The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-01-29

There Is a revival OF the project OF
building a tunnel under the straits Of
Dover to connect France with Eng
land. and there is now more than a
likelihood that the great engineering
task first seriously proposed by the
eminent Frenchman, M Thome de
Gamond, over 70 years ago, will some
day me consummated.
Geologically speaking, there was
quite recently dry land where now the
turbulent waters Of the straits dis
port themselves and make the hours
Of the voyager unhappy, and the
palaeolithic Briton. on pleasure bent,
took advantage of the entene cordiale
of those far OF days and ran over to
the continent for the weekend dry
shod, and spent a pleasant holiday
swapping flint instruments for carved
mammoth ivory with the cave
dwellers in the valley Of the Somme-
the great art emporium Of the period.
This happy state Of things, however,
ceased about the time when Neolithic
man appeared, and since then com
munication has had to be maintained
by whether by coracle or Calais.
Douvres. Yet there were ever some
bold spirits who dreamt of restoring
by art what had been torn from us
by nature, and over 10 years ago these
visions crystallized In the mind OF an
eminent Frenchman, NJ. Thome de
Gamond, who has been well named
''The Father of the Channel Tunnel"
Others before him had toyed with the
idea; with dc Gamond 1t was the de-
vouring passion Of lifetime. For 20
years his fertile brain devised scheme
after scheme-tube, bridge and tun-
nel-and he won the sympathy and
support of both Queen Victoria and
the prince consort. He even dared
to beard Lord Palmerston, whose rel
ply was, characteristic: 'Whst. Yoa
pretend to ask us to contribute to
work whose object is to shorten
distance which we already find too
short" and when the prince consort.
expatiated on the advantages Of the
scheme, Pam cut him short with the
discourteous remark: You would
think quite differently If you had been
born in this island" To such pitch
Of enthusiasm was de Gamond carried
that he repeatedly dived to the bottom
Of the straits to obtain specimens Of
the geological formation. and on one
occasion he was attacked BY conger
eels, and narrowly escaped death.
His daughter to this day receives a.
modest pension from the French
Channel company.
That company was founded In 1875.
one OF the directors being NJ. Raoul
Duvai. and in the same year the Eng
lish Channel Tunnel company, formed
in 1872. began experimental opera
tions at st. Margarets bay, east 81
Dover. These experiments. however.
we're not successful. and in 1881 the
SOUTHEASTERN railway obtained par
liamentary powers to make borings at
Shakespeare Gin. A shaft was sunk
to depth Of 161 feet, and a tunnel
seven feet In diameter was driven for
mile and quarter under the sea.
bed, subsidiary shafts being also sunk
at Abbot's Gin and on the Dover side
Of Shakespeare Cliff for the purpose
Of ventilation and drainage. In the
following year the works were taken
sver by the Submarine Continental
Railway company, formed with cap.
nal Of $3.50 ,000-subsequently In
creased, in 1886, TO 1896 900, to buy
out the original company, the name Of
the new venture being changed to
THE Channel Tunnel Company. Lin
ited.a In the meantime, the @societe
Franchise du Tunnel Sous-marin,"
working from their starting-point at
Sangatte. few miles west OF Calais
had sunk two shafts to depth of $50
feet and constructed a gallery for a
alstance Of 1900 yards, usint like the
English engineers. the Beaumont drill
which excayated at the rate Of quar-.
ter of a mile per month. The French,
moreover, In 1876 and 1877, had made
a careful study Of the whole line Of
the tunnel, making 1900 soundings
and collecting over 5000 geological
specimens from the bottom Of the sea.
Matters we're progressing thus sat.
isfactorlly on both sides of the chan
neI when suddenly, like a bolt from
the blue, a panic seized upon the Eng
llsh nation. In July 1882. an appllca.
ton was made to the vice chancellor
to restrain the directors Of the Chan.
mel Tunnel from committing the
crime" Of establishing an andersen
between England and
France Peers. bishops, members of
and other notabllltles
signed petition agaihst the scheme
amongst the signatorles were Huxley.
Herbert Spencer and Robert Brown.
lne--and such an ontcry was raised BY
the military party, headed by Lord
that the board OF trade
stepped IN and stopped the work. IN
1889 the whole question vas referred
V joint select committee of the lords