The operations were commenced at both ends in 1872, under the auspices
of M. Louis Favre. This great contractor, to whose industry and genius
so much of the final success of the scheme was due, died of apoplexy
whilst inspecting the tunnel, after seven years of unremitting labour
and anxiety. The difficulties which poor Favre had to contend against
were terrible, not the least of which were the crushing of the masonry,
the striking of springs, and a riot among the workmen, which took place
in 1875.
We were a little disappointed with the length of the tunnel, especially
as we had heard that the boring alone had taken nearly eight years to
accomplish. But travelling through a tunnel is not a very agreeable
sensation, as passengers by the Underground Railway will know, so we
were glad when the train emerged from the darkness and slowly wended its
way past Airolo, the first Italian village on the south side of the St.
Gothard. The scenery changes its character almost immediately on leaving
the tunnel; for though it is still, of course, mountainous, with a
roaring torrent, the Ticino, almost equal to the Reuss in its
impetuousness, yet it is much more luxuriant than the Swiss side.
Mulberry trees and vines gradually begin to appear, and the little
church towers (called in Italian, Campanili) becoming more frequent as
one goes south, greatly add to the picturesqueness of the landscape.
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