New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-08
WHERE THE BLAME LlEo'
ENCOURAGEMENT OF BRIDGE AffAih0
BY THE TRUSTEES.

TILE FORESIGHT WOULD HAVE AVOIDED
THE PART PLAYED By EN-MAYoR
HOWELL. AND MR.. KEENEY
The oft-repeated comment of foreigners that
the Great American Public is most brow
beaten and suffering body Of citizens was never
more clearly exemplifed than by the atu'ude
of Greater New-Yorks population toward 'ha'
colossal piece Of msmanagement known as the
BROOKLYN Bridge. Future historiens when 'hey
come 10 colate plain unvarnished tales OF nap
penings of this great metropolis. VIII dououess
deal harshly with tina; ancient ana moss-CoN-
cred institution which the citizens or TINS daJ
know as the Brooklyn Bridge trustees collect
lively but which is dominated by Mr. Howell
an ex-Mayor. and Mr.. keeney, an abe coad-
tutor, who they will discover were the real
trustees and conducted affairs to suit them
selves BY careful analysis. they VIII doubt
less conclude that in this self-contained Board
the ancient spirit and prejudices of the time OF
Rip Van Wrinkle largely prevailed, and that the
sonnolent condition Of the happy go-ucky Rip
showed forth in many things. with special ref
erence TO allowing needed improvements to drag
their weary way through the course OF many
wears while the suffering public sweated and
fumed and did nothing and the trustees
prated Of their diligence and great public serv-
ices.
When that happv time comes, It is TO be
hoped that the great American public will have
changed It's altitude toward the present dia-
tory policy Of public servants. and called to
account future public bodies for manifest and
unwarranted delinquenCies. To come back TO
the present day. it is not going without the
lcunds of truth TO say that the unfortunate clu-
zens who are compelled TO patrcnize the Bridge
are truly to be pitcd, considering the multi
tude of inconvenience and actual suffering with
which they are daily confronted. 1t is true that
the reconstruction Of the Bridge stations,
considerable work, fraught with much en-
gil eering difficulty has been nearly accom-
Ilished. But there seems to be no plausible eX-
cuse for the great length of time through
which ii has dragged along Should a private
corporation have condu ted operations with the
turtIe-like speed that the Bridge trustees have
shown in their so-caled improvements. there
is little doubt that that particular corporation
would have gone To ruin long before the work
was finished.
But the Bridge trustees. conscious Of their po-
Mtical pull and the "inhooence' which makes
their positions secure have gone to work like
latter-day tramp. who has nothing before him,
and wants nothing but the morrow
for the present Improvements were first
presented to the public Between that
time and 1890 there Board meet
ings with quorums. until in 1890 the
plans were submitted to a board of experts, and
afterward the dear suffering public was invited
10 give its criticism of what was presented be-
fore it, Three years more Of valuable time was
wasted in what might have been accomplished
within a few months. And so it was that about
three years ago actual work was begun on the
new stations and the changing Of track grades
and all other necessary work TO accommodate
rapidly growing traffic.
How the work has dragged, every unfortunate
citizen Of Brooklyn and NewYork who is COM
PEELED to use the Bridge fully understands. 1t Is
now nearly finished. and the latest dictum OF
Mr. Howell, ex-Mayor and obstructor OF all sug-
gestons from other relating to traffic en-
iargement is that November will the Bridge
work completely reconstructed
ENGINEER MARTIN HAMPERED.
In all fairness. 1t must be stated that Chief En-
eineer Martin and his assistants have done, in
many respects great work. but they have been
hampered by conflicting elements, known only TO
those on the inside 1t is not to be supposed that
such work could be carried without ncon-
venience both sides, but II seems that 1t has
dragged unnecessarily and that the public has
been at times outrageously Inconvenience and
In some particulars exposed to danger OF lie ana
limb. To cOntrOvert this, however the Bridge
management will point 10 its almost complete I'M
munity from fatal accidents 10 passengers on
the trains during the thirteen years that the
Bridge has been in operation. But there is daily
danger TO the 12J.OO0 people who cross and re-
cross the Bridge. and it is owing more to good
luck than anything else that people in the i'm
mense crowds on the platforms have not been
pushed off on TO the tracks and ground to pieces.
How a body of public servants could neglect
such necessary safeguard TO life ana llnlb as
e th. fkan eta
one of those incomprehensible things which the
public has asked million times over.
THE CRUSH ON THE STAIRS.
1t would seem, too, that with the seven years
which the trustees and engineering experts con-
sumed IN formulating their plans, such simple
necessity as wider stairWays might have been
provided for. 1t has been the source of vigorous
remarks by thousands of unfortunate passengers
during rush hours" who suddenly found them
selves pushed down the narrow stairways ana
crushed almost into jelly, that little foresight
might have provided much better accommoda-
tons In that respect
But it was not to be. The engineering ex-
perts, in their deliberations. evidently wore
dark-colored spectaces when they looked over
this important feature Of the plans. or else their
thoughts and mechanical lore were wool-gather-
Ing at the time. AS the Improvements OF the
Bridge are now practically completed, they must
manfestly stand for generation or more to
come probably beyond even that. and continue
10 DE d souiCt VI udHy JOSbllHB anu SAONuiHS'
and danger TO the crowds. which will increase
and are increasing time goes on and the
population on this side of the Bridge grows
greater.
If Brooklyns population is not increasing as
1t should, and its assessed valuation continues
70 remain at its present figure. the inconven-
fence Of getting back and forth can be set down
as large factor. To look at the daily crowds
who struggle back and forth from home to bust
ness is enough u sicken almost any man and
woman. And IL is only through sheer necessity
brought about by cheaper homes, that any reas-
enable, rational human being will continue Is
put up with the discomforts OF the travel. Such
q pushing and jostling and squeezing such a
mixing up and immOdest crush OF sexes, has
frequently been pointed out as something little
ing daN n