astonish US: Just mile beneath usp,
Think of it-a mile of solid rock and dirt
for roof!
The simplon tunnel is 12A miles long.
and has cost s12,oOo00o CThe Gothard,
1-3 miles, cost $15, coo 600. and the Mont
Gents. eight miles long, cost $4,000, OO0)
One of the striking details of its digging
was told US by an engineer at the guard
house beneath which the tunnel passes a
mile deep.
An Afternoon Job.
'It was down there that they struck the
rotten rock in December 1901" he said.
pointing to the ground beneath our feet
1T was only a corner of rotten rock forty
two yards long. but 1t cost eighteen months
continuous work and permanently retarded
the italian end mile behind the Swiss
The rotten rock caved In continually The
heaviest wooden supports were crushed like
cheese. Massive iron supports were twisted
and smashed under the terrible slow pres
sure of the mountain. Special riveted steel
shields of unheard-of resistance finally
lasted long enough to permit them to estab-
ltsh great temporary work of masonry
composed OF three superposed arches.
Finally these arches and the space between
them and the mountain were filled with
masses Of cement. The work cost 5000
per yardi''
It took US eight hours to push those two
horses over the pass In the automobile
When the tunnel Is in operation trains will
go through in less than one hour. Even
with the present French approaches they
say trains win go from Paris to Milan In
twelve hoursl
But 1t will be the same, or better, for
other European distances. The piercing OF
the st. Gothard gave to Germany and Bel
sium very considerable advantages over
Central Europa Il the Simplon going to
hurt or help France7 All France Is talking
about Il. In the parliament there are big
debates. II p known that the French gov
eEnmapt has mora than one project.
EYe5Tth1nE Doou1o TO depend on whether