The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-13

- S4SAs ASSl. III the center OF each
is a narrow guage railway, over which
the cars used in hauling ont the
debris and bringing in the construc-
ti'n materials are propelled. Now
tnat the downtown tunnels have been
completed, the shaft houses at the
street curbS have been abandoned.
and in their place is used an inclined
plane railway, which brings the tun-
mel system into direct connection with
a dock on the river. From these
downtown subways main tunnels are
to be constructed to Fortieth avenue
on the West Side, Sixty-third street
on the South, and Diversey avenue on
the north, which, with the feeders,
Will make the system ultimately about
100 miles in extent. The completed sec
tons of the subways are as follows:
Franklin street, from the main riv-
er to Harrison; thence west of Grand
Central Depot to Polk, and thence to
Taylor street.
Clark street, from Randolph to Har-
rison.
Taylor.
branch of the river to State.
Madison street, from Franklin to
State.
Adams street, from the river east to
State.
Harrison street from the river to
State.
Twelfth street, from State to the
lake.
Dearborn street, from Harrison to
Taylor, and east on Taylor to State.
Besides these there are connecting
lateral feeders on South Water, La
Sale, Jackson, Monroe, Congress, Van
nd ctr
gan and Wabash avenues.
Remarkable Engineering Work.
Some of the most massive Office
buildings in Chicago are in this dis
trict. One of the assertions put forth
by the opponents of the enterprise was
that such a work could not be done
without endangering the foundations
of these structures. Engineers took
measurements a few days ago and
found they tailed exactly with those
made before the first spadeful of dirt
had been excavated. mo Appian
way" says President Wheeler, was
ever better constructed. This is a
work for all ages. and will stand to
conceal now, but if we had an
nounced when the project was I'M
dertaken that we Intended to con-
struct forty feet under the city, under
every main alley and street, the largest
municipal tunnels in the world, we
would have been a target for black
mailers and an object of ridicule for
the doubters. The life of our fran
chise is thirty years, and the compen-
sation to the city is 8, 5 and 10 per
cent. of the gross income after the
first ten years. We are not getting
something for nothing, and at the same
time it is a self-evident proposition
that the people of Chicago will in the
end be the largest gamers"
Primarily the object of the promot-
ers of this enterprise is to use the sub
ways as conduits for the cables and
wires of the new telephone company
which is to begin business about July
1. Telephones in Chicago now cost $3.50
a year for business phones, 5000 for
drug stores, and from SIS to 500 fol-
private residences. The new company
proposes to put automatic phones
into every business house and residence
in the city without extra charge. A
meter will be attached to each phone
and whenever a call is made the meter
will register toll of cents. WheT
the total is SIS a year for business con-
Germs and $40 for residences no further
charge will be made. If the cal
amounts to less than these figures the
user of the phone will be gamer. II
is this prospective relief from the exac-
tions of the monopoly that has made
the new company popular, and rem
dered it hazardous for the city officials
to take any steps to stop it's subway
building. In explaining the new SER
vice. President Wheeler said:
1T would, of course, be useless to ex-
pect any number of people to use ouI
system unless we have a good sized
exchange to start with. We shall not
wait to get subscribers. The utility
of telephone service lies in the num-
Der of people to be reached. The
larger the number, the more valua-
BILE the service. 1t is with this knowl-
edge that we shall install free phone
in every business building in Chicago
and when this is done, will at once ex-
tend the service to residences. In this
way we shall begin in July next with
at least $4,000 phones in operation.
Use for the Subway.
SBut the telephone service will in real
itA be a small part of the new enter
prise. Its subways are of such size
that small cars may be run through
them, and on these it is proposed to
transport the mails from the general
postoffice to the various railway de-
pots and sub-stations; to deliver news
papers to the railway depots and to
dealers instead of sending them by
wagons, as is now done, and to carry
package freight from the downtown
stores to the outlying districts. No
effort will be made to do a
passenger business. The tunnels are
not constructed to accommodate it, and
if they were there would be violent OPP
position from the merchants, who in
sist that their prosperity depends upon
the people being kept on the surface of
the streets. The removal from the sur
face roadways of the mail, newspaper
and package freight traffic will ma
terially lessen the congestion that now
affects the downtown section, and this
relief will be greatly enhanced by using
the subways for the passage of the
heavily laden drays, which are now the
main source of trouble, owing to fire.
quent breakdowns. By payment of a
5 or 10-cent toll these teams will be
allowed to use the subways, and thus
get a clear right of way that will great
ly expedite the handling of heavy
freights, or the subway company will
haul the freight itself. Men who have
studied the problem say that in the
present congested condition of the
streets it would be a good investment
for the wholesale interests of Chicago
if they could have a subway system of
their own.
1t is a peculiar feature of this work
that not a dollar has been asked from
the public. No stock or bonds have
been offered for sale and none will be.
Every dollar of the cost is being met
by the original investors, who are C.
D. Simpson and T. H. Watkins of
Scranton, Pa, ]. B. Russell of Wilkes