The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-20
PUSH ENGLISH
 CHANNEL TUNNEL
Borings Made in France And England for
 Tube.

Apparently, one of the certain fruits of victory is to be a Channel cross ing without the dreaded seasickness Great Britain and France again are eagerly agitating the building of tunnel. There is nothing new about the Channel tunnel scheme designed to link up London and Paris by train except Britain's present favorable at titude towards it.
 Napoleon talked of such a tunnel and suggested to the British Ambas- sador of the time-1802-that France and England undertake it together. Seventy years later, in the reign of Napoleon III, a great French engineer Thome Gaumont, revived the idea
 Britain has approached the matter frequently, but for the most part in the frame of mind expressed by Mar shal Wo1sey, who in the early sos told a joint select committee of Par liament that he stood aghast at the thought of breaking the silver streak which, with a powerful fleet made it possible for Britain to with ! stand invasion without a large stand ing army.
 why" asked the famous soldier, | should we be taxed additionally for new military establishments in order to save a certain number of travellers and tourists from seasickneSs?' A phase of the tunnel projects his tory which is not generally known is brought out in recent French In- dustries Number of the Manchester l Guardian. This is that shafts have l actually been sunk and tentative bor- l ings for such a tunnel have been be- 1 gun at different times by both Eng fish and French companies.
 In 1874 the French Channel Tunnel l Company was formed and having ob- tained a concession for it's govern ment commenced work at Sangatte. 1 near Calais. A shaft was sunk and a | gallery driven forward by compressed I air boring machines for mile and a l half beneath the sea. The following
 sanction of Parliament to begin ex-
 perimenta1 operations at St Mar
 garet's Bay, east of Dover.
 | Through dissensions between the ! Southeastern and London and the London. Chatham and Dover railroads
 nothing was done until 1881, wher
 the Southeastern sank a shaft neal
 Shakespeare Cliff 16O feet deep, from
 which a tunnel seven feet in diameter
 was bored 2,015 yards out under the
 channel The ensuing Parliamentar1 | tlQulTy ana Iue military ODJeCuOnS T(
 the project stopped the work.
 When the tunnel is eventually bull
 engineers anticipate no great difficul ties. The gray chalk encountered i, experime menta1 borings is particular,
 suitable for its passage. The plan ! now provide for three tunnels, one
 gallery about ten feet in diameter t be used for experimental purposes an for drainage and to allow the large tunnels to be commenced from nu merous cross sections. The other tw galleries would be IS to 20 feet f = diameter. It is estimated that tn cost would approximate s15, 100000, i 900, to be shared by the two nation : interested.
 While the tunnel would not be abl l to compete with the cargo steamer. | except in the case of fresh vegetable l and other perishab1e produce, a larg
 CT proportion of the passengers wh now endure the discomfort of tn - Channel crossing would certainly pre- ', fer the luxurious ease of train whic
 would take them directly from LOT l. don to Paris and stop only at Dove V and Wissant for the few minute necessary to change the electric Ioct
 motive for a steam driven engin
 French invasion the completed tunn
 is expected soon.