INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1875. cclv 



nel under the waters of the English Channel, has by no 

 means been abandoned, as the following synopsis of the 

 events of the past year in relation thereto will indicate. 

 In April last the appointment of a joint commission by the 

 English and French governments was announced. The du- 

 ties of this body, which comprises eminent engineers of both 

 countries, are to examine and report on the scheme of con- 

 struction, so far as the same may affect the interests of 

 either government. It is understood, furthermore, that the 

 legislative concessions required for its construction have 

 been granted by the two governments. 



Latest reports state that soundings in the Channel are 

 actively going on, and that the engineers in charge of the 

 work are well satisfied with the results obtained. From 

 Paris it is reported that preliminary operations prior to the 

 commencement of the great undertaking have been begun. 

 The members of the French Commission declare that an 

 underground communication between France and England 

 is only a question of expense ; and the report they have 

 drawn up and submitted to the French government, with 

 the result of the soundings and of the study of the geolog- 

 ical questions involved, is said to favor the belief that the 

 project can be carried out with less expense than was at 

 first imagined ; and, finally, that the danger from leakage 

 and infiltration will not be so great as was originally sup- 

 posed. A shaft will shortly be sunk on the French side of 

 the Channel, near Calais, to the depth of 350 feet, similar to 

 that sunk some time ago on the English side, for the pur- 

 pose of positively establishing the nature of the rock forma- 

 tion. 



The details of the present situation of the project may be 

 summarized as follows: In 1872 the Tunnel Company was 

 Organized, and Sir John Hawkshaw, Mr. James Brunlees, and 

 M. Thome de Gamond were appointed the engineers of the 

 undertaking. On the English coast, St. Margaret's Bay, a 

 depression in the chalk cliffs about four miles east from 

 Dover, has been selected as the point of departure ; and on 

 the French side a spot about midway between Calais and 

 the village of Sangatte has been fixed upon. By adopting 

 this line, it is claimed from the observations of Sir John 

 Hawkshaw, the tunnel can be almost w T holly excavated in 



