New-York tribune., 1871-05-04

Of no Iva hOrersNOC
Last year the Metropolitan district nearly obtained
pc,,uisson "a eontrnct their lines and to turn due
north iron, cannon-st TO tho hlansoIi House. from
which point they could hayo formed Junction easily
with the Metropolitan by aline running underneath s'oc
gates st. Bat the bil thrown ont Ivy tho Lo'e'
through the influence Of the Corporation, and the ao~
now not likely to be taken up again
PRESENT rRoSrEcTs.
rbus at the rresent moment, the underground i"'N,
system Of London consists of horseshoe heng
about 1s miles in length tho two ends OF inc o v.r
obout n milo spart at More gate-st. and Cslhio" -.
ops feders enter this curve at diforent points an
turnout-that TO St Johns Wood-oo'hs to ,,ear this
the underground principle IL ~ =, the eauses why
| fect In mind because IL explains o"' " ., ~ rroet
the London underground lines nave nv o,,t q, bavo
| ohio IN ,,ecuniary poist Of view ss oAo' oe :,
upo AZ q poo"' the circuitous character on
| "a, ,,o,a from the necessly OF ireqeon@
| .o.' tho through traffic on the metrop''''""
| onossarlv limited. II you want 10 ~ 'foi ' A.,
~ a., so,th side Of the horseshoe W any Poin' o VI"
north or yioe-versa, you can go lar haoie eono'
, d as ouickly and far mere oheaply by an ommna''
~ fra f6o therefore, the railway CONSISTS " 'o
-. ;,tcrmealate fares from station t0 another -
| A. c,relo were completed there would he a perpe'u"
,naux and efaux OF passengers ut every station A '
when the trains approach either end OF the ho o'"V0
they take on scarcely any new fares IL VIII ehuS po pi
ce,ved that even the circle completed the DhoSo
~ the line must al ways bo an nternttentas opposed 20
a through-trafc 1t must always be aroundapoa' way
OF proceeding part OF the metropolis 10
by going BY a circular route and In CITY 80 wen PiV
yded with cabs and omnibuses as London, the nouoe
ment offered by the railway in competition with pupnc
stages can hardly that of superior rapdity OF iocoo
ton Indeed both the advantages and disadvantages OF
underground railroads found to be different irom
what was expected beforehand.
oBJEcTIoSs AND HINDRASCEs
Thu ORIGINAL nap,e of the Underground" limo was
abandoned because the public took fancy that travel
ing by tunnel must he unpleasant We are told oy eh
perts that the air weud be too ou to breathe tha 'no
tunnels would be always full OF smoke, ana th&s inc w
rnosphere would be redolent with sulphur rnmes' oooH
after the opened man died OF heart disease al
one Of the stations immediately an oucry was raised
that he had been suocated by mephtc gases; ana go
| rious controversy OF the kind British newspaper
readers love- as to whether the atmospheric eohdi-
tons OF the Underground were, or were hoh iatai '"
| human life. The Outcry died away arer % 'ine'
| and complaints are seldom heard as 70 'ho
atmosphere of the tunnels while the temperature
| which is singularly warm in Winter ana cool III
| Summer IA found to be a real accommodation to the
travelling public. On the other hand tho underground
stations have been failure People dislike standing
about on gloomy gas-lt platforms and at great eA
pense the tunnel stations have had to DO converted as
far as possible into open gassrOofed rooms The car
rages are all lit with gas, reservoir OF gas being car
red with each The light is good, and the mo
ton of the train smooth that you can read ia the
trains without Inconvenience and the comfort OF
travelling by underground, compared Win ths' OF
looomotion joltng cabs and omnbuses over tne
paved Streets is great, that attribute to IL great
part Of the patronage given to tho line whether this
patronaee will be continued when London is provided
with tramways, 1t will be- is an open question
Another anticipated difficulty the delny occasioned
by taking up setting down passengers at tho road
side stations. This difficulty has been obvated to very
great degree. The locomotives are "tahk engines OF
peculiar and very powerful description The cylinders
are IT inches diameter and "a inches stroke.
There are two pairs of coupled driving wheels,
8 feet inches diameter; steam pressure at
starting 100 ID per inch. The peculiar merit of these
engines that they be stopped IN very short te
and that they resume their full speed almost as soon
as they are motion. The instant train stops the
doors flung open, and the platforms arc almost
flush with of the carriages the passengers get
n and out with extreme rapidty. Still, rapidly rs this
is DONE delay occasoned by the stoppages Is an e
of hinderance Backfrars and Moregate, dis
of about IA miles, hore exactly 20 stations some OF
which are more than mile apart Thus though the
speed Of the trains when in full motion Is about rs miles
an hour the time used in trayersng these IA miles Is
| from so to GO minutes
At the outset II WAS imagined that large portion OF
the Metropolitan Road receipts would be derived from
the tolls paid by the great trunk railways whose temni
are all in outer rim Of London, aud which, 1t was
| thought
of London over Underground line. 1t has not been
found to in practice. The great majority OF pas
sengers arriving London by swift lines have lug
gage which compes them to cabs when they leave
the train and have to take cab at all, IL matters
nothing under our present tariff, whether you drive
half mile or mile and half, to your DESTINATION
Moreover the fact of the stations being underground
and the conseq necessity of carrying up stairs all
baggage deposited the platforms, renders the line
comparatively unavailable for through passengers arrV-
ing in London the country But the main pract-
| cal objections to the employment of the metropolitan
| Road by other railways lies in the impossiblllty
] OF reconciling irregular with regular traffic. Our
RAILWAYS are not distinguished for punctuaty, and
| even with better MANAGEMENT trains, coming dis
| tances of many hundred miles, cannot be ex-
peeted to arrive in London with the regularity OF
clockwork On the other hand II is impossible to stop
the regular traffic the Metropolitan Road to allow
through train to pass its rails Experience has
shown that the Metropolitan only meet the wants OF
the public by system very frequent trains run at
short and regular intervals. The Underground Railway
has TO compete custom with cabs, omnbuses, tram
WAYS and with that simpler means OF ocomoton known
10 tie Cookney public "Sbankss mare III STANDS 10
reason that for great majority OF passengers the
stations where they get In and get out cannot DC
| unite close TO their points Of departure or OF
destination Thus though the actual traffic aleng the
line might probably be conveyed to the best pecunlary
advantage trains running every hahour IL mas Deeh
found necessary trains at intervals OF not esS
than ten minutes and in the most equented parts Oh
the line at intervals OF from three to five minutes Prob
ably the average distance raversed by each passenger
s not over miles. II, therefore, in addition to the
time taken in walking to and walking from the stations.
he is liable TO be kept waiting many minutes before
train arrives it becomes question whether 1t Ia worth
his while to 90 by the railway at ALL instead of walking
the whole distance.
The traffic would be more remunerative II the Metre
| potan Road had ever realized notion, which English
puryeyors OF all kinds find 1t very hard to understand
that it s more profitable to cater for the million at low