The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-13

uu'fb Inc tlhN khN Hf kiN ~ tllttf w y liliAlhi
] form In what IL called the generator house.
From there II IL passed through retorts Of oil.
which process gives y its illuminating, power.
From the oil retOrts the gaa IL passed 10 the
/. house where the condsnsers are, In which II Is
cooled. From the .condensers tn. gas goes
through TO the scrubbcrs. where it il washed
These scrubbers consist Of six cylinders filled
with shavings, through which the gas IL passed
to remove from II the tar. Then i goes TO the
purifying house. where there are sixteen boxes.
each filled with oxide Of iron, and when the gas
has passed through these sixteen boxes, II IL
free from sulphur; From the purifying house
there to the great holders Ia be stored. There
are. three of these holders at RnyenswoOd,
with q total storage capacity OF nearly 5000. 900
cubic feet. The largest Of these holders n "a
large as any IN the world. having n capacity
OF " 900 cubic feet.
cubic feet Of gaS, which II Il considerable more
than enough TO meet the demand of the COM
pany,s eonsumers In the month Of DScemi
things being equal. the greatest amount Of gas
y consumed, the company sent out from IL.
OF gas. or an average daily output Of about o.
200, 900 cubic feet. From the grent holders Of
to, the , works n 1ns s iSs R Pas, Ri do~m 70 a Man ,Sn9uSh
Tbs tunnel Is, perhaps, the most important
part Of the New Amstcrdaln's plant, a. II Is
certainly. the most interesting 10 those no, es-
pecially Interested N the making and selling
OF gas. The tunnel extends from the foot Of
Webster avenue, Long Island City, 70 the foot
Of Fast Seventy-iirst street, Manhattan, lis
right angles to the stream, The Manhattan
emf is a little north OF the Long Island end
This tunnel is 2.5l8 feet long, and its top IL
1875 feet below the surface OF the river. From
tho bed Of the river At its deepest point II Is 10
feet to the top Of the tunnel This great piece
OF engineering work was begun by sinking a
shaft al Rayensw ood ON June %, lsa2 on July
70. 1892, 9 shaft was sunk az ne loot OF tnst
S Ssrk WAS s,. he'd from r'R both "a" end lat at IL" SAME NJ
time. On and on the tunnel makers dug th"lr
way through the solid rock that forms ~. bed
Of the river. passing under the centre OF BLACK.
wells Island, until on July II, is1ii i was found
that the two ends Of the tunnel lacked only
tveIty-one feet Of meeting. The greatest cy-
element prevailed among the men, \, " 'lock
on the evening of that day Il drill " a. nv through
from the Ravenswood end TO ia" Manhattan
end. lair in the middle Of tn" healing end
out, the headings met 1873 feet from thr nan
haitian side, and those who bad awdIitdihr
effect of the bias, walked from Manhattan
to Queens through the pioneer tunnel under
in The building of this work the greatest care
had TO be exercised IN arranging Tor 10" align
ment OF the tvo ends or headings Of the tlHirl
that were TO meet al an Intermediate poinl
SO great was the care ana accuracy taken III
this work that when the two headings met
tho centre lines met within One-hnli men IN
direction and within les than oit-'rn'h Ola
foot in grade levels lG Show nnS Et s'" and , In
angulations II ia only necessary To- STATE that
an error at either end would have been hlunl-
piled over 200 times AT The point OF iIn,,i4e asa
NEEDED In rock digging on the Rapid Transit
tunnel It may be said that the average rave 81
nrorre.s for the first three uOiItl after WuTE
was begun on the East River tunnel was seven
feet a week, and the maximum rate II progress
for this time was ton ana one-hail i''' ,u.,,
II was intended originally tlat ms tllhhri
should be a s,btrrranean passage, whose floor,
; ceiling and sides should he Noid rork, Wh'N
2 the work was cnmpltt"l J. was !ouma 'hH' 49,,
tions Of the wells were Of such ~rit rock tiHt
the water Of the river leaked through Therefore"
! those sections wer" lnet with cast IRON, he
lined sections inclnd" about one-thlra OF ~"
$ work. Tho lining mikes no" lHI'- aI'!pEt u
circle, and the diameter ot ~" tunnel IN thr
6 lined part, l. 10 feet > inon"' IN NE uhIih""
i part the tunnel IS ~ feet wide by : i"rl hEh
soon after the tunnel Wgs completed 4 great
= gas main. 80 iu,lc- ia ii Vmrter, va;ltid ihI"ns..
