A Proposition To Bridge The Bosphorus

o uie amazing mass oí wonui;riiu projeots with which the year is fllled, like those for crossing the Atlantic by balloon, pas.sing under the eartk by mar. velona tunnels, and annihilatiug space ! by aerial telcgraphs, Signor Antonio Ziuicllo, the well-known Italian engineer, contributes a plan for the material unión of Europo and Asia by a bridge over the Bosphorus. This itrncture he proposes to the Ottoman Empire to erect across the channel which divides Pera I and Scutari by construoting eighteen pillars i'rona shore to shore at heights sufficiont to allow large vessels sailing under. The' obstacles to be overeóme are immense. The depth of the Bosphorus at that point is as much as tWent.yfive fathorns in the raiddlo of the channel, and the stream rushes down with such forco that it is called "Devil's Current." It would be diffictilt, perhaps impossible, to placo solid pièrs at that point, and Signor Zimello does not disdain to get aruund this difficulty by adopting the idea of Xerxes and the Hellespont, which he thinks a good one, even though it failed in one instance. He proposes to support his central pillars upon pontoons under water, linked together, and with the supports in shore by strong submarino braces. The distance to be spanned ia over oue and a half miles, and if Signor Zimello can carry out his bold idea, rob the Bosphorus of its majepty and bend its forces to his will, he will have endured the severest test and proved himself one of the greatest engineers of his age.