Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-17
GOSSIP FROM GOTHAM
Tammany Hall Uneasy Over Coming
Grand Jury Meeting.
UNDERGROUND RAILWAY ASSURED
Prospects Of Young Edison's Long
Distance Telephone.
TRUST COMPANY RESERN Els
COMPANY RESERV Els
pecial Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
NEW YORK, November Is, 1890.
| There is an atmosphere of apprehension
about Tammany Hall in view Of the extra
| ordinary term of the supreme court which
| will convene here next Monday by order
of the governor 1t is currently reported
| that there will be some indictments on al
legged violations of the primary and election
| laws, and that several Tammany men OF
prominence in the ninth district are on the
list They are said to have adopted ques-
| tiouabie methods in their attempt to tcfeat
| John c. Sheehan in the primaries. One of
these. 1t is said. is closely affiliated with
Richard Croker: another with Chief Devery.
The budget for 1900 has been passed by
| the municipal council 1t not passed
| before a vigorous protest against what
| some members termed the extravaganza of
| Mayor Van Wyck's administration in pro-
! vidug large salaries for officials who have
/ little or no work to do. The budget was
| put through with rush, and demands OF
| d number of members that public hearings
| be held before the final action was taken
| were ignored Alderman p Tecumseh
| Sherman made the hardest protest against
| the adoption Of the budget. He said:
| Il have examined this budget and l find
| the sum of SiS.Goo00o is to be spent for the
! salaries of officials next year. This is an
| exGrbitant amount The tax rate could be
| greatly reduced if the heads of depart
ments would spend less money for salaries.
| l would like opportunity TO investigate
| this matter further. l have no hesitation
! in saying that many of the city depart
| ments spend - per cent every year for
| salaries of unnecessary officials. The tax
| payers are burdcncd with ruinous tax
| rate. and still the city keeps on loading the
| budget up with salaries of useless omcers.
| Underground Railway Assured.
| An underground railway in New York is
! now assured. The rapid transit commission
! has advertised for bids for the construction
and operation of the tunnel railway What
| ever bids are received are not to be opened
until January 10 In the meantime there
! is much speculation as to the number and
/ the individuality of the bidders. The COM
| mission believes that there VIII be Senu-
| inc competition and this belief is unques-
| tionabiy based upon something in the ma
| ture of accurate knowledge, but none OF
| the commissioners will disclose what has
/ been impaired on the subject There have
been some rumors both of a Tammany and
an anti-Tammany syndicate as bidders;
| The French firms which have built large
| sections of the municipal underground road
| in Paris will. ii is stated. send represent
| tativcs to New York in few weeks to ex-
| anime the rapid transit plans with a view
| TO taking part in the construction of the
| tunnel Among the Frenchmen interested
| in it is said to be NJ. Eiffel Of Eiffel tower
| fame. 1t is asserted that he is confident
that the FTenChmen will he able to under
bid any New York corporation for the
! work. Under the rapid transit contract
the French bidders would have to make ar
engagements as sub-contractors. because the
| builders of the tunnel must agree to oper-
| ate the railrOd for fifty years, and no
| French concern could do this independently
| o. any other railroads The Whitney syn
| dicate has gained an important pont by
! the contract being so arranged that the
| successful bidders will receive the full
| revenue of the Subways which may be built
/ in the underground tunnels for fifty years.
| The Metropolitan COmparys experts have
| calculated what the revenue of the tunnel
/ viii he and how it can be worked in connec-
| ton with their own system. The c0ntrac-
| tors must deposit S1ep0.bD in cash or
/ United States bonds and 81 0f@ ONO guar
antee bond for the faithful completion of
| the work. The city issues bonds to pay for
| the work. as il progresses. The bid Of the
! contractors il to build, equip and operate
| the TUNE. When the tunnel is completed
| 81 ,UD.Nn in cash must be deposited as Sc
| curity for receipts.
Much interest has been expressed III ship
| ping circles in the past week over the an
! nounCement that the Hauna-Payne subsidy
| bill Will in all probability be Introduced
| Immediately after the reaSsembliDg Of Com
/ gress next month. The bill. which failed
| 10 pass at the last session Of Congress, was
drafted for the purpose of arresting the
! decline and encouraging a revival of ship
/ ping in this country. While individual ship
| ping men have declared against individual
i features Of the bill, yet they believe in
| general that the beneficial effects of such
| an act more than outweigh possible dis
! crepdncies. On the other hand there are
| many who believe that q free shipping law
| should obtain, while still others are of
| the opinion that the present laws are good
| enough. The existing statute prohibits
! every foreign built vessel from receiving an
| American registry, whether or not the own
! ers are Americans. \ few exceptions to
! this rule have been allowed Under free
! ship law vessels built in foreign countries
! could receive an American registry. Many
| OF those persons who formerly believed in
! free ship law. however. are now In favor
! of the Hanna~Payne bill, which. if passed
| would admit foreign vessels to American
! registry after certain conditions were COM
/ piled with. The recent acquisition by this
| country of Hawaii and Porto Rico and the
occupation Of Cuba with the consequent
! possibilities in the way of export trade
{ raised In other than shipping circes an i'm
! pcratiye demand that some action be taken
! with View 70 encouraging such trade.
| New Long-Distnnce Telephone
! # the new invention of Thomas A Ed
| son. jr. works successfully one may soon
| be able to say Hello" to London. Paris or
| any other part of the world from here.
Young Edison has been at work on an in
| strument designed to make possible the ex-
| tension Of the long distance telephone sys-
| TEN to other lands. Ali attempts to use the
| cable FOR telephoning have proved a failure.
| owing to the action Of the water on the
| electric waves. Now Mr. Edison thinks he
/ has overcome this difficulty. and Will soon
| make an experiment to verify his belief
| He Is negotiating for the use of the
! Hayttan cable for his experiment. and If an
| arrdnsr ment can be made he viii try to
| tax 10 the far-away island some dav this
! weth. Mr.. Edison IS not willing to talk
| about his Invention until he is assured of
| it, success. He says that il is a simple CON
! tf!ydnce, calling for the use of strong mag
| nets, powerful induction coils and a trans
| mitter of extraordinary senstiveness. He
| says ne has used ii with success in short
| talks through deep sea water.
| Banks After the Trust Companies
| There IS well-defned rumor In Wall
| street that there will be an organized move