, 1874-04-28

INCREASED FACILITIES. |
In no part Of tho city Is tho want Of means Of |
crossing tho city foit moro than In the region be-
twcon twelfth and Eighteenth strcets. lIero aro |
to bo found number Of coal aud lumbcr-yards,
and other buatncasos Of which tcannlug ia nec |
essarv fcaturo, aud for long timo tho complaint |
1lns gono forth Of tho delay caused 10 toamstcrs
on tho streets between Twelfth aud Eighteenth !
by them having to 20 out Of their way to got !
from tho Wost to the South Sdos, and yico versa.
Tho subject Of building n bridge across or cnt- |
ting tunnol undor tho rlvor ut point bctwcon
theao streets Inns Ind tho consideration Of tho |
Common Council for gone time, and, ncting un.
dor thor Instructions tho Board of Public Works |
have boen looking into the matter.
In order to give tho public aolno iden OF What
ought to be done, md what iB likely to ho dono.
callod yesterday afternoon ut tho Board Of Pub
lie Works office, whero ho mot Mr. Whitney, the
ablo Assistant Secretary Of tho Board. That
gentleman stated TINT
BRIDGE Oh TUNNEL
in tho locality roforrod to had become necesBi-
ty which could not long bo dispensed with. lIo
stated that the traffic Of tho locality was very
great, and that in ordor for tcama or pasBongors
to get to tue. Burlington Depot, OF sixteonth
street, from the South sido 1t was necessary for
them TO mako a long dotour by. way Of the
Twolftll street or Eighteenth stroot bridge. Tho
great question was at
WHICH or THE sTnEEra
1t would DO best to build the bridge or tunnel,
show tint the only available place was between
Fourteenth On tho South, and Mitchell on tho
WoHt Silo. To those not familiar with tho place,
1t may be stated that both river baulsa just horo
arc fairly crowded with railroad tracks. Tho do
lection to Tiftoonth stroot is tho fact that, OIL
tue South Side, it runs only from Clark street to
Eoutl Dearborn, while Sixteenth street is al-
ready occupied by railroad truck which bridges
tho river at that street. OF courao Thirteenth
they arc each within d block Of q bridge nlreasly.
Although Fourteenth street ia the best placo
at which to place D bridge or tunnel. still
t. IL BY no mosos t a., ~ Aooa ,u piacet
is not.yot open from Clark to tho liver, md, Ill
order to mako It available, extension yiadncta
would hayo to bo built on either sido Of tho
riyor.
The reporter sounded A1r. Whitney upon
THE RESPECTIVE MERITS
Of tunnel or bridge for tho purpose required,
but that gentleman did not have decided opin-
ion on tho subject. Both tunnels and bridges
have friends, ho said but, ut the sumo tinlo,
friendly to bridges greatly outuumborcd thoBc
who bud woakncss for tunnels. Tho reporter
then collected some statistics showing tho
COMPARATIVE COST
of the tunnels and bridges already built. and
tho annual expense Of keeping thom. They woro
as follows:
Original coat Of Washington street tunnel
Cost Of maintaining for 1S72. 2.............. 3a51.21
e9ss osisa, III eos Iaaa Il, stTes
Cost Ut maintaining for 1B13.............. 3l07.30
Tho aunual interest on tho original Investment
is, for tue LaSallo Htreet tunnel, about SS0 G2o,
anu ioE tno "an1ilst1u nttuot 'u.aul s'oo ~,
when their construction has not involved land
tlamngos aro exceedingly expensive luxurics, tho
fact boing intensified by tho unavoidable bugbear
that Of any momeni tno huntorlhhoan naonway
might give Way anu loe ~ tae pGa1uelu wafer q
OF the di1efent pflaeea "nlcn stosh tno Ilaee
presents an agreeable contrast to the above t1g-
ures. Thus Madtson street bridge, which Is
tirst-caaa structure OF na Klna. nulls upon Stone
perstructure, eoat tho clty ohY S4s,o ,ouu,
wlillo tho Maalaon streot Vladuct adaet!
only $l5, o75 to that amount, tue tothl cost OF
bridging tho river and rallroaas pong Sal'o
$40, ,475, aud so Oh, The
COST or TENDING BRIDGES
also compare favorable VIII thAt lnc!Hontal to
the tunnels, tho former requiring but little caro
during the winter mouths. For Instance, Willie
tho tunnel attendance costs about ~, 0oo year
in each case, the attendance Of Lake ;, street
bridge, which is tho most expensive of MI cost,
during the year ending Maroh u, 1871, ohly
81 ,9i!. The comparison between the cost Of
tunnels aud bridges will be, however, moro cloar-
expense Of management Of oRch. Tho aVerago
cost Of each OF the two city tunnels Ia about
e630,000;. Of each Of the twenty-aoyen
city bridges about $4,000; of each
Of tho eleven yiaducta about S17, 200. Tho ayo~
rago annual cost Of 1naintonanco Of tunnel ID
Average interest on tho capital expended In tho
Figures generally l!ave the credit Of spoaking
plainly, but itwoull 10 difficult to find my which
nro moro direct IN appealing to common aonso
than those which wore =, collected from tho last