Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE GREAT SIMPLON TUNNEL., Engineers Have Met With Seemingly Insurmountable Obstacles. WXash ington Times. The outlot)k for completing the Simplon tunnel in Switzerland. one of the w.nders of the wrld, has re centlv hoceme gloomy-. After piercing a gigantic tube through the rock heart of the highty Alps for a distance of about twelve miles. work has practically come to a standstill. owing to the tapping of a spring o hot watef. . Only a few hundred yards remained to be bored and the entire undertaking was expected tri be completed by next April. The pumps are unable to cope with the flow, and even if the eniTineers can1 overcome this difficulty it is feared that in the very center of the moun tain is a great and insurmountable molten mass which will bar further progress. - The dangers and difficulties of the Simplon have been stupendous, and maziy lives have been lost since the commencement of the work, which at the outset was declared by more than one expert to be an impossible task Accidents of all kinds have happened to delay the progress of the work. On many occasions vast under ground lakes have been unexpectedly tapped and broken in upon, and in a few moments the flooded workings have become a scene of terror and *destruction. A seething, ever-increas ing torrent of sometimes cold, but more .'ten of almost boiling water has swept all before it, dashing the terrified workmen like corks against the rocks, drowning and crippling them. The intense heat in the tunnel has from the commencement been a source of discomfort and even danger, and the sudden rises of temperature have more than once completely ovel come whole gangs. of workmen who have been rescued and removed to the mouth of the great shaft in a fainting, half-suffocated condition. The Simplon tunnel, the work on which was begun six years ago, and on which io,ooo men have been en gaged, will, if ever completed, be the longest in the world. The reason for its great length is that its course is at a far lower altitude above sea level than that of other Alpine tun nels. It is to be twelve and one half miles long, and is 2.310 feet above sea level. The work of piercing was com menced at Brigue on the Swiss side and at Iselle on the Italian side, sim ultaneously. All the miners are Italians. It was thought that the mountain was composed of vertical strata, but horizontal beds were met instead. The rapidity with which the Sim plon has been constructed may be better judged by comparing the time taken in excavating the two other great Alpine tunnels-the St. Go thard and the Mont Cenis. When the Mont Cenis tunnel, (seven and a half miles) was commenced in 1859, the engineers expected to take twenty years to complete their tasks. -Rock perforators had not then been invent ed and the work was done by manual labor alone. While the tunnel was thus being slowly and laboriously hewn by hand through the rocks the first ma-chine drilis and perforators were invented, and with their help the tunnel was completed in 12 years The more modern St. Gothard tun nel (nine and a half miles long) was completed in eight years. One of the greatest difficulties at tending the wo'rk in the Simplon is the necessity for obtaining continual supply of pure, cool air in the tunnel so that the -v'orkmen shall not suf focate fromi the foul heated atmos phere. The heat in the workings is intense, and would at times have ex ceeded 15 degrees Fahrenheit had not the coiling and ventjLing ar rangements b2een so good. To meet the difficulty of supplying a current of cool air a Swiss engineer -M. F-irsel-Gisy-invented a special water co-.,linig spray system. B.; the plan icy cold vater, biought at high pressure in pipes to. the head of the workings. is diffused at the rate or 1,ooo gallons a minute into a thick sheet of cold' spray, and through this the air is pumped into the tunnel by ventilators. The vast power necessary foir all this work of driving, boring, pumping and ventilating is supplied by Dame Nare from the falls of the Rhone For Fullest Protectj, Uuexe The Mutual Investm PACIFIC Life Insuran( OF CALIFOPN IA: AND PROVIDES Yearv Cash Dividends. Grace for Pay iug Premiums Installment Plans of Settle ment. ALSO FOR Immediate Pav Restoration Rights. Rights to Change- Bene ficiary. Possesses every element of security. Pays Big Divi ROBERT General Agent fcr South Carolii NEWBEF and Rivera, whence immense turbines? are steadily giving out 2.200 horse power. which is more than enough for all emergencies. The lighting of the works has not been done by electricity, owing to the difficulty and dangers of bringing the cable into the tunnel and in its place acetylene lamps have been successfully used. Great was the rejoicing when at the beginning of August last the work men in the northern or Swis portion of the tunnel- distinctly heard for the first time the faint sounds of . the blasting and drilling in the southern or Italian portion. It will be heart breaking if the difficulty now en countered should prove to be insur mountable. It will take at least three months more to pierce the remaining 200 yards of the tunnel under the present conditions, but it is feared that in the middle of the mountain, which has nearly been reached there exists a molten mass, signs of which are evi dent. The obstacle may, perhaps, prove insurmountable, as the temper ature will be doubled, making it im possible for human beings to work. However, until the new spring is mastered nothing .dlefinite can be fore told. A Swiss expert who recently stated after examination that the completion of the worlp was inipos sible with the present plant, nlow pre dicts that only steel rafters twenty inches thick for the roof will be able to baffne the heat. During the last few weeks progress has been made at the rate of ten inches a day in stead of eight yards as formerly. With the exception of the tunnel the builders of the railroad which is to pass through it will find techni cal difficulties. The landings on either side of the Simplon railroad will be very easy of access, as the present Jura-Simplon road, coming from Generva, stops only two kilo metres from the north gate of the projected tunnel, while on the south side of the projected tunnel the Ital ian railroads in Domo d' Ossola will join the Simplon trains. An Eye Specialist. J. K. Perry. representative of Faulkner & Co., a woolen firm of Chi cago. wears a glass eye, and he does nut care who knows it, says the New York Globe. Concerning this, he told the following: "If you are ever troubled with your eyei.glt said he. "and wish to have the defect remedied, see that you go to a genuine specialist. I have only one eve now, and I am naturally care ful about looking after its welfare. Not long ago my eye did not seem to 'burn' as brightly as usual, so I wvent to a man in Chicago who claimed toi he' a specialist in dliseases of the eye. IHe took me into his consulting room and reqluested me to stand in the light. so that he could get a good look at my eve. As he examined it from time to time he shook his head grave lv. " How is it?' I asked, trying to sup icrew a smile. 