New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-17
DOWN COME THE WIRES.
AXES AND @NIppERsr MERR1LY AT WORK.
4 FALLING POLE CREATES A PANrc-HxNDrxBo
wRrrHING cons-How THE c1Tn

IS AFFECTED.
The work Of removing the long, Irregular rvvs
OF decayed and unsightly telegraph poles and this
stiu more unsightly web-lke masses Of rusty
telephone telegraph and electric light wires was
begun yesterday in earnest, and although tho
work accomplished during the day was only
drop in bucket compared with that yet to be
done, 1t was OF Importance as the beginning Of an
earnestly desired and patiently waited for end
Relieving that the Mayors threat to remove the
poles and wires was merely bluff,p many of the
companies made no energetic endeavors to operate
wires in the snbways, and not FEW of their
representatives have persisted in declaring that the
underground electrical problem was as far as ever
from solution. The Mayor yesterday, however;
accomplished more toward solving the underground
problem than the Board of Electrical Control has
succeeded in doing since the subways were built
The official copy Of Judge Wallaee's order dis
solving the injunction obtained In the United
States Circuit Court by the Western Union Tek-
graph Company, for which Mayor Grant has been
waiting since last week, reached the Mayors
Office at 10 o'clock yesterday morning Secretary
Grain received the document, and immedistey
forwarded to Commissioner d. Lowber Smith, OF
the Department of Public Works, the order that
the Mayor had signed on Saturday. This read a.
follows:
You are hereby directed 10 forthwith from the
streets and named poles and wires. also Dned
below in accordance with Chapter 71a OF the Laws Of
1857, to wit:
First-on sixth-sye. from Twenty.thrd-st 10 Fifty
eighthst all poles and wires, except the wires cr the
Western Union Telegraph Company upon the Elevated
Railroad structure.
sscond-on Broadway. from Eourteenth-st 70 Forty.
fh-st al poles and wires except the Fire Department
line.
Thrd-on Twenty third-st from sixtA-aye. 10 Broad.
Hay m and "
Ffthon Forty.second-st. from Sixthava 10 Madison
ave-, all POLES and wires except polo the southeast
corner Of Ffty-eighth and sixthave
And you further directed TO take the removal 2
said poles and wires described in the following orders
Beginning Broadway at the intersection Of Fourteenth
st. and continue up Broadway 70 Twenty,hirdst then
on Twenythrd-st. from Broadway 70 Sixthaye.; then
on Broadway, from Twenty thirdst 20 Twenty hfthst;
then Twenty -ffth-st. from Broadway 70 axthsve;
then slxthave. from Twentyhirds. Fvyeishshse;
then on Broadway, from Twenty ffhs 10
then on Fortyseeopd-s, from Sixthaye 10 Msdisonaye.
tho poles and wires referred TO- then Fyeghthst.
from Sxth-aye. to Bourthave
Commissioner Gibbens and Expert Schuyler s.
Wheeler, of the Board of Electrical Control, were
in Commissioner Smiths office when the order
was received, ready to act with him. Commis-
sioner Smith had already given instructions
to Superintendent Richardson, Of the Bureau
of Encumbrances, who had a force of forty men,
armed with axes and other implements, all ready
for the assault In half an hour the little army
Of demolition had reached Union Square, and the
attack upon the poles and wires began without
ceremony.
A squad Of police detailed from the Sixteenth
Precinct was on hand to prevent any interference
with the work. The worlmen expressed fear
that some Of the high tension electric light wires
on the poles might be charged, and that It would
be dangerous to cut them, but Mr.. Wheeler, the
expert assured them that orders had been issued
to all the companies to disconnect every wire
in the district referred to IN the Mayors order,
copies Of which had been sent to them. Inspector
Roth, of the Board Of Electrical Control who had
rubber gloves on his hands and pair of insulated
clippers to work with, opened the assault at
10:55 q. m. Ascending the pole at the southeast
corner of University Place and Broadway, he at
once began cutting the wires running north There
were twelve Of them, all belonging to the Western
Union Telegraph Company. The several wires
fell to the sidewalks and street. twisting and
twining into all sorts Of odd and fantastic shapes.
Commissioner Gibbens was near by, shouting
directions to the men in loud voice, and he
succeeded in attracting large crowd to the scene
Of operations. Fourteenthst was soon filed
with people, and the police had some difficulty
in keeping them out of the way Of the falling
wires
After clearing the first pole, the worlzmen were
divided into two parties, one operating Ia the
east and the other in the west side Of Broadway,
skirting the westerly side OF Union Square.
Within half an hour the poles in the east SIDE
of Broadway had been dismantled Several OF
them swayed in the wind, and would have fallen
into the street had they not been "guyed'
AS the poles In the east side Of the street
were clear Of wires, axes were brought into
base base. fell into ito teh chs square @ guided by the guy
wires. The first pole fell at the Foufteenth-st
corner at IL 20, and by noon not one was stand
ing on the westerly side OF the square. Inc Inc
poles and wires, as fast as cut down, were carted
away.
What might have been serious accident oc-
Sorred pole S.S opposite Of vses
and workmen were trying TO steady IL with guys
until one OF their number should have cut 10
down with his axe. Not q blow had been struck
and fell toward the street cry OF warning
and horror arose from the crowds In the square
and on the opposite side Of the street ior Broad
beneath the falling pole. In an instant the srrat
mole had crashed to the street. directly between
the horses and the dashboard OF the car.
SOMETHING OF A PANIC.
II was q narrow escape for the driver as well
as for the passengers, the pole wss heavy
enough to demolish the car itself Within
minute the car was surrounded by people and
there was great excitement until the police
drove them back to the sidewalk Commissioners
Gibbens examined the pole and found that 10
was rotten clear through at the base. His
denunciation of the Western Union Company for
having used such spole entertained several
hundred people for a few minutes. After the
damage to the harness of the horses had been
repaired the car went on its way uptown.
In the meantime the other force Of men under
Inspector Roth was attacking the poles and wires
I'm the west side of Broadway. Some Of these
poles carried the wires of the Brush Company and
others supported wires belonging to the Fire and
Police Departments The latter were not dis
turbed as the departments will remove them
before the expiration Of another week. At tho
northwest corner Of Broadway and Fourteenth-
st was begun the work of removing the dan
Rerous Brush wires. There we're eighteen Of
them, and some Of them had fill currents on, as
was shown by the sparks that few from the