New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-19
THE GRAND CENTRAL STATION.
AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ~ H. {. III NAL.
HE DESCRIBES THE SYSTEM BY WINCH THE

HE DESCRIBES THE SYSTEM by WHICH THE
NFw-YORK CENTRAL HANDLTs H. TRAINS.
I, the current number Of " Frank Lc-lc's WccLiy"
/, publishcd Il column article by Harry C. I'm Nnl on
bc Grand Central station. setting forth he inter
cstnc Textures OF that great building. whcnc" Start
i n,ultitudnous activities Of The Ncw-lork Central
Railroad system. y full page illustration accom-
manic, the ISSUE giving view OF the signal tower
in thc yard at Forty siXtlst., 10y which 40 Trans
a DAY ere safely received and dispatched
Til, Is by no means the first time tLat Mr. Du VIZ
pen has told OF the merits Of the Central Road.
nor has his literary work been confined 10 sHch tovi
lie has written many clever poems. humorous ana
sentimental and his "skits" on eth Rcaimcnl mat
,crs are wen known among the "sodlci boys oil
he militia and their friends. lie him ci = ir''
lieutenant in ! Company OF that regiment ana has
= long record Of honor In the National Guard. on
the occasion Of the visit to the inauguration "l
President Cleveland Lieutenant Du Val com i'and7i
his company In the absence OF Captain Harper vi
Du Val may be best known as The secretary 10 IIri
dent Dcpcw. Of the Ncw-lork Central, where hH
genial manners keen knowlcds" Of hnlnan h'iuI'
and thorough familiarity with the affairs Of h'
Office have made him Of value to his chief, while at
the same time be- Ia, made hosts 81 lrlchdN among
hose who have met him while In their pursuit OF
husnc.s with Mr. Dcpew the road Mr. Du Va! IS
popularity in his business position has gone iar "
-clrvc the office of private secretary from the "l
prohrium generally hcapcd upon II by diaappoin''"
applicants for Interviews with busy men oi an"I''
for he can refuse favor when eomp'l'd 10 WIN
aImos, rs much grace rs he can grant one. Well
known and well liked I'm club circles. popular IN so
cic,y and respected among his business a,'"clai's'
Harry Du Val also enjoys reputation as cal
;ivaci ana travelled young man.
"A Day in the Yard at the Grand Central Depot
Is AN article which treats what might seem l."
be a dry subject in an entertaining ana picturesque
STYLE In the yard at the Grand 'cnirh station
/, probably the most complete signal system IN III"
world the only larger one being that AT The Waterloo
station Of the London aud Southwestern Railway "l
England but Mr. IN Val outlines some 81 III" Su-
pcror point, Of the American system. The cll'i
tower Is thus described
Tower No | is Il small, two-story building placed
in the centre Of the yard surrounded by wiider''
Of tracks. From It's upper windows every switch anu
signal from the tunnel on the north To III" depot
can be pldrly seen. The work in il Is all done from
the second floor. Here a row Of steel bars stands
almost 100 in number, on each Of which. short
distance from the top piece Of small steel projects
and as these bars levers are moved, tracks are
opened shut signals placed AT danger or safely
uairS are informed that thcy can proceed slowly or
swiftly or must wait until distractions ahead are
cleared away. AZ night the cop'uson Of The r,d.
Green and white lights. twinkllng and blinkirg OH
all sides from the tops OF lofty poles and scattered
hickIy on the ground turns the place into sort of
ajrylard but wthal "A most bnSlncsslikc faryland
for not scmaphorc rises or falls. or Hight turns
from red TO white without good and suiclen reason,
and in each movement Of any Of the 100 levers Is
| conveyed safety and security from accidca.
"Thr depot master Is the man In supreme charge
~ everything pertaining TO the management Of The
| tracks and switches Under him l. station mascl
| and genera yarimaSlcr. each Of whom has ms
| slstunts In the yard seventy men attend TO tho
switching and thirty handle the levers. and busy
men they are, for in portions OF the day 23O
the hour so systematically Is II all arranged that
II train Is deracd any OF the out bound tracks
switches are thrown and the waiting trains sent
of over the storage tracks, which lead through tn
| storage house Madson-avc enabling them IL
mass around the distractions This storage house
| is so arranged that trains backed into II and
held until the outgoing train has cleared space TO-
the waiting one OF empty The mail business
has 80 increased that mail cars are stationed nj
Forty sixth ST. ali day and all night long until
within twenty minutes OF train time, when they are
| hauled around and placed their trains
In commenting upon The safety Of travel on English
and American roads, Mr.. On Val says that from
statistics gathered In ls5f giving the number OF
| passengers injured killed all the rairoad, OF
the United Kingdom and those OF the states OF New
| York and Massachusetts, lit was shown that The
average distance passenger might travel without
being killed IL twice the distance from the earth Ia
| the sun; I'm New York he might travel greater
distance than that OF Mars from the sun. and In
Massachusetts twenty millions OF miles further
| than the distance from Jupiter to the sun before
| suffering death On the railway"