New-York tribune., 1903-01-01


city and its suburbs for at least twenty-five
years Neither Mr.. Orr Mr.. Parsons Is
ready to make public these plans now. but
from trustworthy sources The Tribune obtains
informa ton which warrants the following par
tial forecast of rapid transit plans for 1908:
new East Side tunnel as advocated by The
Tribune. TO run, perhaps, eventually the entire
length Of Manhattan Island to be contracted Tor
soon after September l.
a tunnel under Broadway from Forty-second-
81. to the Postoffice.
The completion OF the tunnel work now IN
hand by January i next, with the exception Of
short strip under Fort George.
A unihcation of the city's passenger lines, so
that at an early date q hve-cent fare will carry
one anywhere within city limits.
The building Of all new lines with private
capital, with ownership Of the franchlSes Te-
tanned by the city
These are large things TO expect. but they are
Toreshad dored in an interview with President
Orr yesterday.
Rapid transit in 1908 certainly is an inter
esting topic" said Mr.. Orr. THE growth Of the
city is rapid and the overcrowding Of the
present lines so apparent that the plans for
handling people in this town for the years 70
come but be OF great interest Ito the
thoughtful man glad to say that Chief
Engineer Parsons Of the Rapid Transit Cornmis-
sion is at present occupied with broad, COM
prehensive plan for rapid transit IN this city.
He is not ready TO make these plans public, as
ne and the Rapid Transit Commission do not re-
gard them complete.
Speaking Of the work already in hand, feel
safe in saying that the tunnel will be run
ming one year from to-day, although the tunnel
under Fort George may not be done by that
time. The delay there is chargeable primarily TO
The Board Of Aldermen in not sanctioning
change Of route which saved a third of mile in
construction and several minutes in time in the
prospective operation of trains. This delay is
likely TO make the Fort George section of the
tunnel the last one to be finished, the rock cut
ting there being necessarily slow. Another de-
iay chaTgeable TO the same source is the one at
Fourth-ave. and Eighth-st- and still another
was in removing the old Hall of Records. l
have just received notice from the Buildings Bu-
reau that the old building has been vacated and
that the work of removal can 60 forward at
once The contract calls for the complete opera
ton of the system by September 1. 1904 but it is
10 the advantage Of the contractor and operator
TO put the road into operation at the earliest
day possible in order to cut down interest
charges on idle capital invested.
The contract for the Brooklyn extension has,
ss is already well understood been awarded to
Mr. Mcdonald and his associates and 1 have
been informed that all the sub-contracts have
been let The sub-contractors are getting ready
their machinery for beginning operations, but
them to begin until it is apparent that they have
on the ground good share Of the materials
necessary for the rapid completion ofStle work
soon after it is started The congestion Of traf-
fic in lower Broadway is such that the utmost
dispatch Of the tunnel. when once begun, is
demanded The Brooklyn extension contract, by
the way Is q striking commentary on the fact
that capital has changed its views in regard to
underground railroads as a profitable invest
rnent. When started the tunnel 1t was hard
10 get the ear of capital We were told that we
were building a hole in the ground. and that
capital was taking big risk in lending its aid
10 such an enterprise. That short time
ago compara lively When we let the contract
for the Brooklyn extension we found that the
Belmont Mcdonald people were so well sats-
fed with the prospects that, instead Of asking
the city TO advance its credit to the extent OF
slooo0oo0 OF S11,0e0.o0o. which the tunnel viii
cost to build they were willing and did contract
10 construct il for S3oo000o making the cost
Of the tunnel proper only S1.000,oo0, as $1,000
900 is allowed for the terminals. Moreover. and
this was largely owing to the Mayors foresight
and persistence. instead of granting the build
ers q fifty-year contract, the city gave them
only thirty-ive-year contract, which did not
seem TO be any serious objection in their judg-
raent.
L am convinced from this somewhat striking
change in the attitude Of capital toward prof.
ect of this sort that before we get much fur
ther along with building rapid transit tunnels
there will be an abundance of capital ready to
undertake the work of building and operating
them at little or no foaning Of the citys credit
All that CAPITALISTS need to be convinced Of is
that they will get fair and sure return on their
investment and then they will meet the
emergency.
with reference tc new work for 1903. we
<,,ilv expect to let a contract for an East Side
line This is being laid out now by the engineers.
DO not care TO indicate what the route VIII be.
This East Side line is really only completion
of our original plans. as the need OF it was ap-
psrent from the beginning The lack of funds
when ,Ee LET the contract for the tunnel proper
made il impossible for us go further than we
6j6 I understand from talks that l have mad
with Mayor Low and Controller Grout that we
shall be in better shape financially this year tnan
we were last and that may go ahead with
-bs mans for an East Side line. AS soon as the
new assessments are confirmed by the alder
men some time in July, the citys credit VIII be
such that we may advance the work
The tunnel under Broadway. from Forty
sscondst down 10 Fourteenth-st., may be au-
,borizes at the same time. 1t is only matter
=. g short time when there will have to be
g railroad under Broadway all the way down
II seems 10 me that this spur from Forty-secono
81 down will be absolutely necessary as soon
as the Pennsylvania Railroad gets It's tunnel
system working. in order TO take care OF some
Of the traffic that will radiate from the fehn-
s,lsania station, at Thirty-third-st- ana Sew
xntn-ave The Pennsylvania, OF course. will not
s+ ,,s ev, system in operation for three or four
,ssrs but il will be wise to anticipate the needs
~ the firne when their road is in operation
The question naturally suggests itseh II
rivate cspitaI is ready to build the tunnel with