1 JANUARY 1881, Page 11

Mr. J. C. King, of Wellington Square, S.W., is a

bold man. He proposes to join Ireland to Scotland by a gigantic mole, stretching from the Mull of Cantyre to Tor Point, Antrim. The distance is la miles, the extreme depth 474 foot, and there are at each end billy tracts which might, by skilful engineering, be thrown into the Channel. The scheme is, of course, a mere dream, though no one would say that the actual junction of Ireland and Britain is beyond the possibilities of the future. It is conceivable that means of baring cylindrical tunnels at very great depths, and with much rapidity, may one day be discovered, though it is difficult even to imagine how they are to be ventilated. The tunnels of to-day through the Alps are teaching engineers many lessons, but they arc not able yet to dispense with air, to prevent water from percolating downwards, or to make tubes which could be kept air-tight and dry if laid upon a sea-floor, Even the tunnelling of great rivers has hitherto presented insuperable difficulties, though it would improve very seriously the facilities of locomotion. Bridges do not stand. long enough, under the vibration caused by trains.