“Tunneling on railroads is remaining pushed to an intense. Even in which a detour would stay away from a bore, engineers appear to be to have a peculiar gratification in piercing the earth. Aside from the delight of a wonderful perform accomplished, is it not doable that the fascination of delving following the mysterious and not known could be a clue to the current rage for tunneling? We tunnel beneath lakes for drinking water, by means of mountains for roads meant to conserve time and distance, and even propose to unite nations around the world, severed by seas, with tunnels. This age could be known as the age of the earth-borers.”

—Scientific American, January 1867

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