The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-10-05
The Commissions Ninety Days
Work in a Nutshell.
How the Horse Car Companies and the
Albany Lobby Were Defeated.
A STEP TO SECURE QUICK TRANSIT.
Herald Illustrations Of the General Plans of
Construction.

When the present Rapid Transit Commission was
appointed by the Mayor the petition Of certain prop
erty owners the law provides, and empowered
under what is known the Hustled act Of 1875, to
give the residents Of New York rapid transit, there
were few who placed much hope in the of their
efforts in that direction. This was not owing to any
lack Of confidence in the ability the honesty of
Messrs. seligman, Mott Canda Brown and Deamater,
but rather to recollection of the difficulties
tered by the property of New York in the past
eight or ten years in their efforts to convince their
servants at Albany OF the necessity for such
INSTRUMENTATION between the lower end of Man
haitian Island and the annexed district and the out
lying towns adjacent thereto would enable persons
doing business the city reach their homes within
reasonable time Every effort in this direction as the
readers OF the HERALD, which has been the champion
ofrapid transit from the FIRST aware, has been de-
eated until last session by the corrupt lobby system at
Albany; but, to use familiar coupet,
"The patient dnt and powder shock
Will blast an empire as q rock ="
And the persistent clamor OF the property owners
stampeded the
'BLAcK HORSE CAVALRY" or
and gave us the act under which the present commits
is working That the act is defective, that many
loophoes are left through which cunning lawyer
might "drve a horse and cart" nobody will deny
But still the legal phraseoogy of the act sufficiently
explicit to justify the Mayor in organizing commission
and reputable property owners in accepting office under
it. When the commission, after sixty days deliberations
upon route with the representatives OF the horse
raoadswho had not only elected and sent to Albany
members of Assembly with the single aim of defeating
the will of the masses but backed them up by
LOBBYISTS AND WELL FILLED CARPET BAGS
located the route and included the Third avenue,
which, by virtue of its long occupancy company
had come to look upon its own private property,
there general rejoicing.
The readers of the HERALD will recall the great fight
made in the Board OF Aldermen less than thirty days
ago. when after exciting night session. lasting until
ten O'Clock, the horse car interests were de-
feated tho route was adopted They
will remember too, that next morning the
HERALD published a full report OF the commission
to the route, well a map Of the city which the
various routes marked, thus giving a general
brdseye view of the streets and avenues which
likely to be benefited by rapid transit
With this report tho public seemed than salts
!
Third Avenne Railroad Company, who through Presi-
dent Phillips, when before the commission with Harry
Hart OF Chatham street. threatened to spend 81 900
to prevent a road being located the Third
The publication OF this report spread terror into the
ranks csthe horse companies and the lobby which
for years has been bleeding them and distributing at
Albany money ndiscriminately. For few days they
deserted the rooms Of the commission and centred
about the doors leading TO the Office of the Eighth Sixth
and Third Avenue railway companies. Daily they had
their headquarters and the doors of
the commission, and at the proper time
THE 'DEpRRssED RAILWAY SCHEME"
sprung upon the commission after agent OF the
horse companies had systematically lied 10
the press and deceived reporters who had never
had experience at Albany. The most remark
able fact connected with this part OF the Commissioners
work is that of the engineers of the
by argument won the depressed PLAN and the
commission out of respect for his opinion consented 10
call in counsel and devote several days q consider
ton of their powers under the law abandon their
record in favor of elevated plan and adopt de-
pressed plan Fortunately, the HERALD the first 10
detect the plot exposed it, and since that publication
the emissares OF the horse companies have
attempted TO appear within block of the rooms OF the
commission They occasionally met on Broadway,
Park row and Chatham street. but they give wide
berth to Mott, Segman Co., and the reporters who
exposed their double dealing.
THE PLANS CONSTRUCTION
The has kept the public advised from day to
day as to the second section OF the work of the
mission viz the character of the structures that this
commission in their report (hourly expected will
thorze built The details given in the HERALD of
Sunday exclusively, in the main correct; but 1t is
enabled present this morning, twenty four hours in
advance Of the official PRONUNCIATION Of the plans, the
following illustrations Of the style OF roads authorized
by the commsion-
PLAN FOR MARROW STREETS LIKE PEARL
} 5=83EEE : |