The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-05-28

Chicago the "wide-awake" city, whose
inhabitants "never sleep" read in won
derment of the great underground tun-
nels being built in New York and Bos-
ton; pictures illustrating the grand en-
gineering feats of these tunnels were
viewed with admiration, and the next
morning Chicago awoke to find that
every one Of her own business streets
had been tunneled with the greatest
underground subway in the world.
When was 1t done? How was 1t done
were the questions the high municipal
dignitaries were asked in astonishment
The entire city was bewildered. 1t has
not recovered yet, People had passed
along the streets as usual; the same
throngs had crowded the retail districts
and no one had noticed anything unus-
ual. No one. not even the mayor,
dreamed that the very heart of the city
was being catacombed with a veritable
net Of subterranean passages under
meath every important street. When
Chicago finally RECEIVERS her breath she
will find that 100 miles Of these tunnels
have been constructed.
Not from the windy city, not from the
"hurrying" western metropolis did the
enterprise come that built this man,
moth and remarkable tunnel system.
From far away New Mexico and from
two small towns in the east four quiet
individuals with money slipped into the
windy" city and while it was "windy-
ing" so hard and so loud that it could
hear and see nothing that was going on
beneath the surface, undermined the
whole metropolis.
And this was while I am mayor"
said Carter Harrison, "and while we
were aldermen" said Hinky Dnk and
Bath House John. What If they had
been Spaniards and we were yet at war
with Spain? They might have blown
up the city and everybody in it and
we would never had known anything
about it until we and the sky-scrapers
and the stock yards and the packing
houses were heaped in pile of riven
ruin together" And then there was
the Bell Telephone company, which
heretofore has as carefully guarded Chi
cago. it's field of prey, as the lion guards
its food stocked den to see that no
rival come within it's bounds. to even
get a smell of the luxurious monopoly 1t
was enjoying.
Two years ago the Illinois Telegraph
and Telephone company quietly obtain
ed a franchise to construct an UNDER
ground telephone service in Chicago.
Some thought the franchise was made
ineffective by the insertion of the
clause forbidding the company to tear
up foot of pavement or to disturb the
surface of the streets in any way under
penalty of forfeiture of it's entire plant
Nearly all had forgotten about the
franchise excepting the men who toiled
away night and day under Chicagos
streets, when not long ago a man
rushed breathlessly into Mayor Harri-
sons Office and told him that there were
tunnels under every street in Chica-
go. Impossible" said the mayor
Who could have done it?" The man
took him down under Chicago and
showed him, and then Mr.. Harrison
called to mind the franchise, granted
two years before. But that franchise
provided that not a foot of pavement
should be, disturbed, and somebody has
got himself into trouble" But further
investigation proved that sure enough
the tunnel had been built without re-
moving any of the pavement or giving
notable outward sign of the work in
progress under ground. The dirt had
been carried away through holes in al
leys in the night time.
Those who are furnishing the money
for the enterprise are c.. B. Eddy, of
Alamagordo. New Mexico; c. d. Smp-
son and T. Fl. Watkins of Scranton Pa.
and j. B. Russell of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
They are investing $1O,OOO,OO0 in the
work and have got twice that much
more to spend when required. Not a
cent has been asked from the citizens
of Chicago. No bonds or stocks have
been or will be offered for sale. The tun-
nels are to be used as conduits for the
cable and wires OF the new telephone
company; for cars in the delivery of
mail from the central post office to SUBJ
stations; for the carrying of newspa-
pers from the newspaper offices to the
outer districts; for the delivery Of pack
ages of merchandise from the big down.
town stores to the outlying districts,
and for many other purposes They
will serve to greatly relieve the condi-
tion of the congested down town
streets. The tunnels are forty feet be-
meath the surface and their extreme
depth, it is claimed, will prevent them
from being used as an underground
street railway system for passenger
traffic.
For the principal business streets the
tunnels are 12 by IA feet, while in out
lying districts they are 6 by feet. They
are as dry as the surface and follow
the center line of the street. At street
intersections sign boards are placed
corresponding to those on the surface.
Thus one may walk for miles along the
electric lighted caverns with the same
certainty of location as on the street
above. Construction has been pushed
night and day. Instead of brick walls.
the floor. sides and roof are made of
concrete, which is held in place by
wooden forms until hard. AS fast as
two feet are eXcavated the retaining
walls are built. To prevent water COM
ing in during the excavation the tunnels
are made air tight, and big pumps con-
stantly maintain high air pressure.
AS fast as earth Is dug 1t is loaded into
cars and run back on side tracks. Late
at night these cars are drawn to the
foot of the shaft and lifted on an ele-
yator and emptied into wagons. These
loading towers are located in obscure
alleys and present no sign of life during
the day About midnight they sud-
denly spring into action: lights blaze,
cages rapidly rise unload and descend,
While an endless procession of wagons
coming in at one and of the alley de-
part at the other. A wagon Is loaded
to its fullest capacity every two min
utes. With the greatest precision and
activity this work continues until 5Ni.
M Then suddenly the lights are ex-
the last wagon rolls away,
the doors of the tower closes and shut