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Show THE HOOSA'J TUIiNFI., During the present month one of the great enterprises of the country is expected to be complet d. The railway rail-way inline! through the llcosac mountains, dividing Massachusetts fii.'ni Xew York, that for more than a quarter of a centiuy has tediou-ly progressed at an expend of millions of duliars and the cost of many lives, is now so far advanced that the workmen work-men in the eastern and western sides are only separated by a comparatively thin waif through which they can hear each other at work. They arc at present boring in a vein of soft ; soap-stone, and rapid advance is making, mak-ing, although the character of the .-4unc renders brick arching a necessity necess-ity to guard against caving. This tunnel is at once the Son ires ; in the b'nital States, and at 'the ;-.une time it lias been one of the most dim. -ult. Li '.-mlllI'-,'''' Second unly to the Mont Con is tunnel, connecting con-necting France and I tally, and seven miles and a half in length, the difficulties difficul-ties presented were ol'.en looked upon as almost insuperable. The entire j distance is i-l,ooo feet, or very nearly live miles, through granite, quariz-;ock, quariz-;ock, limestone, marble, and an occasional oc-casional streak ofso.ip-stone. On the 1st of June, 1S7S, there were 1,110 feet of solid rock weat uf the centra! nhaft, and between two and three thousand of partially fin-i?hcd fin-i?hcd work. Between January and June, the conlraetois had opened nearly 1,(M feet, and expected to pierce entirely through by the middle mid-dle of Xovunber. Some unforeseen delay may retard them a few weeks, but before the lirst of 1 'ecemher the Herculean task is to be finished. "When this project was commenced. : it was very generally laughed at and j ridiculed as a Utopian scheme, wild I anil impracticable as navigating the heavens, and its originators were denounced de-nounced as mad men and fouls. But they were men of comprehensive views. Their thoughts readied forward for-ward to the time -when in the J management of railroad lines a mat- j tor of a few miles in distance or in i grade wutiid be looked upon as of the utmost moment. It did" well enough with the lirst building of a few scattering scat-tering routes to go a hundred miles to reach a point fifty miles distant, but that time has. passed. Competition to- ! day demands that every mile of curve and every foot of grade bo taken into consideration especially in the projection of railroads in the States; and air-lines are the great desiderata. The Itoosac Tunue! shortens the vuutefrom Boston to Albany at leas'.a hundred miles in distance, curves, and grade?. This in He com para tivo rconomy in building and io:"kin is an item of first importance; slid had the d:!:.ieult:es of the work and the lust thereof been undei'siev-d when the project was lirst broached it is s--.;ircciy probable that it would have bjcu undertaken until many yea re 1'ter. Even up to 1) the tak seemed liopekss. The last opening in the spring of ih u year had been pushed m 1, ': feet. .hm the work '..uiic to a stand stiil. It was found impossible to secure ventii uion. and the o;i!y alternative, unless th.e project should be suspended, lem-po.-aiily at least, was to sink a ccn-':al ccn-':al shaft. This had i en, up to that : i:;ue. coiuldc rut entirely out of the : v;estio:i. To bvre thivugli i.7'' feet of granite and strike the 'line of the '.ork already compiet-.u reqiiitcd the and the most di tvnninc .1 persevcr-..uec. persevcr-..uec. How many years tiiis part of tile wt'rko-'''ipied,ve iiavc no; ti:ed.iLa :o s'ty, but it was tinaily.-ucei..-:.- fuiiy i - mplcti. and to--i.iv -n l-.ks to the ooeuhig of ti.ij "nat ik-ic" ant cen; in the iii'-tcrv "f the State. The "ilub" :.Toj.-., wiiii its co:ni.i.t:o:i. lo com-;.-te wh'n New York iCr the i.'.:iyir. -r.uie ol li:e entire W'ut, an 1 h.;.- no 1-rss an ambitiua ihan the traiisferr-:-g or the greater i--n:on of the European Eu-ropean grain lra:ie to hvr own &A:s i:;d p;-;rs. 'Ihe plan to cVt lihs. as ..ioic nienUoned in t.e IIlkau-. '..;e cST.sohd.aion of the va.iu.is ..oll s through M:saeln: elLi. and the i:v;;:;on of O.U eo;-.sjl::i.i :-:d he lj 0,--.vro. .V. V.. v.l.ere n l-and tlic couiiiicao of the 'jr..it Ucs. iuiMcLise t.p-.Lt.i:..!o iace r..vnbu:i:mv,n thiM,:5!l ;l..a , ) ,j;t,,:it :,m," nxi-iv in re-a:d t.';'Vl"'.- ,',".,","V""i ll h to be seen. At all ivmS H','"nZ pu-a.'hmg compltt:..!. t ... lj., raiim-1 is a triunn'h of s; iuec :-:.a en-ii.e.-in- tn.u r"e;io.;. ha ..Ti.-i m la- r.mway .. V t.f ! countrv. ('.irr:..! u,, chv'-fl :..tc,:.-M.i-,1n,;..u.;t.,:;l-r,:,.,y an erritii'.ng n.nnimn :u t ,, , :ivr,. v and hhh laL.'i'hhy ul l.i.it t- e-a;- j inouwi all ii. |