The Hawera Star. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1930. GIBRALTAR TUNNEL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 15 January 1930, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1930. GIBRALTAR TUNNEL.

Delivered every evening by 6 o'clook in Tfawera, Kanaka, Kaupokonui. Otakeho, Oe'. Pihama. dpun&ke. Normanby, Okainwa, Eltharn, Ngaere, Mangatoki, Kapouga, Awatuna, Te Kiri, Mnhoe. Lowgarth, Manutahi, 'Kakarainea, Alton, Hurley ville. Patea, Whenuakura, Waverley. Mokoift. Whakamara, o*»angai, Mtremere. Fraser Road and Ararata

The preliminary step, according to [ cable messages, in the scheme for a •tunnel under .the Straits of Gibraltar is to be taken by sinking an exploration shaft on the Spanish coast. This huge project originated with Colonel •Tevonois, ai distinguished artillery officer, whoso enthusiasm and- capacity so impressed the Spanish Government that it made itself responsible for the cost of the whole of the preliminary explorations. Naturally, the site for the tunnel is of furst importance, and while the Straits are only eight miles across at. the narrowest point, the broken geological formation of the sea bed at that point, and the. great depth of water, haive driven prospectors to find another route. The eastern end of the Straits is also impossible, for, besides the dangerous nature of the sea bottom, 'the soundings there exceed 3000 feet. But about fifteen miles west of Gibraltar the waters shoal, and geological indications a.re far more favourable, and it is here that the exploratory work is

being commenced. It is estimated that the tunned will need to be about twenty miles long, with its .lowest point not more than 1500 feet below sea level and 200 feet below sea bottom, and the gradient would be so easy that electric trains would make the journey in thirty or forty minutes. The originator of the scheme calculates that the work should not cost more than £10,000,000, basing his estimate on double the cost of the Simplon tunnel, the most expensive yet built, and taking into account the progress made in tunnelling machinery and in economic working. Though the plans for this tunnel are not so advanced as are those for the Channel tunnel, Colonel .Tevenois would like his scheme to be carried out in conjunction with that designed to con-

n.ect Great Britain with the Continent, as the problems, of each are very similar, and the- 'machinery for building one tunnel might serve also for the other. The construction of the Gibraltar tunnel would, moreover,' make Northern j Afrieri. a weailtih-contribait-in asus-et for Spain instead 1 of being a eoutimuin] drain for heavy military expenditure. The projected tunnel might have been built ten times over ■with the money that has been, exported in campaigns in Morocco during the last twenty years. Then, again, many political problems would assume a new aspect with the construction of the tunnel. Modern international jurisprudence tends towards making all great trade highways accessible to every nation, and the question whether this tunnel should be controlled by the League of Nations has already received attention.

Its construction would also be of the greatest interest to France, especially in, view of her scheme for a transSaharan railway, and arrangement with Spain to use the tunnel for the transfer of troops would be so, extremely valuable that she would probably be prepared to make advantageous concessions. One issue of interest to Great Britain is Gibraltar. Colonel Jevenods says that fortress is out of date and by no means impregnable, and a® a patriotic Spaniard ho makes the suggestion that, should the tunnel be built, Gibraltar might remain a 'commercial establishment under the Spanish flag, with British interests properly safeguarded. In return, Spain might cede

certain tsi anas m tne ,'straits that would make a naval and air base of incomparably greater value to Great Britain. This Gibraltar tunned project naturally 100-ms large as opening up a new road from Europe to the East by way of Northern Africa,, and, indeed, the possibilities are so immense that it may have an influence on countries that at first sight would seem to lie unaffected by its construction.