The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-12-03

IOST tneIT IOTCt. T IGITu, for ever and ever, with no danger from that quarter And in the meantime science, notably electrical discoveries, have made possible schemes for the in- stant closing of the channel, by flooding or by dynamite, in the event of na-
 tional peril. So England has veered
 completely around and contemplates the channel tunnel with enthusiasm. The French, never having had anything
 to fear from an English invasion, have
 always been quite willing to have the project carried through.
 PRESENT ARG UMENTS The other day a deputation of mem bers of Parliament, nonparty in char | aeter, and headed by MT. Arthur Fell,
 who, for years, has been leader in the channel tunnel movement. waited on the prime minister and presented their arguments in favor of the tun- rel. Mir. Asquith listened quite in tently, knowing precisely what was to Ee said. and then he made his answer. It was most favorable. He stated that SC recently as 1914, only a fortnight before the war, the imperial defense committee had considered the matter and had given an adverse report. But he agreed that the war had thrown
 many new lights on the matter and he
 gave a. most definite promise that it should be considered by his majesty's government, "in all it's aspects, par : ticularly in the light of new experi- ences gained from the war" That means" said MT. Arthur Fell. whom I questioned as to the prospects,
 that we shall have approval by
 Christmas. At least. so we think we are justified in hoping
 All that is needed is the govern
 ment's approval. The necessary act of Parliament permitting the Channel
 Tunnel company, already fully organ ized, to proceed with the work will become a mere detail. The French, too, are ready. Labor conditions may
 hamper progress somewhat, but it is not in the least unlikely that by next
 spring work on the century old
 scheme, the dream of dozens of great
 engineers, will have been begun.
 The plans are all made. Most of the
 engineering details were worked out
 years ago The tunnel proper, or
 rather the tunnels, for there will be
 three-two for trains and one be- heath for drainage-will be 29 miles
 in length. With the approaches the
 total distance will be 32 miles, with
 both ends immune from attack from the sea.
 To build the whole will take, ac- cording to varying estimates, from four and half to six years. It will
  which will be divided between the French and British companies. Com mercially, 1t is bound to be an enor- nous success Internationally. it will be of equal importance. It will send more English people to the continent ard to an even greater degree 1t will bring continentals, who dread the channel passage. to England, all or which will work for friendship and understanding.
 Elaborate investigations which have been made show that conditions for boring the tunnel are almost ideal Beneath the bed of the English chan nel, at depth ranging from so to 200 feet, there Is a stratum Of gray chalk which undulates from England to France. Nothing could be finer This chalk is soft enough to cut with ease. Judging from all available data the engineers could scarcely have bet ter conditions for tunneling. It IS estimated that the tunnel could be excavated at the rate of 17 yards day.
 The present scheme is to build the smaller drainage tunnel first, from coast to coast This tunnel would be from nine to Il feet in diameter It would be a prospecting tunnel. As it was pushed forward a thorough in vestigation could be made of the lie Of the soil, above and below, and ac- curate measurements taken which
 would reveal the channel beds se- crets.
 At the center of this preliminary tube a great chamber would be excavated. From this parties of workmen would be- gin to bore the train tubes, one work ing toward France, another toward Eng land. Then there would be parties work ing from the French shore and the
 English making four in all, and doubling
 the speed of the operation.
 OBSTACLES. POLITICAL Yerkes, the great American engineer and builder of tunnels, once said during rough crossing of the channel, that he
 could not understand why such sim pie engineering feat had not long since
 been done The engieering problems
 never bothered anyone, although had he been put to it they might have given
 the diligence road builder Mathieu some
 worry The obstacles have always been political.
 As far back as 1874 the French Chan mel company sunk a shaft at Sangatte and drove a gallery mile and a half be- heath the channel toward England. In 1881, after treaty had been negotiated between France and England, the Soutn- eastern railway started work from the
 English side A 160-foot shaft was sunk on the west side of Shakespeare cliff, near Dover, and seven-foot tunnel was driven for 2015 yards. Then the politicians took hold. Also, the British military ex- perts objected and the work came to an end But the work, both French and British, remains today and the tunnels are virtually intact. These pioneer builders proved the complete feasibility of the scheme.
 It has always been the military who have blocked progress. Years ago the famous and powerful Lord Wolsley. great soldier, was the foremost opponent His objections were these:
 "The tunnel would link us up with con tinental nations having large standing armies and compel us to adopt conscrlp- ton. Tt would be necessary to have great Notifications to protect the English end He had not seen any reasonable, plan for making the tunnel useless in tune or danger.
 "The English end of the tunnel might be seized by hostile raiders"
 Lord Wolsley's first three objections have been swept away during the present war, if not before. As to the hostile raiders. supporters of the plan declare that if, with all the precautions that will be taken, raiders could succeed in their enterprise England would need wor- ry little about invasion via the tunnel, for conditions would then be such as to permit invasion from almost anywhere. With the completion of the channel tun- nel it will be possible to step in sleeper in London and get out in Petrograd, Constantinople or Picking. if the war is
 ended by that time. And when railways now planned are completed the Calcutta Express or the Capetown Limited will de- part at stated periods from London. And