The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-03-18
AN AERIAL CABLE ROAD.
CLIuB TIE TIGHT ROPE ACROSS
TENNESSEE RIVEE.
Once the Puliin. Cable Broke aud Left the
Passengers in Mid-air TO Slip Down
by Rope into Steamboat.

At Knoxville, Tenn, there has been in
operation for some time past an aerial
railway whose many novel features have
made 1t not only an object Of interest. but
also a source Of pleasure to all the folks
in the adjacent country. 1t is used for
the transportation OF passengers across
the Tennessee river, and was built by
the Unaka Park Company to afford access
from Knoxville to a popular pleasure
resort. The inventor Of the railway calls
1t bridge, but II is a bridge only in the
sense that 1t spans the river. \ ride upon
It presents many features which it might
be difficult TO meet with except on a bal
loon voyage.
From the starting point. which Is not
far from the business centre of the city.
the railway runs TO the bluffs on the OPP
posite side of the river, nearly quarter
OF mile away Two 8-S-inch wire ca
bles are suspended from one point 10
the other, and II is upon these that the
car runs. being hung 10 them by running
gear. The bluffs are $50 feet high and
the grade of the cables is about thirty
three per cent. The cables are .060 feet
span and are anchored at the lower. or
Knoxville side. by boiling to oak timbers
II by II inches. These timbers are II
feet long and are placed behind plank
bulkheads. The connecting bars are II
feet long and l IA riches thick. and the
staples to which the cables are fastened
have p inches Of threads to take up the
slack. The anchor at the bluff end. on the
opposite side Of the river consists OF iron
plates fixed in he rock. The supporting
IL lii .
sixty tons.
The cable conveying the motive power
is a half inch in diameter. and is per-
manently fastened 10 the car The power
is furnished by two twenty-horse power
engines at the lower end The car.
empty. weighs 200 pounds. 1t has a
fourteen-foot body and three-foot plat
forms, and IS six feet wide by six and a
hall feet high. Automatic brakes are
provided. which are devised 10 stop the
car in case the propelling cable should
break or slip on the drum. The seating
capacity is sixteen passengers. although
more are frequently carried. The up-trip
on the railway takes about three and a
half minutes. The descent is made by
gravity, in about half a minute. The
fare IS five cents.
Longstreet Heights, as the bluffs are
called. afford a fine view of the surround
ing country. Back of the bluffs there is
a natural park, containing. among other
curious things, a blowing cave" 1t is
a resort much in vogue and the railway
has been well patronized by pleasure
seekers since its building.
An accident occurred on the aerial rail-
way on February 18th. In which one per-
son was killed and several were injured
On the afternoon OF that day the car
carried many passengers. and about
O'Clock started on its last trip. Seven
persons were in the car besides the brake
man. When the car was within 100 feet
OF the bluff on the ascent the drawing
cable broke between the car and the
power-house. and the car started back
down the incline at a terrific speed. Near
the centre OF the river and about 200
feet above II. its progress was checked
by the cable cOiling around the car The
thin sides of the car were crushed like
cardboard. and the cable wound itself
around the people within The car was
stopped, and for two hours ii and its occu-
pants hung over the river. A rope was
finally slid down the supporting cables
from the bluff. Then a steamer anchored
directly beneath the suspended car, and
those Of the passengers who were not too
badly injured slid down the rope to the
steamers deck a young woman was
among them. Afterward the car was
hauled mp 10 the bluff and a new cable
was laid On.-New York sun.