'Anything serious?' "You have gout in your family,' he replied evasively. "No, and there never has been.' I mn at Least Cost it is elled. ent Contract of the MUTUAL 3e Company ORGANIZED 1868. AND IS ___.__ Incontf-stible V. 'cAfter One Year vUnlimited as to Residence or Travel. 'Tbo Muitual Inlvost mch1I~t Collt Gives the larg est anount of protection the :1noney will buy. Arm and defend both Insured Sind Beneficiary at all points. A plain policy easily understood. dends Yearlv. NORRIS, ia. Office Over Postoffice. RY, S. C. 'Well, at any rate, you have it yourself; I can see that from your eye.' " 'Anything else wrong?' I asked. " 'I must be frank with you.' he re plied; 'that eye of yours requires im mediate attention or you will lose the sight of it in a short time. I think I can give you something that will very quickly fix the trouble.' "Well, I thought that specialist had carried his bluff far enough. When I told him he had been examining my glass window' all the time he began, of course, to blurt out all sorts of ex cuses, but I fled." Biggest Trout of the Season. As far as is known, the laurels for capturing the largest trout this sea son will be handed to a Philadel phian, Milton Apple. The catch was made on the last day of the trout season, and the fish is one of the fin est ever seen in Stroudsburg or East Stroudsburg. Mr. Apple was fishing in the creek at Henryville, in front of the residence of E. R. Henry. He had been having fair luck, and then he had a "rise." He expected to land a fair size fish. and was totally un prepared for 'the surprise he experi enced when he landed the monster he had on the end of the line. The fact that the trout was well hooked and that the fisherman kept his head prevented any accident. It took about an hour before the trout was finaHly safe on land. The fish measured 25 1-2 inches and weighed 6 1-4 pounds. Mr. Apple also caught a trout measuring 22 inches. He was offered $1o for the largest. but said he had never sold a trout, mnd never would.' The pilot of the locomotive is out of joint, if we may refer to that por tion of the iron horse as its nose. A new rival is in the field, and it be gins to look dangerous. Five years ago a commission of expert railway men and electrical engineers carefully considered the question of using electrical power on railways, and it was generally agre ed that for the time b)eing no such change could be made. Since then there have been new inventions and discoveries and new engineering processes, and the engineering processes, and the appli cation of electricity to a limited ex tent on the present steam roads is practically an accomplished fact. The entire Long Island railway is to adopt electric power, and the New York Central will use this motive force for 30 miles north of its New York ter intals. The Pennsy-lvania will in stell it exclusively on its new tunnel lines in New York. It may well be considered that this is only a be-ginning. All the effogts by physicists the world ovcr to secure a higher potential from coal, or. in other words. to conserve more of the So or oo peir cent. of heat that is nowv wasted, hav-e had in view stationary engines. It has seemed impossible to make any saving on a locomotive. WVhen the latent heat of cral can be used to better advantage it will make electricity a much cheaper force than now, and in the end steam wvill be relegated to such roads as cannot se cure chapn electrical power. SANTA CLAUS I for 1904 will be at STAND where f( have labored to si of our patrons w Goods at Reasoni we earnestly solici of the generous has always been i Our stock is ful Fruits of all kind Candies of all Nuts, Raisins, Da Mince Meat, Etc, Et Fruits for your Fru TOYS! TOYS! The best assortement berry. . Home made Fruit C made Fruit Cakes. DOLLS! DOL The prettiest ever seen , For anything you w( Christmas Dinner or to call on us. Every child in the cou the many pretty things' us for them. Come earl S. B. J( Reductii If you have never tradedi to do so now. Our Goods of same quality are sold any now to reduce our stock by SHOES. This is one of our strores ,largely and expect to make To make ready for our up-: sell any Shoe in our Storei six months AT_ACTUJ CLO TH I To close out some odds a Cost: Pants, 50cts and up: $3.50 and up. We carry dies' and Children's Uni ractive bargains in this li on Beds, Bureaus, Harn Buggies and Just received a Car of as where, and will make right for anything you wish to put AULL &UHIPP, P. S. We give trading stamps for hand, the same OLD )r 21 years we .ipply the wants ith First Class ible Prices and it a continuance patronage that yiven us. S, kinds, tes, Figs, Prunes, :C. it Cakes. TOYS! TOYS! ever brought to New ikes and New York LS! DOLLS! iere. int to complete your please the Children ntry is invited to see Ad santa has left with y an d often. )NES. ~IIDP itusbefore, it will pay you aways priced as low as goods where--are being sold for Tess JANUARY 1ST. Departments. We bought this our banner Shoe Season, -date Spring Line, we will hat has been on the shelves AL COST. NG. nd ends, we offer at less than~ C ats, $1.00 and up; Suits, c*mplete line of Men's, La we~.ar, and can offer some at Also a full line of Trunks, Saddles. Lap Robes, Etc. Wagonsl good Wagons as sold asy :rices to buyers. Come to us chase. MARIA,S