Gothard Tunnel, which ranks in the
history of great public works side by side with the piercing of the
Frejus, and the marvelous digging of Suez and Panama.
We recall just now the names of those who, during nearly ten years, have
contributed with entire disinterestedness to the completion of this
colossal work. Over all stands a figure of very peculiar
originality--that of M. Louis Favre, the general contractor of the great
tunnel, whose name will remain attached to the creation of this work
through the Helvetian Alps, like that of Sommeiller to the great tunnel
of the Frejus, and that of De Lesseps to the artificial straits that
henceforward join the oceans. Having myself had the honor of occupying
the position of general secretary of the enterprise under consideration,
I have been enabled to make a close acquaintance with the man who was so
remarkable in all respects, and who, after passing his entire life in
great public works, died like a soldier on the field of honor--in the
depths of the tunnel.
[Illustration: LOUIS FAVRE.]
[Illustration: THE DOWNFALL OF THE TITANS, CONQUERED BY THE GENIUS OF
MAN. (Monument at Turin to Commemorate the Tunneling of the Alps.)]
I saw Favre, for the first time, in Geneva, in 1872, a few days after he
had assumed the responsibility of undertaking the great work. He had
been living since the war on his magnificent Plongeon estate, on the
right bank of the lake.
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