New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-04-02
IT'LL TIE BRIDGE ErER BE f1NIsHEDi

VIII THE BRIDGE EYER BE FINISHEDf
This is question which people who have
occasion often to cross the East River are be-
ginning to ask more frequently and more seri-
ously than ever before. So many delays have
occurred; so many promises have been made
so many excuses have been given; so much
money has been sunk in the enterprise and so
much more is demandcd-that the patience Of
the public is almost exhausted. And well it
may be. There is no apparent reason why the
trustees should not have fulfilled long ago some
of the promises which they SO glbly made.
There is no reason why the cost of the struc
ture should have been allowed to creep up, so
gradually that its progress was hardly per-
cC&ved, from six millions to fifteen millions.
There is no reason why contractors should have
been allowed to have their own sweet will.
There is no reason why positive assertions as
to the cost of the work at the present stage
should be accepted now, when equally positive
assertions, frequently made heretofore, have
turned out to be in need of thorough revision.
At least, if there are good reasons for all these
things, they are not pcrceptible to any bat "A
very limited number of the trustees them
selves.
only two years ago this winter the Leeisla-
ture was asked to authorize the expenditure of
$2,25O,00O upon the bridge. The requisite
bill was passed, with the distinct understanding
based upon the assurances of the trustees and
Others That neither OF the cities would he asked
To spend a single dollar in excess OF the amount
named. What is the result The work has
advanced at a snail's pace ; the bridge, which
was to be ready for the public nearly year
and half ago, is still far frcm finished and
bill has lust been introduced ut Albany author
ling the expenditure OF a million and quarter
more by the long-suilering taxpayers Of New
York and Brooklyn. This amount has been
asked for by jhe trustees, who say ihat at last
they have computed the entiie cost beyond the
possibility Of mistake, and have added in
500, geo in order to cover all possible contin-
gences. But they have done the same thing
time and again before, with a result that is
only too well known.
Almost simultaneously with the presentation
of bill to raise the amount now said to be
necessary to finish the great work, General
Newton, well-known and thoroughly cOmpe-
tent engineer, makes report in regard to the
bridge to the authorities at Washington. He
finds that the structure is Il few inches lower
than the requirements of the War Department
made necessary when the enterprise was first
started that the factor of safety is not so large
as il should be and that there are wide dis
crepancies in the calculations as to the weight
of the superstructure etc. We do not appre-
bend, however, that any reasonable person will
find anything in General Ncwton's report which
would warrant the al andonment of the work at
the point which it has now reached. Indeed,
the president of the Board of Trustees says that
the height can easily be increased the required
amount, and that the factor of safety is 80 large
that if the bridge were crowded in every part
with human beings, it would bear over four
times that weight without giving way. This
would seem to be satisfactory, even to the most
timid.
In the same interview Mr.. Murphy said an