THE ENGLISH CHANNEL

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 17 August 1929, Page 11

THE ENGLISH CHANNEL

fJMIE English Channel, that narrow stretch of .chappy water which separates France from the British Isles, has again been conquered by man. For many years, since the boats of Julius Caesar crossed it, the Channel refused to yield a sale path except to those who came in ships, in seaworthy era) t manned by experienced sailors, says a writer in the “New York Times.” In 1875 the first of the Channel swimmers made the distance, and in 1909 a curious contraption sailed over it by the air route. Now a Frenchman, Raoul Vincent, has pedalled across oil a sea bicycle, being the setond to accomplish tlu* feat. The Channel did ; ts utmost to defeat M. Vincent, raising high seas and strong contrary winds when he left the French coast, at Calais, "When he was within sight of the cliffs of Dover a cross-current swept upon him. and he lost ground for an hour. At one time the chain of his hydro-cycle broke, but he made the repairs alone without the aid of liis convoy. His time was 5 hours and .57 minutes.

Captain Webb was the first person to swim the 20-odd miles between Dover and Calais. His feat was more or Jess forgotten for a half-century, when, in 1926, an epidemic of Channel swimmers swept the realm of rsports. In that year George Michel made the distance in 11 hours 5 minutes. That year, too, the American, Gertrude T’derle, set up the record for women in the time of 14 hours 33 minutes. Altogether nine men and six women conquered its eo’d waters. Twenty years ago the Lindbereli of his dav. Louis Bleriot, started the world by liis announcement that lie intended to lly from Franco to Eng-

MANY STRANGE CROSSINGS

land. Doubters were routed, and the fogs and winds of the Channel were conquered; the frenchman made the 23.1 miles from Calais to Dover in 38 minutes. To-day- crossing the Channel by aeroplane is an ordinary occurrence. Geologists tell us that, before the Pleistocene Age—a comparative recent I era—the British Isles were joined To j the Continent, and that a great- cataclysm ripped them away. Many plans have been advanced to join the lands again, to avoid the short hut extremely uncomfortable —to those who are not “good sailors’’- —trip across the li-oistor-ous strait, i*rotn the time of Napoleon, who received a proposal to build a tunnel under the Channel, various schemes have been put forward to shorten the distance. In 1567 a Frenchman devised a bridge 22 miles long, supported, on 401) stone pillars. The cost was tco high, even if the construction were feasible. An English engineer brought forth a scheme for a row of high pontoons, kept in place by heavy chains, from which wire cables should stretch to support a railway track One rather peculiar scheme put forward was that of a huge wheel to gyrate across the bed of the Channel, bearing its load of passengers clear of the water. M. Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame, once designed plans for a. Channel bridge. In 1856 French engineers outlined a plan for a tube under the Channel bed. and recently the tunnel idea has made great progress in both England and France. Whether the construction of a tube eliminating the neeessitv for the unpleasant journey by beat will do away with the swimmers or “-stunt” riders is an open question. .