Wichita eagle., 1890-02-16
UNDERGROUND WORKERS.
EASEMENTS UNDER BIG NEW YORK
BUSINESS HOUSES.

One Hundred Thousand Gothamites Who
Labor Below the Street Level-Cellars
That Are Three Stories Deep-Uses Made
of Them.
II a man were to keep his eyes fastened on
his feet as he walked up Broadway from the
Battery he would be surprised at the vast
number of vault lights which stud the side
walk. Not only would he find large lights
running out from the buildings several feet
into the sidewalk, but also numerous small
circular lights nearer the curb.
These vault lights are the windows Of tho
underground workers in New York Atfirst
sight this phrase seems startling The idea
of underground workers in this city appears
odd and strange, yet more than 100000 New
York citizens according to q conservative es-
innate, spend the working hours Of the day
beneath the level of the ground, and see the
sun and the sky and the gay throngs only in
their leisure hours. Millions upon millions
of dollars are invested in property that is
kept under the sidewalks; thousands upon
thousands Of dollars ara spent upon ventilat-
ing and lighting the underground chambers.
If the North river were to overflow its banks
some night when the town was quietly Sleep
ing, and the worthy burghers were to find
the water on level with their first floors the
next morning, toe damage sustained by the
business community would be hundreds Of
millions.
WHOLESALE HOUSES.
OF the wholesale dry goods houses there are
some in which the Easements and sub base
ments are the most important departments of
the entire business. In one large wholesale
dry goods house on lower Broadway the base
ment is used for imported upholstery goods
The store is on a corner, and the basement is
an immensely large room running out under
the sidewalk on Broadway and on the cross
street also. twenty-five persons are employed
here at salaries ranging from 81 500 to $500
year, who are never outside of the basement
during business hours except when they 90
out to luncheon. The basement here has the
most improved ventilating apparatus, and
the vault lights are so constructed that on
ordinary days no artificial means of lighting
is found necessary. At the present time the
stock in this basement is worth, at the inn
porters rating, $500, 600 The soil at this par
ticular spot viii not permit of a sub cellar, as
the water comes bubbling up, and even with
the present basement a solid concrete floor
has been found necessary in order to keep out
the damp.
There are some stores which have even
three Easements The first is reserved for
blankets, which make valuable stock; the
second for staples and the third for reserved
stock. The staples are always kept in the
basement, for the reason that they are being
sold almost as rapidly as they come into the
house and have to be handled quickly. Such
houses employ in the neighborhood of 200
men, whose work lies entirely beneath the
ground floor. The work Of ventilating sub
Easements is by no means easy and always
while the light requires artificial
assistance at all times
The owner of building is generally SUD-
posed to own to the center Of the street, but
as a matter of fact the city receives a consid-
cradle income from those proprietors who ex-
cavate under the sidewalk. Usually the tax
demanded by the city is 70 cents per cubic
foot. In addition to this expense, contractors
receive So per square foot for all excavatng
under the street and sidewalk. The work is
difficult, as it is necessary to put
in very substantial supports to prevent the
sidewalk or street from cavingin. The owner
of one large store told the reporter that it
had cost him over $4,000 for excavating and
finishing his basement under the sidewalk
alone
In the lower part of the city, where the big
liquor houses are, and where some
of the safety deposit companies have vaults,
there are places where the excavations 90
even beyond the curb. When the question of
an underground railway on Broadway was
first considered, one of the main objections
urged by the property holders was that it
would interfere with their underground
vaults.
AMONG THE RETAILERS.
But it is in the large retail dry goods houses
up town, those stores where almost every
thing is sold, that the basement and sub-base-
ment are most important. In one of these
the basement extends from block to block,
and contains besides two sales departments
the packing, receiving and delivery rooms.
From 800 to $50 persons are employed con-
tinually in the delivery and receiving depart |
mentS alone. Here system is in operation |
without which the immense business could |
not be carried on. Every article that is sent |
put Of the house passes through the delivery |
Department. and every article sold over the |
counters comes from the receiving depart |
ment first. Two hundred thousand dollars is
the lowest valuation placed upon the stock |
in the receiving room at any hour |
Of the twenty-four.
On two sides of the basement the space I'M
der the street is taken up by the engines and |
ventilating apparatus There is here also a
very powerful engine which operates the |
pneumatic tubes by means of which cash is |
from the counters 10 the cashiers |
department. There iSsa ventilating appa- |
-atuS which is in operation IN the basement |
Ill the time, and another which is used |
throughout the store during the summer. In
lights are used in all these rooms
1t all times OF the year.
Another dry goods house utilizes its base
nent to keen advantage. 1t advertiseS bar
gains on certain days of each week, and al
ways places them on sale IN a remote corner
If the basement. In order to reach these bar
saiLs the shopper has to so through the main
loor and run the gauntlet of numerous at
ractive counters in the basement. While
nan may possibly so straight to the objective
,oint, purchase the bargain and triumphant
V disappear, nine women out of ten are sure
o come out with at least dozen purchases
nat they had not intened TO make when they
inferred the store.-New York Sun.
tKArNNG TIE CHILDREN.
Methods by Which They May Be Both In