The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-03-01
PATCHING A BROKEN CABLE.
az EARLY MORSING SPECTACLE nv
TBE TENDERLOIA.
~ tn. I,sS, OF . Ron-,-s e...n-. ro-es

By tss Iisht or = Ronrtas es.sii-s Tores
the EsaIneers Ennked the Cshie Oct ~
the Trsneh ard srnets II whns the
! Nixht Owls Ftocksd Accuse ssd Ass,ir~d.
! The Broadway cable that was torn apart in
| the runaway on upper broadway early on Nom
! day evening caused another unexpected tan.
| ale-up at I As o'clock yesterday morning at
| Thlrty-third street and Broadway when the
traflc. fortunately. was ntits slowsst A south
bound car reached Thirty-seventh street where
| thecablo is changed. and the Rripman let go OF
the upper cable and Gripped she middle Sec
tion cablo. The ear went bat few feet and
then stopped. II remained stuck fast until the
! next car came along and pushed It down to
Thirty-third street Then the FIRST car stuck
fast again.
There are plenty OF persons out o. doors even
, a. that hour in tho Tenderloin. and a crowd
auiskly gathered. A telephone message to
the Houston street power house brought two
engineers and a corps OF twenty workmen
dashing up Broadway on relief wagon. The
en- ginecrs took critical sduint Mt the grips Of
both care. and solved the mystery In a twink
ling. Tho grip % the first car bad missed the
live substitute cable and picked up the broken
one instead. and had got itself into such a
fifteen m nutes and started the ears Oh tandem
10 splice the broken cable The big iron man
hole cover was frozen at Thirty-third street,
Il T eS bnrs eSSs aS and etaNp
TO loosen It, The blows echoed for blocks and
brought more night. owls fiocking to the enot.
W tho crowd weiriiy II took nearly ten
minutes TO loosen the cover. and then the men
GToksp cate. FRey caught i at length and
yanked a loon Of il above the surface q the
heire / haul both ends Of II out Of the trench
until ffty lest OF II lay coiled on the pavement
OF the caGle for three feet either way from the
part where the cattle had finally given away.
The big Srowi stood qround Tor oyer hall e, an
IL was something New Workers had not had n
chance TO see done before In the public street:
the cable and reached the half-inch central
ropo around which the strands are turned.
cut the rope with a single slash. With three
foot shear. another work mHn nipprd of tho
hauled together and tied with heavy twine
and raised NJ on wooden JACK. ~ hands
half an hour the break was pieced.
-, start the small engine. said an engineer
Within ten minutes the placed cable began
pent Then. It was, quickly drawn into the
'" The patched cshle can he quickly repaired
started down town on tho next cable car A
little later the men nut out the roaring torch,
or 10 the power house. They were all Ameri-
cans and they knew their busin like book.
The afahility with which tho eng ineer an
swered the questions OF the fact seekers In the
crowd was one Of the most popular features OF
this unusual early morning episode in the
Tenderon district
For nearly an hour between noon and
O'clock yesterday tho broadway cable was
land President OF the Cable Railroad COM COM
Dany. solely on account OF little undue haste
on the part OF gripman. Mr.. Nreeland saws
that as car 1Ol was rounding the curve at
Fourteenth street the extra cable called tho
dead" cable. became entanE'ed in the grin.
The car suddenly stopped. and the efforts OF
the gripman to make 1t 60 were ri no avail.
He telephoned to tho Houston street power
cable. The cable was stopped. SIR Nreeland
hnstened to the curve In carriage. and men
were sent along the conduit to ascertain the |
cause OF the trouble. The cable was found to |
be all right. and. as the grip on 1ol vas unn-
lured. the cable was nRain started. Mr.. Nrer-
land characterizss the alarm as "a case Of
scare"