Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-24
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

ut Is the view of this House that the
construction Of Channel tunnel will
be advantageous both to this country
and to Europe as a whole" says reSo-
luton which has been standing on the
order of the House of Commons for
some time, and the resolution adds a
recommendation that the government
take an early opportunity of reconsid-
ering its attitude toward the subject"
The government turned down the
project last July. 1t has repeatedly re-
jected 1t in the last SO years. But now
comes a member of the Labor party,
Hon. Ernest Thurtle, reviving the
matter and urging the government to
change its attitude. The government
even of Sir Ramsay Macdonald, upon
the advice Of the committee of imperial
defense, has gone on record In opposi-
ton to thus wiping out the insularity
OF the SNUG little island" which came
so near famine in the World War by
reason OF the submarine activities of
the enemy. But what changes have
come about In insularity when airplanes
can cross the Channel in half an hour!
OF what protection is the 24-mile Chan
mel under modern conditions?
X X X y
The cost of a tunnel was estimated
in 1913 to be about 100000 pounds
sterling ($80,000,000). Now it IS esti-
mated at $4,000, 900, owing to the in
creased wages and cost of all material
While the actual water barrier at the
point to be crossed Is only "a miles, the
approaches would add IL miles on the
British side and miles in France, in
order to get the grade down to the level
under the sea required; hence the, total
length of the tunnel would be A miles.
To construct 1t will require $4,000
workers on each end and a period of
six years. The route proposed is from
Monks Horton, England, to Mont Cou-
pie, southwest Of Calais, France, near
AmbleteuSe. This would provide for the
building of double track railway from
London via Maidstone, through the
tunnel, thence via Boulogne, Montreuil
| and Amiens to Paris.
This Is different route, altogether
from that contemplated in 1881, when
tunnel z feet in diameter was sbe-
gun in England and dug 1000 yards
a mile and a quarter-under sea, start
ing from near Dover A similar start
was made at the French end, near
! Calais, in 1919. The present project is
for double tube, each tube much
| greater in diameter.
The engineering plans show that the
tunnel would cross the Channel at a
depth OF about 500 feet below the sur
| face Of the water and about 100 feet
below the bottom of the sea. Beginning
at a point about miles out from the
English shore, and thence running to
the shore, will be a drainage channel
for seepage from the tunnel, which
water Will be controlled by pumps on
| shore "a cd
age channel runs out 14l2 miles from
shore. These drainage channels have
slope of foot in 500, while the tun-
mel approaches will vary from | foot In
81 to in 1000 feet across the Chan
mel itself
The double tubes will each contain a
railroad served with electric trains, run
ming without stop between the capitals
of the two countries.
| X X X
| Public sentiment in France Is very
strongly In favor of the tunnel, except
IN some military circles; Marshal Foch
| COMMUNICATIVE chief Of the allied armies
in the World War, has accepted the
Craftsmanship of committee appointed
to further the plan, SO it is obvious
that ali military sentiment is not in
opposition.
| In 1924, when 1t was discussed In
the British Parliament, the Labor party
opposed 1t; today sentiment has shift
ed, so that the Labor members are
the leaders in pushing the scheme to
the attention Of the opposing govern
ment. Possibly an enterprise which
would give six years employment to
$4,000 workers at both ends has its
own stimulating influence upon the
party championing Labor.
X X X
OF course, there continues more or
less fear of such a connection between
the island and the continent, but that
fear is greatly modified by the ex-
perienceS of the World War. when Eng