The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1919-05-23

the engineer estimates will be possibe-London
will be literally next door to Paris and in direct
touch with all of Europe all the time.
This will mean two three days saved by trav
elers going from New York to Paris-to say moth
ing of the comfort of those who will escape the
rough channel trip from England to France when
even the sturdiest sailors frequently suffer from
sea sickness.
There are many ''ifs" about the whole business,
but IF" exists that has attracted lot Of at
tention from the public, and that Is IF the tunnel
Is built it will cost more than one days cost OF
war-and at most the cost of two days of war"
One two hundred million dollars expended on
any worthy enterprise these days is considered
a trifing sum by even the man in the street.
The announcement of the project causes
prise on this side of the Atlantic. America Is
rather disposed to wonder that the tunnel not
built long ago.
The truth is that when Bleriot flew from French
soil to English soil just before the war, John Bull
opened his eyes wide and they have not closed
since. His mastery isolation of centuries was
gone in twinkhg. Much has happened since
then. The air Is darkened every day with air
navies passing to and from London to Paris. Bri-
tannia rules the under the league, all
right but the waves" are not all and one
knows this better than the lady with the trident
who is giving much of her time to the medium
of communication But the point is that the
quest Of the air has given the tight little island
view of things.
The distance between Dover and Calais-a bit
of choppy most of the time the surface-is
to be overcome by tunnel The government leader
in the British house of. commons has announced.
Ii will be joint governmental undertaking to be
started part of reconstruction A matter of
hundred millions to two nations, innocenty be-
lieved to be bankrupt from the war, is no barrier.
Tunnel construction is the steel rod in the ce-
ment Of peace covenants Both nations fast
becoming bngua The tunnel will help along the
"entente cOrdiale" after the war.
AS sense of protection for both nations, the
channel tunnel will be of avail 1t is main
tanned that If the bore had been in existence five
years ago things would have been different and a
four-year agony would not have fallen upon the
two nations
Fifty years ago. when the tunnel project was
declared to be perfectly feasible from engineer
ing point, military men opposed 1t. 1t is very
ing reading the debates of those faroff days Eng
land, they said. could afford to take chances
with a tunnel the island would be no longer an
island; some dark night the enemy would seize the
two ends of the bore, and 10 and behold England
would be invaded Strategsts condemned the
plan. much to the discontinue of business.
Before the war broke, when the discovery in
aviation changed the perspective, tunnel recon-
structon being urged. Now as a war measure
and France and Britain still taking precau-
lions in case the millennium is false alarm-the
tunnel is approved by army men. Commercially
there never any question about it. France
has sought it consistently for almost century.
France has vision.
International tunnel construction is to be the
order of the day The nations to be joined
closer together. The straits of Gibraltar are to be
tunneled if plans carry and very likely East and
West-the Occident and the Orient-will be joined
by tunnel under the Bosporus And it is We'll
within the bounds that this continent may be
linked with another continent by Boring strait
tunnel, first propounded by early governor of
Colorado.