THE CHANNEL TUNNEL. 417 



fout' miles, besides incurring the other disadvantages of the Folke- 

 stone route. Four miles of sea tunnel would not cost far short of a 

 million, an amount which would pay for 4,000 horse-power at work, 

 night and day, pumping for nearly seven years — a power which would 

 i-aise more than 40,000,000 gallons each 24 hours. 



In deciding on the best line for the Channel Tunnel, the quantity 

 of water which may be met with is but one of many factors to be taken 

 into account. The Folkestone route would sacrifice all those of known 

 value for the one of which the value is least certain. 



No tunnel will ever be driven under the Channel without meeting with 

 some water, and an attempt to make one without ample preparations for 

 dealing with a large quantity of water will only lead to waste of money, 

 and, perhaps, failure. 



The following is a summary of the advantages to be obtained by 

 making the tnnnel in a direct line from Fan Hole to Sangatte : — 



The shortest sea tunnel. 



As short a land tunnel as by any line. 



A greater thickness of chalk through which to tnnnel. 



The best termination for effecting junctions with the existing English 

 railways. 



A termination affording facilities for defence at a less cost than else-, 

 where. 



No certain advantage can be claimed for the Folkestone route, and, as 

 compared with the route to the east of Dover, it has the following dis- 

 advantages : — 



The sea tunnel mnst be, at least, three miles longer. 



The land tunnel must be four miles longer, unless the month is placed 

 in the Folkestone landslip. 



The chalk on the line of tunnel will be only half the thickness — in 

 round numbers 250 feet against 500 feet. 



It will emerge near no fortifications, nor can it be connected with the 

 London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company's line at Dover. 



Further, this tunnel must be made, for a great part of its length, near 

 the outcrop of the beds through which it is driven. 



Ventilation. 



One of the requirements to be fulfilled by the tunnel, which was men- 

 tioned early in the discussion, was that it should be so designed as to be 

 capable of being worked by ordinary locomotives. 



A machine may be invented which will be capable of carrying on the 

 traSic, economically and expeditiously, through a tunnel such as the 

 Channel Tunnel ; but no machine is known, or has been tried up to the 

 present time, that is capable of doing the work so economically or so 

 conveniently as the ordinary locomotive. Until such has been tried and 

 proved equal to the work, it would not be prudent to spend some millions 

 of money in making a tunnel which could not be worked by the ordinary 

 means. It may be taken as an accepted fact that a Channel Tnnnel 

 worked by an ordinary locomotive would require artificial ventilation. 

 The matter was discussed, at some length, at a meeting of the Institution 

 of Civil Engineers, in 1876, when Mr. Morrison read a paper on the 

 subject. Most extravagant estimates were then made of the number of 



1882. E E 



