Some Tunnelling Feats 65 



drills used in the work but gave his best 

 energies to seeing it pushed forward. He 

 was a victim to his profession, being killed 

 by a fall of rock. Next came the Loetsch- 

 berg, a fraction over 9 miles in length. 

 As originally planned, the tunnel was to 

 have been perfectly straight and 8 miles 

 in length. A serious disaster threatened to 

 end the project. After driving the heading 

 2 miles through granite the men suddenly 

 broke into an ancient glacial gorge with an 

 underground river in its bed. In a few 

 moments the men and their equipment 

 were overwhelmed and lost beyond recovery. 

 Twenty-five men perished. Not to be beaten 

 the engineers blocked up the gap, turned 

 the course of the tunnel, and found the 

 solid granite once more. 



Coming to the New World we note the 

 wonderful achievement of piercing the 

 Andes. In point of length the tunnel is 

 insignificant, but in point of merit it is 

 one of the most splendid achievements of 

 the engineer. The railway itself is a master- 

 piece of careful planning on either side of 



