New-York tribune., 1896-10-25
WIRES IN SUBWAYS.
THE TERMS OF THE COMMISSIONERS
ABOUT TO EXPIRE.
SERIOUS EFFECTS OF ELEcTRoLYsIs-Two-
THIRDS OF ALL THE WIRES IN THE CITY
BURIED-MAYoR AND CITY WORKS
COMMISSIONER N CHARGE

COMMISSIONER IN CHARGE
AFTER OCTOBER 81.
Within a few days the Subway commissioners
will submit their final report 70 Mayor "urS'e'.
Their terms of office will expire next Saturday ana
thereafter their powers and duties will devoive
upon the Mayor and the Commissioner OF lily
Works. The present Commission was created oS d!
act Of the legislature passed In lesz ana III J"e W
that year Professor George w. Plympton' Il neh'
ber OF the Polytechnic Institute faculty. ana rreu
r. Lee were appointed Commissioners. lhe! ""''
ser, ed continuously ever since. .
The Commission IS a State body, acting In pehh'i
of the city. but It's expenses are borne nether Ny
the city nor by the State, but are charSe upo''
the various electrical companies when come ui'ue'
It's supervision. The Commissioners receive salares
of SEQ a year each. and there is secretary
George S Elcock at 5000. and other employees.
This ,s the second Subway Commission thai
Rroo,;lvn has had Tho first appointed IN 1890
hy Mayor Low for two years. ana aiterwaiu '''
term was extended for two years more. rrole''o
Plympton was a member of that Commission a'so'
his associates being Dr. X. W. Raymond -n' 'o'
Reynolds. -,
The forthcoming report OF the expiring Commis-
sion will be devoted in good part to the subject OF
electrolysis or tire effect Of electric currents oh
underground pipes. Much attention mas oeeh .Nen
to this subject by the Commissioners anu ''e"
subordinates for many months. Ii is subject OF
serious interest to the trolley compdHieS' ~ ' 10y
officials and 10 the public in general
WATER MAINS net AFFECTED
II has been found that the water mains. large Or
small are no. much affected. Ihey are oi Cast
iron and while there arc evidences that the cur
rents follow them for long distances. they have not
been found TO be corroded eaten away to any
extent. Tho case is different with smail service
pipes made OF wrought iron or lead; gasplpes a'sV
suffer severely. The damage thus caused Is iiio.
mcrtous as respects the trolley companies. anu 'ho
results in Brooklyn being regarded Win inter-
est in other cities inasnuch as Brooklyn has
greater mileage Of trolley lines than any other city.
Within two or three days a case involving this
question has come UP IN the courts. hor's'
brought suit aga .nst gas company lot oaihascS
because his flowers destroyed by escaping gas.
The company frankly admitted that tho gas had
caused the trouble. but affirmed that the RESPONSE
bity ought TO be shouldercd D. the uo!'! coi'-
pany whose electricity had destroyed its pipes
No way Of preventing the escape Of electricity
into the earth when 1t passes into the rails mas YET
been discovered. II has been proposed that the
rails should be insulated. but. as Professor fiymp-
ton pointed out yesterday. in conversation on the
subject that would make 1t possible for horse TO
form a circuit by co.tOct with the rails with cur
rent Of sufcien strength kill him. as horses are
extremely susceptible To electricity. professor
Plympton also said that within a few hoirS 'hsre
hid been called 10 his attor,on plan Tor insu'at-
ing the entire roadbed OF trolley rail! oads ne III
nothing OF the details of the plan. and could not
speak as 10 Its prtcclb,liiy lie reg trds inc mat
ter as = most serious one for tho rairoad COM
narie since they will doubtless have large hlS OF
damages TO pay or en- the other hand. 1t VIII cost
them a good deal 20 re.ay their tracks 80 mat elec-
trcity Will not escape into the earth MI tht mas
been ore as yet Is retard the escape OF te eec-
trcity which makes the corrosion al ppes slower
than It would otherwise be la this way the
,f.tf,. fr,,l In he
reduced 20 10 per cent whereas Il IA now about W
rcr cent 1t s the intention of Professor PlyInpion
soon TO issue statement TO Tho people ot hi"oN'
lyn calling their attention to this ma'er and SHOW
ing them IN what parts Of the city pines are ihos'
liable 10 he subject to elcctrolysIs.
THE WORK ACCOMPLISHED.
As for the work accomplished by tho subway
Commission It can BE- summed up IN sentence py
saving that at the present moment {, per cent OF
All tho wires I'm the city nave been pu, undor-
ground and 50 per cent Of those which are directly
subject TO the control Of the Commission. The
wires subject 20 the control Of the commission
are hos, belonging 20 the cltythat is those OF tho
police and FIRE telegraph systcms-aDd the feed
wires OF tho trolley railroads The franchises Tor
,hs erection O, the latter granted during the
interval when there was 10 Subway Commission IN
BROOKLYN and over them tho Commissioners nave
M outhorltv Ii IL not unlikely. though. that the
placing of some oi them underground VIII soon be
a. Tor The police aad fire telegraph wires no
administration has yet ;,,- k. assuming ti" cost
was estimated that The cost would bo ts"r"p OF
,s000o, but careful estimate made at u, request
OF MayOr Schcrcu showed mat >HpVW won.b con'r
the oxpcnso. When James -. Bel vas Pole"
Commissioner police wires Wer" DiiIfd IN
Joralcmou-st., ard recently the telephone COMPANY
when placing wires ca tho fark Slope u.9" .t1", u
taking the city wires along with IiS own. " u on
account Of the city's wires that a cohaideraplc
number OF uusghUy telegraph poles ar. sun per
mi,ted TO cumber the streets.
The y per cent oi wires not yet bur!oi uciIdc
the trolley feed wire, tine wires o. tne district
telegraph company ahich run over hDusctops, ana
the wires In The new wards where no attempt mas
been mad carry out the law requiring al wires
IA Le mn underground. Since the present tomins-
work of burying the wires mas gore on At the rate
of more than 100 miles year and tnc i,corI - iop o
miles The total mileage of wires In the city -
over 2i.cc of which more than li,"" miles are
The underground condults are not all OF the same
material The wires OF the Edison Company arc
placed IN vroueht-iron tubes, which are inclcs"d In
cast-lron boxes. The high-tenson wrcs-those
used for arc ghis-4re Carried in wrought Iron
tunes The telephone wires are protected b.
creosotcd wood.
WHAT PROFESSOR PLYMPTON SAYS.
Professor Plympton. to whom obligations due
for furnishing the facts set forth In this article.
said Yesterday regarding the wind-up of the Sub
way Commissions work: "Knowng that were
going out OF office with the month Of October. We
have made our plans accordingly and we are now
engaged In collecting the latest figures and In
formation 10 embody In our nnal report which VIII
be completed In a lew days. AD interpret tne
law all our powers descend To the Mayor and
Commss sioner of City Works. who thus become to
all intents and purposes a state Commission, indc-
pendent OF local control At various times the work
Of the Subway Commission has been interered with
by the Aldermen; unit, the court. could pass upon