d II, and alongsid" Vie NAN ~ ,HId .nIer-!n,.
gauge trnck. over tll- track m "l"rtro-lu"ln'
$ car can transmit pa "nI'f, rom H,M ] "lk
A 10 Queens ia two, minute. ne one man M4s
: all that Wa needed 20 -,lnniI ~" c''niHr ~,
n siN-iuch main WAS Lunl HhoI" The Of man
10 supply gaS TO Blackwell, Island Alongside
The Mackwelrs / land main w@N hung a four
, inch pine. fitted Of regular intervals with stop
3 cocks and always kept hlled with fresh air 10 De
drawn upon by men W"rHtn- ~ 'hr,nl Toy Wi.sI-
ever the necessity should 1ri~,' IN" tnilei j.
} inspected once a week and j. lighted with MY
incandcSccnt licht-.
The East River Gas tompanE hulif ne tlnhGl
When il was consolidated with the tqntahle
| to form the New amsterdam, ana the tCitral
Union and Northern Mon were acquired II
wGa decided that, ,IinG" me piHht OF rh" C,', 10
lNllA NNh''| " Wv hN'HF 'f'
[ supply the demand there. and since tAe ilallt
) al Ravenswood was large enough TO supply.
/. all the consumers Of the F~uulttul" ana EaN'
River companies m MrHhAtit'l me wise T''tse
would he 70 shut down NE works OF ne tMult-
able nj the foot ol East rory -S'Vol" >'Ver'
This was don" and a srcond thiity-siA me- ilaIh
laid in the tunnel. The original hirty-elN-lnCh
main was then used 10 supply the old pipes IN
the treets of Manhattan direct, while he new
, main supplied gas for storage IN iNt luiCtF-
or the land Of The company between thirty
ninth and Forty-~oCoud streets ana IT. 'fiee
holders At the foot OF Nest ility-'iEhth street
Tho New Amsterdam las COMPANY. ~ To-
DAY, therefore. owns the plant and business OF
the Central Mon aud ,N"rthefN-' mon com
panies. IL owns Twelve acre. O! 'hi'i a.
=, EGvenswood. with a plant occupying four
acres. II owns the Fast River tunncl;, iour
} blocks Of land between Thlriy-nlnth ana fortS-
third streets along the Ems, Elver, seven lost
along East Seventy frat street, rom VI" river
west, where there i the elevator ItHuILg 70
the Manhattan end, Of the tunnel CORRESPONDING
TO the eiev ator leading Ia the khVelsN3ou et'u,
and the land occupied by me lhrr' u'!uHFS ~
the foot Of West Fifty eighth street;
As has been said, the capacity Of the Ravens
wood works is l2,OoO,Og0 cubic Feet oil ga a
day. The capacity Of the mains IN the tuhiiti,
under ordinary pressure, Is lSnoc"o cuolc
feet each twenty -four hours, Mhlch 'opaUtY,
under heavier pressure, can easily De- increased
TO az, COO, oGO cubic feet n day. The iothl storage
capacity Of the five hold-rS on me laid De-
tween Thirty-ninth and Forty-se'ohd streets
IL i,7C0,0UO cubic feet ana the uotal SloIds.
capacity OF the three h"iuaIs az VIZ -, VI
vest FlftN -rlRnIh street - S'E'uI"" ~" =
II has been said that the NtW Aiisurnuuin
a..rn - uhnnf nnt-l(nTln Oh I'LL III