The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-10
GREAT HUDSON RIVER TUNNEL.
The Project Revived and Tunnel May
Be Completed Next Year.
New York Herald

The Hudson river tunnel project connect
ing New York and Jersey City is not dead.
1t was only sleeping. Plans are now being
pushed all along the line to take up the
thread of construction where it was
dropped five years ago and rush the pro-
yect TO completii01ni Inc hrst and most i'm
by the law firm of Lord, Day & Lord, in
the Equitable Building, who represent the
firm will file papers in foreclosure against
the tunnel property. 1t will be sold and bid
in by the stockholders and then the decks
will be legally cleared for reorganization
with new issue of bonds.
Daniel Lord, who has these proceedings
In charge said yesterday that the fore
closure was the easier of two legal ways
to revive the company and go ahead with
the work.
After the necessary steps have been
taken it is the purpose to float an issue
of entirely new bonds, the amount to be
fixed at $15O9,OOO" he said. AT least 81
100000 of this amount will be required to
complete the work. 1t is believed by the
engineers that this sum need not be ex-
ceeded. This, of course, involves calling
in the old stock, and we can now state that
three-fourths of the old bonds have been
surrendered and are in our possession for
this purpose. We have no doubt of our
ability to float the new issue in England"
How much has already been expended
on the tunnel edo Venture?' l asked.
About A,000000, Mr.. Lord replied. Mr.
Trenor w. Park and his associates of this
city were the first capitalists enlisted in the
great undertaking, and they had sunk
+.
Park died. English capital then came to
the front with about $1,000 600 more. The
British investors were represented in this
country by Sir Benjamin Baker, and all
this money had been spent before the work
was abandoned in April, 1892. Reckoning
total cost of the tunnel will be about So
0OO, O00
rs any change in the original plans con-
templated?'
The most important one that 1 can now
recall is the purpose to abandon the New
York terminus at Washington square and
to change it to some point not far west of
Broadway This will decrease the cost and
prove more convenient to the public. Fiji
teenth street. Jersey City. will be the
The condition of the great tunnel to-day
can be briefly given from the records. When
the work was suspended in the spring of
1892 there were 39l6 feet of completed tun-
mel going east from the shaft in Jersey
City, 1,O60 feet of this distance extending
east of the middle of the Hudson river
which divides the States, and lying within
the city and State Of New York. In addi-
ton there We're 10 feet completed west
ward from the New York shaft at the foot
of Morton street, adjoining the Hoboken
ferry. Around the open shafts at both ends
of the. line wooden structures have been
erected, ana Watcnmen nave been en-
ployed night and day During these five
years of desertion water has seeped into
the tunnel until 1t Is totally swamped. but
the engineers say it will be a matter of
about only two weeks to pump this out and
have the ground ready for the resumption
The protector of the Hudson river tunnel
was De Witt Clinton Haskin. formerly of
California, who had been active spirit
in the construction of the Union Pacific
Railroad. At his own expense he made all
the preliminary surveys and soundings nee
essary TO determine the feasibility of the
tunnel and the correct location of it's line.
He began in 1874 a circular working shaft,
sxty-fve feet deep, at Fifteenth street,
Jersey City. 100 feet inside of the rivers
bulkhead line. He had not progressed far
with the enterprise when the Delaware.
Lackawanna & Western road came to the