New-York tribune., 1902-01-25
W. B. PARSONS TESTlFIES.
SAYS AN OFFER MADE BY THE RAPID
TRANSIT COMMISSION WAS DE-
CLINED BY THE CENTRAL

The State Railroad Commissioners Colonel
Frank NJ. Baker, yesterday continued their in
vestigation of the Park-ave. tunnel disaster,
holding a long session in Parlor DIR of the Fifth
Avenue Hotel. and examining several witnesses.
Without completing the investigation they an
nounced adjournment to next Wednesday.
One of the witnesses who gave testimony
which the Commissioners seemed to regard as
important was William Barclay Parsons, chief
engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission
While he said he had made no technical ex-
animation of the tunnel in Park-ave he
pressed his belief that the tunnel might be made
safe and comfortable for travel either by re-
moving the top and making it an open cut or
by abandoning steam and substituting electric
fly the motive power
Air in the tunnel he said, was constantly viii
ated, and no scheme of forced draught ventila-
ton would help matters. So far he had OBJ
served, the system Of signals in in the tunnel
was about good any he had ever seen. but
he added: $50 long as you introduce the hu-
man element, a signal system like the present
will prove at times ineffective"
Q.-Are you aware of the character of the pro-
posed improvements decided on by the New-York
Central? A-Only in general way.
II would be a step forward.
Q.-Would it reduce the burdens of operation 80
per cent? A.-Yes, II would.
The liability of danger, the witness said, would
ent plans for the rapid transit road and of the
efforts to have the New-York Central practically
operate the subway. The plan. he said, involved
rights beneath the property Of the New-York
Central and more particularly beneath the
Grand Central Station. He said an offer
made by the Rapid Transit Commission. but 1t
was declined by the New-York Central people,
both in writing and verbally. The reason given
for not desiring to enter into any compact with
the commission that the New-Yorl Central
people did not wish to give away rights beneath
their property that might subsequently interfere
with their expansion. Mr.. Parsons said the Rapid
Transit Commission reserved the right to build
an East Side line under its own control at some
future time, and that II such a line were built
and made to connect with the main line in the
neighborhood Of Thirty -ninth-st., then 1t would
not be feasible to connect with the New-York
CentraPs proposed suburban loop.
Mr.. Parsons thought danger existed at all
times on railroads. and In tunnels. particularly
where steam vapor existed. For this rea-
he admitted that danger would lurk in the
centre tunnel even after the proposed improve
ment went into ERECT as through trains would
be through the centre tunnel with steam
power. For steam locomotives, he said, he was
in favor of a dark tunnel. he believed 1t
would be far satisfactory to engineers
than a lighted
Superintendent Platt. of the NewHaven road.
was asked if he knew of any case where fires
were fed with soft coal when the engines were
In the tunnel. He declared that he knew of no
such case that the engines not fired in
the tunnel, but were cooked" before leaving the
Grand Central, and after leaving Woodlawn,
according to the rule of their roads
William p Appleyard, master car builder of
the New-Haven road, exhibited blue prints of
the cars wrecked on January 8 in the tunnel
He described the construction of the cars, and
how the shock of collision was distributed ITO
my mind" said the witness, there was an i'm
pact in that collision of 10000 pounds from a
train going twenty miles an hour"
no pvlfn col
such an impact, although he admitted that with
coaches constructed of steel frames the loco
motive might not have been able to make so
complete telescope of the car
William n. Folger, United States Lighthouse
Inspector at Tompkinsvile testified that the
lighthouses had lights that could be seen for a
distance or six or seven miles He said there
were times when smoke made the atmosphere
more dense than ordinary fog He said he
thought the rays of an oil lamp would penetrate
fog better and for longer range than a Iamp
run by electrical power would