New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-15
TIE ELEVATED ROAD DANGER.

The panic al the City Hall station Of the Man
haitian Elevated Railroad on Thursday even
ing which resulted in the injury Of three women,
was the inevitable result Of the conditions
which have dsgraced that station for years
Every passenger who has gone upon that plat
form in the rush hours in five years has taken
his life in his hands, and every passenger who
GOES there from now on will do so at imminent
risk The small number Of serious injuries
from the awful jams at the City Hail. Canal,
Houston and Ninth SITS. is something wonderful
II IS Of piece with the luck which sometimes
saves powder magazine into which lighted
match is carried All the conditions for
frghtfu catastrophe are present, and nobody
can tell when the one mischance will come 10
repeat on an elevated platform the panic. the
tramplng and the deaths Of Moscow.
Time and time again notice has been called
10 this danger. Only few weeks ago consid
cradle talk was aroused by the account Of the
parrow escape of a woman from being crushed
10 death and the liability of person in the
front of a crowd TO be pushed over 10 the track
in front Of train is constant and serious. Yet
no effort is made TO find a remedy. True, the
Manhattan companys facilities are now taxed
almost to the limit. But il is notorious that for
years that company has steadily refused TO
irrroduce improvements which might materially
have relieved the congestion and avoided the
worst Of the present risks. 1t preferred 10
endaneer the lives of thousands rather than 10
meet the needs of traffic they arose. Every
offer IL made TO the city was coupled with
impossible conditions apparently introduced 10
block negotiations, and these blocked negotia-
lions were made the excuse for leaving the
rfonle TO be crushed. when there was nothing
10 prevent remodeng the worst parts OF the
old plant to remove obvious dangers but the
renurious policy of the management. Now,
when advantage Is TO be taken Of the patronage
Of Tammany government 10 Kill real rapid
transit no prospect Is held out of any i'm
mediate abolition Of the real danger-points Of
the present system. Electricity is 10 be substi-
tuted for steam on the Second or Ninth ave.
line So far so good Electricity and new
tracks may enable the road to carry more
people and maybe crowd them no worse. But
while all this work goes on are the people TO be
left to face death as they have done for years?
The Thrd-ave line and some Of its sta ton plat
forms an absolute threat of death in the
rush hours. Planning 10 carry more thousands
W i'll not make any lines more safe
The condition Of the City Hall station In
particular is deplorabe. There every ninety
seconds several hundred people are turned Apon
n narrow platform already damned with people
trying 10 take the other train or waiting for
the one Just come In. These people are COM
Ieed 10 fight their way 10 the street In the
face OF crowds rushing along the same narrow
passage IN the opposite direction The over
crowdng is inevitable, but the arrangements
which compel the two sets Of travellers 10 fight
for right of way could easily be remedied. And
before a step is taken TO make possible the car
rying OF another passenger. or the gain Of
another minute In the time to Harlem, the city