The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-05-03
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
FROM our Special Correspondent.

From Our Special Correspondent
New YORK, April ~. 1883.
1t is now almost certainly that the
construction of an underground ar
cade railroad in this city viii be begun
sometime during the present year.
The subject is now before the legis-
lature at Albany, with a fair prospect
of becoming law, and the company
! asking for charter has already paid
i'll 100000, the amount necessary to
make the surveys and other prelim-
mary expenses, and given bond OF
100000 for the completion of the road
to Forty-second street by 1886. The
plan decided upon for the construction
| of the enterprise has been approved
by such engineers as Gen. George
b. Mcclellan and General
Wright and Newton of the
United States corps of engineers.
The plan is to construct a basement
street about fifteen feet below the
present sidewalks the entire length
of the proposed route. The upper
pavement will be supported on iron
columns AID girders, with arches be-
tween, and completed with roadbed
and pavement of the best construc-
ton. The underground way will be
wide enough to provide for four rail-
way tracks, with sidewalks ON either
side for foot passengers. The two
central tracks will be used for quick
through trains, the stations being
about mile apart, and the two out
side tracks for way travel, the trains
running at slower speed and stop
ping every two or three blocks. AT
| night, when travel will be largely re-
| duced, it is intended to use two or
three of the tracks for the transport
tation of freight. Next to the build
| ing on both sides of the road an area
of space six feet inside will be kept
| open in order to supply light and air
to the arcade tunnel. Stairways will
lead down from the street to the ar
cade. The company claim that the
| present cellars of the stores along the
| line can be converted into stores and
that the arcade road Will practically
| add another story for business pur-
poses to the buildings along Broadway.
The road when completed will be
over eleven miles long and it's total
cost S put at $25,OO0,OOO. 1t is as
serted that the construction of the
| road can be carried ON without inter-
ruption to surface travel. To do this
series of parallel bridges are pro-
posed to be used over the street and
| the sidewalk, their elevation being
about four feet, with sloping APP
proaches at each end. The bridges
will be removed and replaced at night
as the work progresses. The surplus
material taken out of the street and
the new material required are all in
tended to be removed through the
completed subway without in any
case using the street. The plan also
provides for the placing of the new
pipes and sewers in thesub-way with
out interrupting the supply of water
and gas, or the discharge of the sew
age. The company recognize the
great expense and responsibility they
must assume in the construction of
so difficult and gigantic an enterprise,
and they assert that the raising of the
necessary money is the least Of their
troubles. When the reader remem-
beers that New York now has four
elevated rapid transit railroads run
ming on lines parallel to this
preferred arcade road, and almost
countless surface roads, he will
be impressed with the idea that there
is no limit to the demand constantly
made on New York for new and i'm
portant enterprises that will facilitate
trade and travel. There is no city ON
this continent that requires or can af-
ford the varied gigantic enterprises
and the immense business houses.
towering up eleven stories high and
costing a round million, that are an
absolute necessity here. New York
to-day is not what it was before the
war, when the Astor house and Stew
| n rt'c OF tho rriAn of No difxr
To-day these plain structures sink
to the best now to be
seen. No shrewd New York
capitalist now thinks of putting up "a
business house that is not at least six
stories high, with basement and sub
cellar, and many of them carry them
up nine and eleven stories high. The
interior of these great structures are
elaDOrately finished in marble and are
almost world within themselves.
Some of them contain 800 offices
above the ground floor and more than
d thousand people find employment
in them. The upper stories are just
as desirable and accessible as the sec
ond andIthird, for the two to four eleva-
tors afford occupants transportation
up or down every minute in the day.
A ianitor and Waterman are always
in attendance and the whole building
is kept as clean and nice as parlor.
INDEPENDENCE IN JOURNALISM.
There may be some people in these
United States, and among them gov
errors, congressman and other politi-
clans and "sap-suckers," who are not
aware tnat the newspapers of the
country, and especially the better
class of them, are fast becoming more
and more independent of party.
Party ties and the public crib do not
now possess the charms for the press
that they did few years ago, and
editors everywhere are find
ing better means of tax
ing the exercise their anatomy re-
quires than by throwing their
hats and thrashing the air in mad
frenzy to convince court house
crowd that the regular nominee" is
the only man alive or likely to be born
during the campaign who could
properly represent so intelligent
constituency, or who, possesses the
ability, integrity and courage to make
a good governor, county judge or
sheriff. Things have somewhat
changed since the war and for the
better, too. And it must be admitted
that with decrease in political ex-
element and partisan prejudice and
animosity come better government,
harmony, peace and prosperity,
The fact is the country is advancing
in many ways. Railroads and tele-
; graphs have been built throughout the
land, and the general shutting of
people and things that has been going
on has had its influence. People who
were strangers few years ago are
) now neightors and friends, and many
who only read their country paper
now read dozen or more. Hence,
they are not beholdens to the local ed
itor or the boss lawyer of thetown for
their information. They can get it
from a boy when the train arrives,
and more of it for a nick
ell than they ever got
before. and he will supply them with
whatever kind of paper they want, in
that respect being more accommodate
ing than the home editor of a few
years ago who handed them out about
the same thing fifty-two times year,
if he could get it out that often. AT
ter they have read the New York, St.
Louis, New Orleans, Boston and Chi
cage papers and the STATESMAN for a
month or a year, they become con-
WINGED that there is no one man or
newspaper that knows it all,