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Prufrock-1 Tunnel Maker Arrives In Vegas
The sight of a huge boring machine coming up out of the Earth is always a thrilling sight to science fiction fans.
I'm sure you'll enjoy this illustration from Ed Earl Repp's 1929 Science Wonders Stories yarn The Metal World:
One of the earliest earth-boring science fiction stories that I know about is the quirky 1897 story The Great Stone of Sardis by Frank Stockton.
But the great value of this shell lay in the fact that the moment it encountered a solid substance or obstruction of any kind its propelling power became increased. The rings which formed the cone on its forward end were pressed together, the electric motive power was increased in proportion to the pressure, and thus the greater the resistance to this projectile the greater became its velocity and power of progression, and its onward course continued until its self-containing force had been exhausted...

(The automatic shell)
In less than a day Clewe had perfected an idea which he believed might be of practical service. For some time there had been talk of a new railroad in this part of the State, but one of the difficulties in the way was the necessity of making a tunnel or a deep cut through a small mountain. To go round this mountain would be objectionable for many reasons, and to go through it would be enormously expensive. Clewe knew the country well, and his soul glowed within him as he thought that here perhaps was an opportunity for him to demonstrate the value of his invention, not only as an agent in warfare, but as a wonderful assistant in the peaceful progress of the world.
There was no reason why such shells should not be constructed for the express purpose of making tunnels.
(Read more about automatic shell)
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