The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-11-12


fs'd Eat the trains would never be able to ran
twsnty miles an bour for that life could not DO sus
.Aned ~ that rate ofspeed Others said 1t would DO
impossible to use them in the winter. that the frost
and snow would prevent that; ard remember to
have seen letter from q gentleman Of some dis
tinction, written when railways we're rst projected,
propbecying their failure means of transporting
merchandise, because the jar would be too great
These prejusices have disappeared. and so will the
prejudices against IL iways in cities. venture to
predict that it will yet become an admitted prin.
ciple, that the railway car must supersede every
other mode Of conveyance, on all routes where
the rail can be laid, and the amount Of travel will
justify the expense of construction.
What is the application now before the commit
tee! 1t is the application of Jacob Sharp, John
Anderson, William Mcnzies, and their associates,
''for the privilege of laying down . railroad in
broadway, from The South ferry. through White
TO t. n1S the sn sSo
made Of . particular kind of railway. You may
make such regulations on that point as you think
most expedient. You may require the applicants to
lay down double atreble track as you please If
were 10 express my own opinion, should say that
double track was preferable. should recommend
two tracks only, and cars twenty. four feet long,
and six wide capable of carrying sixty persons in,
side and on the top. And, in my argument, shall
suppose, by way Of illustration, such track and
such cars to be actually mada1nRd shall endeavor
to show how, upon such . pl< he railway il prao-
ticable. and win answer the purposes intended.
| 1t must be borne in mind, that the application
does not suppose any interference whatever with
private vehicles The carriage, the cart every sort
Of private conveyance, will circulate in Broadway
as before. What is proposed is, to substitute one
kind Of public conveyance for another; to let the
take the place of the omnibus. Instead Of these
heavy, noisy, racing vehicles, on high wheels,
which now cucumber the street, stunning you with
their noise, battering the pavement, and tearing
from one side Of the street to the other, should
have cars, on low wheels, moving upon smooth iron
rails, fixed line, making little noise, and doing
no injury to the pavement.
The applicants alege:-
1. That they can lay double or treble track Of
iron rails even with the pavement and insert in it
groove SO narrow, that foot wheel enter it.
z That they can place on these rails carriages
capable Of taking sixty persons inside and on the
top, and move them with two horses at the rate Of
Eve or Elk miles the hour.
Is this practicable There csn DO no manner Of
doubt that rail, flush with the pavement. can be
laid, 50 that carriage crossing it in any direction
would feel no jar and if fange of half an inch in
width will be sufficient to guide the car, the groove
may be made so narrow that no wheel used in
Broadway can get into it Upon this point we
have the evidence Of Mr.. Edwin Smith, civil en-.
hand, that sueh fange would be sufficient, il the
cars do not move at greater speed than six or
seven miles the hour As to the cars, it is beyond
que stion that they can be built Of the kind and
If, then, the plan is practicable our next inquiry
is, what object is to be gained by it, what good will
serve For though it be never SO feasible, yeti it
will answer no good purpose, it ought not to be
This brings me to the main argument. What are
the objects 70 be sought They are these
l. A better mode of convey ance for passengers,
The relief of Broadway.
Increased facilities Of communication between
the upper and lower parts Of the city.
Here will venture to state the following propo-
First. That if there were ample room in Broad
way for all the omnibuses necessary to carry all the
passengers who do now or may hereafter need the
conveyance, the substitution of cars for omnbuses
would be desirable, because the cara are easier,
quicker cheaper for the passengers lees burdenseme
the city and less annoying to persons passing or
living in the street.
Second That there is not sufficient room in Broad
way for the omnibuses we now have, much less for
those which will be necessary hereafter, if that mode
OF convey ance is to be perpetuated; or, in other
| words. that Broadway should be relieved, and in
creased facilities given to the intercourse between
the upper and lower wards.
Third That railway in Broadway is q measure
Indispensable to the accomplishment fthese objects
Fourth That there are no solid objections to such
railway, and that, therefore, the application ought
to be granted
These propositions will now endeavor to enforce.
First. The rail car is preferable to the omnibus
a mode o. conveyance. IL is easier, as think
everybody will concede who ha. ever compared one
with the other. Ore is q uniform motion upon a
quail, liable to JOLT and made more disagreeable by
the constant practice of racing. Then the car is
quicker. Why is it quicker! 1t is because . less
force is necessary to move the same weight upon
the remonstrants, asserted, indeed, that the Russ
pavement had as little friction as the iron rail; but
this, hr Chairman, is palpable extravaganza.
Gillespie, In his treatise on roads, mentions on
experiment which be made in London, stone
tIsckway on which the friction was reduced to one
one hundred and eightieth Of the weight he gives
eightieth of the weight. The stone trackway men
toned by him was smooth, not grooved and
roughened as is the Russ pavement Of course the
latter has nothing like the advantage Of the
ptn %vnn EuroU IN % So A. EIv,r
Smith, whom have already mentioned, estimates
the proportion between the iron rail and the Russ
pavement, as one to five in favor Of the rail.
The railway is cheaper than the omnibuses, be-
cause less expeDsivct to construct and work. On this
point / take the calculation Of the remonstrants
themselves, who have stated the capital invested
in omnibuses, running on Broadway, at 81, 100000 ;
and the entire cost Of the proposed railway, fur
nished complete, ut $3.50 600. Here, then, is .
gain in proportion of ten to one. Blu. this is not
all Now, as shall show hereafter, sixty one cars
will do all the work Of 627 omnibuses. Allowing
two horses to an omnibus car, we have l22 horses
doing the work of ,05i, being gain of 932 each
set, and as each vehicle has three sets of horses
during the day, the total gain in the number of
horses, necessary 10 work the two kinds of convey
ance. will be 2 1856
The railway is less burdensome to the city, be-
cause the expense OF the pavement is vastly lees ;
that must be apparent to every one. We all know
that the great injury done to the pavement Of New
York is caused by the ompibuses. Even the Russ
pavement, after two or three years service, is now
IN toIne places materially indented.
Besides, The railway will be less annoying to per-
sons passing or living on the street. There will be
less noise. Perons walking in Broadway ore un
able TO converse with any pleasure the noise of the
omnihu uses ia so great the are almost nose-
less, so much So that it is sometimes thought neces
tary to put bells on the horses to give notice of
their approach. There would also b. less dust.
Whet makes the dust in Broadway! The chief
cause Of ell that fills our eyes and lungs every
morning is the omnibuses.
Again, if you put down railw way there will DO
less obstruction than is caused by the 527 omni-
buses for which will be substituted sixty one cars
Can they cause the same obstruction to passengers
There is also less danger, because you know when
the cars are coming, but you do not know when an
omnibus is coming; you must look out in every di.
rection for omnibuses, as they come racing up and
down Broadway, and get out Of their way.
/ pnss now to the next nronositinn. and that ia