(179 NOV 26 1800 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND QUERIES, WITH ANSWERS. "The hidden secret of the universe is powerless to resist the might of thought."-HEGEL. VOL. VII. NOVEMBER, 1890. Tunnels of the World. The Allegheny Portage tunnel was built in 1831. No. 11. The Black Rock tunnel, on the Reading railroad, was constructed in 1836. A tunnel 6,606 feet long was driven under Lake Erie from Cleveland, O., for the purpose of obtaining pure water. The Sand Patch tunnel, on the Pittsburg and Cornellsville branch of the Reading, was completed in 1871. Cæsar found Alexandria honeycombed with subterranean tunnels supplying water from the Nile to the houses of the city. The St. Gothard tunnel through the Alps was begun in the Fall of 1872. Its length is nine and a quarter miles and its cost some $10, 000,000. The Kingwood and Broadtree tunnels, and the Chespeake and Ohio. railroad and the Great Bend tuunels are specimen pieces of heavy tunneling in the United States. The Hudson river tunnel is progressing satisfactorily. The daily progress is 3.4 feet. The distance already reached is 2,260 feet, the total distance to be covered being 5,060 feet. The tunnel driven under Lake Michigan, to secure pure water for Chicago, begun in March, 1864, was constructed two miles in length to a crib in the lake, inside of which an iron cylinder was sunk. The new aqueduct from the Croton dam to New York city a distance of 29.63 miles, or including the pipe lines to the Central park reservoir of thirty three miles, is the largest piece of tunneling yet done. Of subaqueous tunnels the most famous is that under the Thames at London, begun in 1807 and finally completed for foot passengers in 1843; total length, 1,200 feet; cost, $6,000 a lineal yard, or a total of $2,500,000. The cast iron tunnel under the St. Clair river, connecting Canada with the United States, has recently been completed. The total length is 6.050 feet, of which 2,300 feet is under the river bed. The outside diameter is 21 feet. The Mount Cenis tunnel was a tremendous engineering work, in which air pumps were worked by hydraulic power, although the work was begun by hand labor in 1847. It was finished in 1871, the total cost having been $15,000,000. The Hoosac tunnel project was originally considered as far back as 1825. It was not until the Shanly Brothers, of Montreal, in 1858, took the contract that construction was rapidly pushed. They completed their work in December, 1864. The Roman tunnels served as aqueducts, the one to tap Lake Albanno, begun 389 B. C., being 6,000 feet long. On the aqueduct to connect Lake Fucinus with the River Liris 30,000 men were employed for ten years, the work being finished A. D. 52. The Musconetcong tunnel, on the Lehigh Valley railroad, a speci men of heavy tunneling by means of machine drilling, was begun in 1872 and finished in 1875. Every modern appliance was used, including the Ingersoll drill, the Burleigh compressor, and dynamite. SWORD OF DAMOCLES. Damocles, the courtier of Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, envied the condition of his master. He was invited to assume the position he so much envied, and was seated before a gorgeous banquet, but in mid-air above his seat a glittering sword was suspended by a hair. Afraid to move lest the slightest jar should cause it to fall, Damocles passed the allotted time in a torment of fear. The phrase is used to denote impending or dreaded disaster. 66 CASE OF QUESTIONABLE RELATIONSHIP. "Presumption is the daughter of ignorance"-Rivarol. "Ignorance is the mother of slavery"— Ingersoll. Ignorance is the mother of fear"-Kames. Ignorance is the mother of suspicion "-Alger. "Ignorance is the mother of all evil"-Montaigue. "Ignorance is the mother of devotion "-Jeremy Taylor. Hence, Devotion, as an evil, is a sister of Slavery, Fear Presumption, and Suspicion. But Disraeli says, "Ignorance never DEXTER. settles a question. Poe as a Puzzler. Aidyl's ingenious verses will naturally suggest to many members of a club the still greater achievement of this kind of that erratic genius, Edgar Allan Poe. The poet once wrote a valentine for a lady friend in which the first, second, and third letters of the first, second, and third lines, and so on down, ingeniously spelt her name, Frances Sargent Osgood. This i how he did it: For her this rhyme is penned whose luminous eyes, That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure- The triviaiest point, or you may lose your labor! Which one might not undo without a saber Like the knight Pinto-Mendez Ferdinando, you can do. In sweet communion may our spirits blend Kind hearts will answer to your call, A ttracted by a winning face; The lady so admired by all A long thy path may sunbeams play; No storms arise thy steps to stay; Night's brightest stars as guides alway — DEXTER, Acrostic et Aphorism from Beecher. Hours are like sponges they wipe out good resolutions. You never will head for the safe harbor till you take your stand at the wheel. We are in this world to be fashioned by its grinding. As a flower is the finest stroke of creation, so the rose is the happiest hit among flowers. Riches are not an end of life, but an instrument. Doctrine is nothing but the skin of truth set up and stuffed. Beware the narrow and intense moment of the pressure of temptation. E ach one is at liberty to fashion God so that his thought can clasp Him. E very one of us will know each other in heaven. Cares are very much like pimples; if you let them alone, they will dry up and disappear. Happiness in the world is universal; sorrow is exceptional. E cclesiasticism has always been the Devil's cloak under which to work evil. Refinement that carries us away from our fellow-men is not God's refinement. Acrostic on Benedict Arnold. Born for a curse to virtue and mankind Earth's broadest realm ne'er knew so black a mind, In all the glare that infamy can give Almighty vengeance sternly waits to roll Let hell receive you, riveted in chains DEXTER. -OLIVER ARNOLD. |