New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-03-21
PUTTING WIRES UNDERGROUND.

h Tle MetTOpOIltan
ing to begin the opening OF spring or In the early
part OF the summer the work OF quitting lts wires
underground. The beginning VIII be MADE IN " All
at and It's immediate nelghborhood, ana tno
work will be extended in sections toward the bat
terv ana the Post Office and further north on both
sides tho city fast as the necessary III
the a, stem eau be elected without Injury 10 the
business of tue company. The plan thaI mas ne"h
adopted is 10 lay insulated wires In hoiiow tuoes
with vaults or draw-boxes at frequent intervals;
VIII, re the work Of draw ing the wires through ana
connecting them can be done. The pipes wiz DC
either u iron cement 1t has not yet been Oeclded
which i'll be preferred, both being equally service
able: but II Is probable that the IRON pipes VIII De
chosen because of their greater strength Ids set
nont ia now under discussion, the plans Tor the new
system ysry reoareIspt Of the work. r. d. Radcliffe is
the companys superintendent OF underground con-
struction. lie explained ITS pans and the om .
ties to be met and. COZ quered recently I" lhib
siIndereround telephone wires" he said have
been tried il Paris and it was found that the sys-
ten ,ade necessary metallic circuIt-that IS TO cay
the running of two wles instead OF one from eseIy
instrument. 1t Is more than probable thereiorv'
that when we put our " Tres underground we SNAIL
by reason of the difference of induction. be com
PEELED to adopt the same system; lt VIII not oe
practicable TO join these wires 10 those now III USE
and NO the change will involves change OF the whole
systeu But the subscribers OF telephone system
like ours are scattered over the city that tney can
not be easily grouped at our pleasure as tnoy i.u
lie with wires rur underground. downtown That
NAV be DONE and here and there uptown Out gen
rally thew are 30 widely scattered that the cost Oh
digging trenches anu luylnR WlIee Wouiu
swallow uv the profit. That would not pay. There
is not any one telegraph company today THAT could
afford to put all It's wires under ground al us own
expense. 1t in, however desirable On ALI accounts
that they should 90 below. The air ID too fnll Oh
them So we have laid our plans 10 do the Work:
The plans are perfect as we wet by s0 c,y Su
that Ia not what We intend. The beginning VIII pc
rather fragmentary to get over places whers our ar
lnos now meet with the greatest difnGal.y ane 80
that no more poles can be erected, anu people TO
fused to let us their roofs that we cannot in
crease the volume of business that passes these
points There we will make the beginning. Com
mencIng about Wall-s our first efforts VIII be 20
extend our underground lines as far as Canal-st.
In this part of the field we can keep within proper
expenditure. The rest follow rather more
lelsureiy. The work is one of great magnitude;
Begun this spr,ng it could not be niehed In severai
years. -, ..
After fair scrutiny Of the various systems pro-
posed all those that involve the digging up OF the
pavement a second time for repairing old wires or
introducing new have been rejected. AS TO
putting wires into sewers there 10 not continuous
trunk sewer in New-York running north and south
ticable 10 put them there, which has not yet been
sufficiently demonstrated. Other inventions tnat
supplied an apparently good insulator when applied
| to the streets have been found wholly ihpracti-
cable Hollow iron curb. stones rs receptacles Tor
| wires are Tar too expensive. The system we have
chosen the only one that promised well Is tnat vi
| tubes running like arteries thrtu ugh the streets
| containing the wires, and with draw-Doxes
| or vaults say at every two blocks on the
| corner II admit OF drawing InTougu anu COh-
| Meeting the wires. These tubes will re made big
enough to hold ali wires needed for many years To
| come, and of any material that will combine
| strencth with cheapness For nvenienco in
handling the wires they will be small each TO con-
| tain say fifty wires, placed side by side like the
barrels Of gatling The plan is preferable "a
one large tube because wOrKmen at one pipe Will
| not disturb the wires in another and because e1.
pcrience shows that the wires OF one company WILL
often not work along side of those OF another. nc
| matter how insulated. The pipes will be land al
| varying depths 10 that they may drain tbenslvet
| and all the wires will be insulated. Competition
between manufacturers of insulated wires will soon
| give us the benefit of the best
| "a very large share OF the wOrkthat 10 urgen,
can be aune this season. If permission to open the
| streets is promptly obtained. Heretofore the Com
missioner of Public Works has practically refused
| It, suppose he IL afraid OF seeing the rivalry OF
the ste am heating companies reproduced as soon al
permission is given one company 10 put is wires
| underground. That objection could be met IL the
| companies could arrange for one system OF tubes Il
accommodate all. There was proposition some
time ago to form responsible company TO lay such
tubes aud charge rental to all companies for their
| use. That would work excellently aud be great
| gain to the companies. company since chartered
purp oses TO lay the wires and rent them, but thai
| does not seem feasible. In regard to the time
| needed tn accomplish the work Uf putting Tho
| wires nader ground the public ought to remember
that you can't legslate know ledge of completely
untried subject into existence and that You can
compel any body to do business that he will lost
! money by. And another thing: the Legislation
that 10 to force the wires under ground In hurry
should give the companies the right to put then
there. IL does not do that and the result is that th
Common Council and local authorities thwar
| the law e1ectuaflyo