New-York tribune., 1867-03-23

railroad-the lowest track (doublc) to be sunk
below the surface for the passage OF freight
trains; the middle, upon the surface, for horse
cars, stopping on every block; and the upper.
70 be elevated on posts and swiftly traversed
by passenger trains which only stop every mile
or So 10 let off passengers, who may finish
their journey on the hor,e-road if they choose.
This road crosses the east and west streets on
their surface. but stops only on the blocks be-
tween them And, as the houses may be left
untouched above the second story, the road
will for the most part, be completely under
cover. thus shielded from snow, ice rain, and
sun. and so rendered remarkably inviting We
have seen no rival project that seemed caCu-
lated 10 effect 80 much general good at the
cost of 40 little individual harm.
Now bear the most cogent Of the notions
whereby its realization is resisted:
SAYS Mr.. G.. F. Southwayd:
"They propose to make street twenty-five feet vide,
n ~ CentraI P,r They have limited that this ns
will be in the central line OF tho DOCK Dut they not
bound 50 20 r ao @ ami NEVER have been such splendid op
portnity FOR the levyng black mail vested IN company
That ia 10 say: Instead of running the road
on the rear of the lots, where 800 per lmeal
foot will pay for The land required, they may
run it where they will have to pay S2,OOo per
Iineal foot. and be immensely impeded and
embarrassed by the necessity OF tearing down
whole blocks of houses and stores! Is MT this
paltry bugbearf
AS TO "levying black mail" it ia process
with which railroad men are tOlerably familiar
witness the Hudson Riyer;) but they are not
the LEVERS but the levied-upon. Who does not
know this
He proceeds
zone Of tho advantages they say will be that the cn.
dcrground road will be shallow, not going nearly 40 low
down the other plans Thus II VIII DC cneap roso ON
the Csnast plan"
This shallowness 10 certainly grave mat
tor. What pity the projected road is not ~
| profound "a Mr. Southmayd's wit
| He continues:
"Thep they have the stroetcsrs the surface; and
then comes the gem OF the whole scheme the road run
the company determined 70 make as much profit .;
possible; tor they say that there VIII be two stories
lofts above the line. which may be let for hctories
| saloons, and such like"
We'll; why not They pay not only for
the ground, but for the buildings as they
stand they only need the two lower stories :
why should they not preserve and rent tho
| bigherq Will not the owners of the houses
ON either side be glad to have them thus
guarded against the possibility of being dug
down in the construction or shaken down by
the working of the railroadf Must not
material for fault finding be scarce, even 10
| Mr.. Southmayd's own opinion
| He goes on:
70 the remuneration TO those whose homes Will bs
removed for the purpose OF building the road there VIII
be committee 70 the value OF the properly tha'
has been injured and thus II will be grinding cont
tee the persons will be theoretically paid, and few WIZ
receive rs per cent OF their value AS 10 tne houses G
either side OF them be occupied Inc rOau VIII
run through fifty blocks forty OF them luy pun, up;
and thus hundred and sixty houses will be rendered
entirely unfit for occupation without their owners being
compensated in tho least The houses, ere'l tc'hn one
hundred fe ,ciH be almost as unrtfing as pdtes 0 hdo
1on The house then ncrt The line tcOud o deserted as
d,reig and he what could be put 70 IL
might make machine shop or fouDderY; ~ ~o1d mo-
be even sufficiently quiet for lager-beer saloon.
We trust the road will run through the
tier of houses next to Mr.. SOuthmayd's, and
that he will thus be shamed into offering his
for rent or sale. Is there a mortal green
! enough to imagine that he will offer it even
ten per cent. below its present valuef We,
surely, are not We shall expect to see him
ask an enhanced price because of its conye-
nient proximity to the great Transit Railroad.
If we could only make room. we would
gladly quote further, and from all the lawyers
who made speeches at the anti-Tansit meet
ing Suffice it that the reasons adduced arc
not a whit less fantastic than those above
cited.