New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-05
SELECTIONS FROM THE MAIL
HE FAveRS AN UNDERGROUND ROAD.
REASONS WHY IT SHOULD BE BUILT IN 1hi'

70 the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: wish YOU would open Peoples Column,
10 be especially devoted 10 the RAPID trahsi' P'o''
With everything to gain and nothing to lose os
any kind OF rapid transit | have waited VIII" "'ep
concern for the Commissioners final DECISION or 'pc
reason that there is but one souon-practical' per
nonont sdusfactorv-as 1t affects the future In nv
onnjon Manhattan Island wants, and VIII want
.och wear more and more. every Inch OF space anu
MI the light above ground. An underground io'',
then IS indispensable. II my view Is right 'o''"'
that in no other way can we have real rapid iran
sit--tha will admit OF great speed ana be SAFE.
The objections to an underground roai Ii uho"r-
stand Them are the great cost and its inheni'hrn-
,css The first named has already been swept away
hr tbc oncr NJ cap,tal TO build IT. the second exists
in imarnation II IL based upon the experience OF
travellers upon the metropolitan system III L''"o'
Abnormally sensitive 10 a vltiated atmosphere ana
making much use Of that systrm at different tunes
and seasons while admitting It's imperfect ventilation
and possbly sanitation, keep In mind the fart That
in the time which has elapsed since Its construction
an Immense advance has been made by science In
overcoming this obstacle 10 comfort which, on the
score of health has been so assduoisv worked on s
side as 10 suggest a motive beyond craving LOT
vito,Inc oxygen One Is damaged during church ser
vice and other crowded assemblies In the same time
vastly more than in those London subways and, con-
our snokng.cars and every where breathe over again
and again the polluted air Of their own lungs 1
think we have a capacity for that sort Of thing
Brisher might envy. so that objection Is puerile.
our Yankee skin will surmoint 1t. Now. we tame
little account of noise In New York. y quiet Lon
donrr might Infer that IL is necessary 10 our eAis'
enCc, and It's gentle stimulus an cxh'iarah' g''e'"
10 rs. ,, l.. ..,, r,,.,o rr,,,od
a few years ago In The Tribune on American Ncr-
vol:sncssn the present writer thought Indicated hrh
uhic n ~.
read, none Of us have enlarged upon or gwen
thought. We want then "all III" earth above
ground want the light. and commerce ana sorini
life all available qnite possible to crowded Guy
Careless now OF every thing except the business III
hand the average New Yorker does not know whether
he Is we'll of III until the exhaustion o. his her'
vo,is force tells him bnt the time Is coming when'
In cverv contemplated scheme 10 give speed TO transit
We shall take into account she Item ~ noise. .
The fact Is. We think don't mind noise. but "
is only when in the midst Of the noiseies.
traffic OF London Paris that rcstful sense OF not
being In hubbub comes over Us. =,
We have escaped thus far being hurried mo INC
from the elevated roads. hut we need not conn
upon permanent exemption from the catastrophe.
Just as surely as We attempt expires, speed VIII llr
crash come when least expected. Give MS chhhce
10 be spilled out on the ground az lcnst ,,,Cv
Brooklyn, May Is. 1903. d. NJ d. 'i"O'