54 Discttssion on the Proposed Channel Tunnel. 



namely, that from Cushendall to Cantyre. Mr. Macassey spoke 

 of the St. Clair Tunnel in America, but the circumstances in 

 respect to it are entirely different. It was for the most part 

 driven through soft material, and it will only accommodate a 

 single line of rails. I think that Mr. Macassey must have taken 

 his statements from some of the American papers. There were 

 four years of preliminary consideration, and the scheme for a 

 time, after a second attempt, was abandoned. Then it took 

 years to complete, and under all the circumstances the American 

 papers described it as the quickest driven tunnel in the world. 

 I do not know that we can come to such a conclusion from a 

 review of facts. The Americans take to themselves the credit 

 of the St. Clair form of construction — this cast-iron lining — 

 but if I remember correctly the London Subway was constructed 

 on the same principle. The cost of the St. Clair Tunnel was 

 stated to be ;^300,ooo per mile. Having mentioned some 

 other American tunnels which are proposed, Mr. Maxton 

 proceeded : — Before it was decided to commence the work in 

 connection with the Mersey Tunnel, a trial heading was run 

 across the river. Supposing the proposed tunnel discharged 

 3,000 gallons of water per hour per mile, as does the Mersey 

 Tunnel, it would require engines of 22,000-horse power to 

 pump it out — engines twice the size of those of the Teutonic — 

 and from this we can imagine what the cost would be. The 

 expenditure on coal would be ;^6oo per day, and the engines 

 would cost about one million. I should not like to touch on 

 the question of ventilation. If I did, I should have to go to 

 Sir Robert Ball for those extraordinary figures he gave you in 

 his lectures on astronomy. It would require engines of 3,000- 

 horse power to ventilate the tunnel on the brattice system, but 

 if the ordinary system were used the horse power would reach 

 to millions. 



I should like to say only a few words upon the method I 

 myself propose to bridge the channel. The scheme is what is 

 called a mechanical one. There is no digging, or delving, or 

 mining, or quarrying about it. One great argument in favour 



