Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-06-06

fellow going in the opposite direction. This
haze makes the street gas lights look like
pin heads with a corresponding reduction
in illuminating power. White mist COM
pletes the variety and is more in evidence
than any of the others, and the least an
noying. Singularly enough, these fogs do
not rise more than 300 feet above the
ground and from the top of the dome of
st. Paul the city is hidden from sight by
the vapor that enshrouds it. The duration
of fogs vary. A few hours Of sunlight are
sufficient to dissipate some of them; again
they last fortnight. The most depress-
ing are those caused by the west wind,
which conveys the smoke from the burn
ing of soft coal from a million chimneys
to the eastward in a long train sometimes
extending thirty miles. Suddenly the
wind changes and this vast volume of
smoke is driven back over the city, where,
reinforced by that emitted from the Chin
neys, settles over and constitutes the
greatest drawback to living in the city.
The Underground.
The metropolitan or underground rail-
road answers for rapid transit and bears
the relation to London that the elevated
occupies to New York. The speed is
about the same but here the resemblance
ceases. In London you enter dingy
and filthy station from the street, buy
your ticket and make your descent to the
platform below over dirty stairs to the
waiting rooms, which are chilly, ill-smell-
ing and so dark that gas has to be burned
all day. The odor of smoke is very much
in evidence and you feel a sense of relief
as the lighted bulls eye in the locomotive
rounds the curve and the train comes to a
halt. Then the smoke from the engine
fills the station and as you enter the COM
partment you quickly close the door to
save being suffocated. 1t is so thick you
can scarcely discern a person through the
glass partition on the doorway. While
one fare gives you the best on the ele-
waited, you must choose from three classes
on the underground. The best is much in
ferior to the elevated, and the atmosphere
between smoke and the foul-smelling
lamps that furnish n sickly light Is any
thing but agreeable. You have a minute
service in rapid transit I'm New York; on
the underground you have a train every
FIVE minutes. On the elevated you have
clean cars, open the entire length. and
daylight as long as it lasts--not cooped
up in narrow and uncleanly compart-
ments as in London. The smoke nuisance,
however, IL the mOSt ODJecuOnhDfe, US III
is ever present on the journey. The sta
tons are in long tunnels and you are, hard
ly out in the open before the train plunges
into another subterranean cavern so that
the cars make breathing uncomfortable at
all times. This prevents the asthmatic
from using the railway. Until electricity
or some other propellng force Is substi-
tuted for coal the smoke objection will
prevent the road realizing all that its pro-
jectors intended. The underground has
no connection with the roads built beneath
the Thames and which have never return
ed its owners anything owing to the smoke
that filed the cars in transit There are
two tunnels below the river, the last one
built few years ago.
The Bridges.
The bridges that span the Thames are
massive and the builders meant that q
dozen centuries should elapse before they
would crumble. The river Is tbree-eighthi
of mile wide in London and the cost OF
bridging Il has been enormous. The vehi
cles are closely packed. on these viaduct'