The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-11-01
THE EVENING TIMES, GRAND FORKS, N. D.

the local gendarme is not there to COL
lect 1t the children hurl brickbats at
you. ] got one on the head going
down the valley of the Rhone that
would have broken the bone had we
not been ging In the same direction
as 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 it's wild
scenery to the high plateau where
stands the hospice of the Monks of
st. Bernard. their branch establish
ment. We saw three dogs of the cele-
brated variety, but none were for
sale. either there or elsewhere, and
we got the impression that they were
very rare indeed. Then we went
down. down, into yawning depths of
light. through white clouds and pale
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 building around 1t.
A few hours had done 1t. In eight
hours we had leaped from the Italian
plain. over the Alps, into another
world. 1t is a startling 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 GER
tain exposed sections, and cost over
100000, II you include the forced
labor exacted by Napoleon from the
people Of the Valais. The stagecoach
takes ten hours to traverse it in sum-
mer. Now for the magic of the tunnel
Once, at almost the highest point,
the driver of our Matchmaking horses
pointed out little lake in the distance,
THE tunnel passes directly under
that pond" he said.
mo danger of the water soaking
through" we asked.
THE tunnel is a mile and quarter
below it." was his only answer.
At another point we stopped at a
guards house and refuge inn. 1.-THE
tunnel passes just beneath u.s." they
said; and then to astonish us: "Just
a mile beneath u.s." Think of it-a
mile of solid rock and dirt for roof!
The Simplon tunnel is twelve and
oye-fourth miles long and has cost
$12,O00,000. (The Gothard, nine and
one-third miles. cost $15,000,O0 One
OF the striking details of its digging
was told us by an engineer at the
guardhouse beneath which the tunnel
passes a mile below.
Obstacles In Big Bore.
ut was down there that they struck
the rotten rock in December, 1901, !"
he said, pointing to the ground beneath
our feet. 1T was only corner of
rotten rock forty-two yards long, but
1t cost eighteen months continuous
work. The rotten rock caved in con-
tinually. The heaviest wooden sup
ports were crushed like cheese. Mas
sive iron supports were twisted and
smashed under the terrible slow pres
sure Of the mountain. Special rivet.
ed stell shields of unheard of resist
ance finally lasted long enough to
permit them to establish a great tenn
porary work of masonry composed of
three supperposed arches. Finally
these arches and the space between
them and the mountain We're filled
with masses of cement. The work
cost $4,000 a yard"
1t took us eight hours to push those
two horses over the pass in the auto
mobile. When the tunnel is in oper-
alton trains will go through in less
than one hour. Even with the present
French approaches. they say trains
will 60 from Paris to Milan in twelve
hours. 1t will be the same or bet
ter for other European districts. The
piercing of the st. Gothard gave to
Germany and Belgium very consider