“Tunneling on railroads is currently being pushed to an severe. Even exactly where a detour would keep away from a bore, engineers seem to be to have a peculiar gratification in piercing the earth. Apart from the pleasure of a fantastic work concluded, is it not achievable that the fascination of delving just after the mysterious and mysterious may well be a clue to the present rage for tunneling? We tunnel less than lakes for water, by means of mountains for streets meant to conserve time and distance, and even suggest to unite countries, severed by seas, with tunnels. This age may well be called the age of the earth-borers.”

—Scientific American, January 1867

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