The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-28
WRRCKING A BUSY STREET.
OPEN TRENCHES. DIRT AND BAD
SMELLS ARE DOING IT UPTOWN.

800
SMELLS ARE DOING 1T UPTOWN.
Horrible Coalition Of <7d Street. Abandoned
for Ions Months TO the Tender Mercy Of
tho Street Railway Contractors- Residents
and Business Men Expressing Inclination.
Through more than half its length Forty
second street Is and has been for several months
a veritable slough Of despond. Great trenches
cape on one side or the other or in the middle
OF the street. The excavatsd dirt and rocks
are piled up in unseemly heaps along the gut
tiers. often enroaching on the sidewalk space.
Exhumed pipes. rusted and malodorous, block
the sidewalks, together with piles of rotting
timber, carts not in use, barrels and general
rubbish. II the street had been mined with
explosives and blown up il couldn't look much
worse than IL does now from the operations
Of the street railroad company which has been
Internationally at work upon IL for months.
to the extreme discomfort OF the residents and
the financial loss of the business men.
Traffic shuns Forty-second street. Passage
Ia precarious and slow TO any kind Of vehicle,
even to the horse cars. Consequently drivers
60 around by other streets to avoid its perils.
But the unfortunate storekeepers and dwellers
there can't very well move away. They have
to stay and stand it as best they can. Day
after day the unsightly masses OF rubbish and
the flying dust afii,t their ewes. the
changing and banging "a iron pipes, displaced
and rails substituted, apparently without prac-
teal result, fills the air with deaienlng sound.
Sitting odors OF sewer gas ana oil messes mat
simmer and bubble in huge cauldrons over fre5
Of decayed wood when the work ~ ~ progress
poison the air: There are parts OF EsseX ana
Mulberry streets that are regarded as Undesirable
for residence. but they are pleasant and
salubrious summer resorts In comparison
with Forty-second street as II now is.s As a
brilliant and long-standing example OF how
things ought not to be done that diseinboweled
th~oroughfare wouldn't be endured IN Chicago,
For months the people who i've ana 90 Dusl-
takes them there have stood the conditions IN
the hope that presently the holes In the earth
would be filled up, again and the long-eApected
electric railroad which ia to join the " est Side
line Of the Third avenue system with, It's East
Side line would get into working order, Pa
tience has given out now. and the people are
beginning to talk of some concerted nCVe-
ment against the present condition of all airs.
The Sun has had a number Of letters from
that locality Of which the following is an ex-
APPLE:
kindly allow me 10 call the attention OF the proper
authorities to the condition Of Forty second street.
t.rday The dust was driving about in clouds. much
to the annoyance and disgust OF the thousands OF
people who are Obliged to cross. There is no attempt
made to sprinkle, or 10 be careful about annoying
the public. AT the corner OF Filth avenue and Forty
second street the same %wIetched condition prevails
as through the winter. The railroad company Is
using the sidewalk on Filth avenue below Forty
Second street and In Forty second street west OF ftth
avenue.
Recently. In attempting to pass down Fifth avenue.
below Forty second street, ! Was stopped by two men
using a cross cut saw and absolutely blocking the
sidewalk. Two other men were ~ScTaping iron pipes
with wire brushes, and Milling the air with iron rust
and other NTH. u docs seem as though We were
entirely at the mercy OF the street railway company,
but It should At least have the decency to carry on the
work with as little annoyance TO the public as possible.
The same condition OF Affairs prevails At Forty
Second street and Madison avenue. The crossing
there has been In a wretched condition Tor over a year.
The sidewalks on Madison avenue and Forty second
street are used asa store yard, Certainly these people
should be obliged to hire a place to saw up their wood.
and In some manner prevented from being a nuisance
Pro Boxo PrBLIco.
NEW YORK.. June 20.
The principal Instructions TO traffic in Forty
second street extend from Eighth avenue
past Third avenue. with occasional stretches
Of clear road. Although there has been of late
little more than a ,%pretence OF work on the
road, yesterday a large force of men was
blsv Oh all parts of it. This the residents OF
the locality attribute to the fact that some
of them have recently visited the Department
of Highway and made complaint. From
Eighth avenue two-third- of the way 10 seventh
avenue the work of laying the new tracks is
in progress. More than half the width OF
the street IS taken W 10y the Trenches which
guarded by lines. other parts, are. open. In
front of the new Theatre Republic piles OF dirt.
and loose stone. impinging on the sidewalk
tower above the heads of the Iassers-by. Here
the ditch IL seven or eight feet deep. Iron
rods have been put up along that edge OF the
ditch which adjoins the remaining roadway,
but they have become weared through long
di>use and lean over at all angles, Presumably
they were to hold guard ropes, but II the guard
ropes were ever there they have rotted away.
Just of fOrty-seCOnd street seventh avenue
looks like a rough camp Of engineers engaged
in hasty intrcnchment work. There are a
couple Of rickety ,harties, heaps Of stone,
dirt and sand, piles of old lumber. and n huge
kettle which dispenses e~vil-smelling smoke.
such progress rs the crosstown cars make
through the street is ~tortlous IN the OK IRENE.
They wind from the side to the middle and
back to the side az the excavations take mp
the space. Generally there Is just room
for a single track and If any vehicle IS on the
track in front there is no passing II. Between
Sixth and Fifth avenues. yesterday afternoon.
while a shower was in progress, three cars
were blocked while the driver of n dirt cart
sat under a tree and tried TO keep dry. The
prospect reminded one OF the passengers of
the siege pictures Of Kimberley. showing cor
ners Of the besieged city. Kimberley, how-
ever, probably didn't suffer from sewer gas,
wherein II has the advantage OF forty-second
street.
The trench is narrower between Fifth and
Madison avenues and from Madison 10 Fourth
avenue there ia no trench. II begins again
opposite Fourth avenue and there it is so wide
that there Ia barely room for a single vehicle
on either side of it, From Lexington avenue
70 Third NE eFcaya snI,a have not been made;
DtT JIM W." $500 W 10 q" N'c'h Va
dirt mountains, rubbish heaps. old barrels,
rusty iron pipes and general refuse.
"a number Of storekeepers with whom THE
SrN reporter talked Yesterday eXJ rassed them
selves in terms Of great indignation over the
work. The street has been in much its present
condition, they said. since last fall. Some OF
them threatened to appeal to the Board OF
Health on account OF the sewer gas, At the
Department Of Highways IL was said that the
work was now well under way and would be
pushed IA fast as possible.
The Third Avenue Railroad Company" said
one OF the officials Of the department. got into
a controversy with the Consolidated Gas Com
pany regarding the removal OF the gas com-
pany's pipes. When that was settled the com
Dany went into the hands OF a receiver and in
functions were issued that hamperrd the work.
You must take into account that Fortv-second
street beneath the surface Is probably the most
complicated mess in the city. There is such
a mass Of pipes and conduits and wires beneath
1t that the work of necessity Is slower than it
would be in another street. I think il will go
on satisfactorily now. II the work is done
health Of the public as far as possible. that will
be remedied."