Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-13

evolved. Many OF the skyscraping struc~
lures for which Chicago is famous. stand
along the route Of the downtown tunnels
Knowing that IL the foundations of thes
were weakened the promoters would b
liable to heavy damages and that the en-
tire work might be stopped by Injunction
MessTs. Wheeler and Jackson first had q
careful survey made to determine the exac
center lines of the various streets und r
which the subways were to be constructed.
These were compared with cross surveys
and the city maps and in the latter man,
glazing errors were found. When thes,
were corrected easements were rented al
convenient intervals along the line ano
the work of excavating begun. Men wer,
put to digging and the earth taken out wa
hauled up and carted away at night through
the coal holes in the sidewalks, so that l.
did not attract attention. The initial poin
was at 40 Madison street, one of the
busiest parts of Chicago, and to illustrate
how quietly the work was done the police
man on the beat, one Of the most careful
and efficient men on the force, supposed it
was a job OF repairing in the cellar Of a
saloon and never gave 1t any attention.
Digging straight down forty feet the
engineers struck a line under Madison
oAANtA NV bNbah II Va ~ NNA
mel proper, which at that point is six by
eight feet in size. AS this was pushed for
ward little shaft houses were built at the
curbstones, through which the large volume
Of debris was carted away at night and the
concrete and other material for the con-
structiCn of the tunnel taken in.
Humid reds Of MO!e-LiLe Excavations.
In the daytime there was not a sign to
indicate to the thousands Of pedestrians
that any unusual work was in progress,
hut every hour Of the twenty-four, day
and night. hundreds Of men were digging
away like moles forty feet below the cen
ter Of the streets. 1t was necessary to go
this deep In order to avoid the sewer and
gas pipes, the conduits of the telephone
and the telegraph companies, the electric
light cables and the great water mains. II
was for this reason that Mayor Harrison
could not understand the situation when
the storm Of opposition to the new enter
prise broke the other day, a storm brought
about by those who now enjoy monopolies
with which the new company will interfere.
'Imposs be" said the mayor when told
that the company had completed seven
miles Of subways under all the principal
streets In the business district, why, It
is expressly stated in the franchiss that
hOl a IOOl OF pavement must u boH
and | guess that's enough to hold them
down. 1t IS simply impCs ib.e to d. a work
Of that magnitude without tearing up tn
streets"
ITS true, Mr.. Mayor said President
Wheeler VIII n questioned by the city cN-
e%tutive. Select a committee Of the ~
council and our engineering officials and
make a tour with me through the sub
ways"
The compressed air under which the
work is being done was shut of. and the
mayor and his party, piloted by Presi-
dent Wheeler, made a trip through the
tunnels. They found the entire business
district honeycombed with subways built
in solid concrete, lighted by electricity and
as dry as a dancing floor. The main tun-
nels are fourteen by twelve feet, and the
branches six by eight feet. In the center
Of each is a narrow gauge railway, over
which'the cars used in hauling out the de-
bris and bringing in the construction ma
terials are propell d. Now that the down
town tunnels have been completed, the