New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-05-24

building in the city, If not also IN tue O'"'0
II should not be thought of. The best en-
france TO the Bridge will be free, spacious
omen sonare. from which vehicles may radla'o
into the streets on either side. To secure thls'
il NAV be necessary not only to remove the
car tracks but to take down the pulluinsS
above and below the entrance. III the
vehicles have space enough to move
around one another in this square, there
will be little difficulty in their reaching
broadway through the streets now open. IL
is late to think of all this, but we pre-
sume that our Board of Aldermen have
been so absorbed in their efforts to prevent
the Bridge being opened on the queens plr'i'-
day that they have had no time to devote 10
such minor questions as the adapting OF our
streets to the new demands about to be maze
upon them
The new trustees who will take charge OF
the Bridge on June 1 will have IN opportunity
to repair the blunders which we are forced to
believe their predecessors have made III regard
TO tolls If the law requires the levying OF
toll. q pOipt not conclusvcly decided, 1t GER
taiplv does not require such high rates as are
fixed now. Three cents is ample for the cars,
and foot passengers ought to be offered COM
mutation rates considerably lower than one
cent. Sooner or later, we have no doubt inc
trains of the elevated railways will be run
directly over the Bridge, to connect with some
future elevated railway system in Brook
lyn. That will make the Bridge practically
free for car travel. We presume also that the
next Legislature will make it free for foot
passengers which it clearly ought to be.
m o;,,t th0Il
sands of people who will pass over the Bridge
for the first time to-day and tomorrow VIII
| all agree, and that is its impressive solldity
| and magnificent workmanship. No one can
| realize this till he stands upon it. Then Tor
| the first time he appreciates somewhat the
| services of the man who conceived THIS uh
parallecd span, and VINO perfected his pans
| so clearly that when an untimely fate carried
him away at the very inception of the work
| if could he carried forward by others without
mistake or the chance of failure Standing
upon this superb arch, it is possible to believe
| the statements of its engineers that 1t Is so
perfect in its parts that if the great cables
were taken away it would stand forever UNI
| ,hal,ably in its position. This is an evcrast-
ing tribute to the genius of its protector, ana
| il is also a tribute TO the genius and patience
of his son, who from a bed of pain and
suffering, TO which his zeal in the
work brought him, has so wisely directed that
all the fathers plans have been implicitly carried
out. The Bridge will stand for all time as a
monument of honest building. That money
may have been wasted in its construction we
do not deny. Unhappily, it appears to be a
necessary condition of all great public works
that somebody must profit unlawfully by them.
But be that as il may, the Bridge IS maSniil-
Gently bulls, and whltever flaws may be found
| in the accounts Of its builders there are none
| in their work. 1t thus fifty commentaries an
epoch in the history of Newly ork, for since
TIE TRIBUNE set the example ten years ago
we have been leaving behind us with graft
fying rapidity the sham building methods OF
the past We do not believe there are any
where in the world better constructed or more
substantial buildings than the great ones we
have been erecting in this city during the past
ten years. 1t is an era of honest building,
and the Bridge is its greatest fruit. III The
Bridges opening shall lead to an era OF honest
government in both cities il will reach the
utmost limit of its possibilities.