El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-08-12
! 1t Could Be Built In FiUe
Years At a Cost OF
S80,0O0,OOO.
TRAINS EVERY 10
MINUTES POSSIBLE
Would Put London and
Paris in Close Commune
cation; French For 1t.
ONION, Eng. Aug. 1e.-At last the

= ONDON, Eng, Aug. 12.-At last me
Iong-deferred scheme for linking
- up England and the continent by
means OF a railway tunnel under the
sea, shows signs Of crystalization.
This was the opinion expressed by
baron d'Erlanger. as chairman, at a
recent meeting of the Channel Trust
company In parliament. questions
have been asked with the object Of
setting the work of construction in
motion. as soon after the war as pos
sibIe-
Several years ego. when the proposal
first took shape the scheme was
turned down Iargely by the opposition
Of lord Wolseley and other high mill
tary experts. who feared that its exist
ence would facilitate an invasion by
France with whom Great Britain's re-
latiOns we're at that time more or less
strained
No Fear From France.
Siffce the coming Of the entente cor
dale. however. and. still more, since the
outbreak of the present war. relations
between the two great western powers
have drawn closer together and solidi-
fed TO SO great an extent that even the
most timOrous could hardly speak of an
invasion by France, as being remotely
possible
As it is. England's two greatest
generals of recent years. the late lord
Kitchener and the late earl Roberts,
both wrote and spoke of it in favora pie
terms Their survivor. viscount French
now cOmmanderinchief Of the home
forces. has endorsed the opinion that
the tunnel would be of great benefit TO
the peoples on both sides of the silver
streak
The same spirit of approval pervades
parliamentary circles, where Mr. Fell
NJ +. presIdes over the house commit |
tee in favor OF the tunnel. which en-
braces 40 members OF all parties. of
which an executive committee of eight |
has just been appointed, including the |
two senior military members of the |
house Mai Gen. Sir Ivor Herbert and |
Col Yates.
Could BE Built In Five Years
In addition to these prominent Eng |
lishmen. UT. Sartiaux. chief engineer of /
the Northern Railway OF France. told I
Mr. Fell IF the British government |
sanctioned the scheme-it had been /
accepted in France in principle years |
aso-the tunnel could he built in five /
years The great French engineer
added Had the channel tunnel been
in existence during the war. trains /
could have run in each direction every
ten minutes. say six to the hour. leav-
ing four hours a day for repairs and
the changing of staffs.
Think what this would have meant !
to the allies We could have trans
ported 80 600 troops and 80 600 tons of !
material daily, representing II million
troops and 100000 tons Of material
in 2 year
Thus the result of Mr.. FelTs advocacy
and the cooperation with him of the
French minister OF commerce and the !
italian and Belgian governments prom
Use an early realization or the scheme
coupled with the resolution recently !
passed by parliament that the final
plans should he forthwith completed |
and the work underts ken as soon as the
war is over and the necessary labor is
availab be"
The estimates figure the cost OF this
colossal undertaking at SSOOOO.O0O.