The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-30
NO MORE DlTCHING ANY KIND
Upper BROADWAY APPOINTS
IT'S FIGHTING COMMITTEES.

M Trouble About . Campaign Funo So
unnr n Il Is Made Sure That Trench'
with . Cover or without. Shan't he Dug
in the City's Chief ThOroughfare-fsr'
AIMS IL Flaming for the UNBORN.
The upper Broadway merchants COM
mittee, formed to oppose the dltchhg Oh
that thoroughfare for subway oet"een
Fourteenth and Forty-second streets met
IN the Office of AL Hayman in the Empire
Theatre building yesterday. and appointed
two subcommittee empowered to take
anv and all legal measures to keep the sur
face of Broadway intact, whatever the RAPID
Transit Commission and the belmont-
Mcdonald Subway Construction Company
may propose to do there.
The merchants resolved that no subway
project of the ditch variety, either the open
kind or that with cover on it. shall be per-
mitted to extend to upper Broadway as
long a. an appeal to the courts or any other
constituted authority can be made to
stopit.
1t was pointed out that every Arm doing
business in that part Of Broadway is now
represented In the association, and Is there
fore pledged against the ditch. 30 that 1t is
exceedingly doubtful II tho consent Of a sin
gle property owner to the proposed ex-
tension OF tho Parsons ditching plans can
DO secured All the same. the committee
discussed the advisability Of injunction
proceedings, practically agreed upon the
counsel to be employed should it be desir-
able to begin these, and told its new sub
committees to be prepared to take any
IN kill the
ditching plan beyond the possibility OF
reviving 1t.
II was the news from Brooklyn printed
In the morning newspapers which stirred
up the Broadway merchants. They agreed
that the report OF Monday nights meeting
across the river showed that the merchants
OF Fulton street had been caught mapping
BY the Rapid Transit contractors and now
have ditch on their hands whether they
want it or not. That the ditch Is to have
q plank cover and that it is promised to
open 1t only at night didn't affect the Broad
way merchants view at all. lhey nave
seen in Bankruptcy Highway in Forty,
second street what subway contractors.
promises amount to.
The subcommittee appointed were an
executive committee of six and finance
committee OF twenty merchants. The
latter will be empowered, II need be. to
make assessments upon members to pay
for legal proceed,nss EVER .tan1 ss1d
there would be no trouble about raising
any amount Of money to keep the ditch
OF Broadway
These are the subcommittee:
E9ecutive,A Haymap; y +; H MARTIN
Lord Taylor: Nathan straus Of 4; II. Macy
ee 'sha sni ssRHs n the
New Amsterdam Bank; chsTfss n Villas Of the
Fifth Avenue Hotel: g. w. sweeney presi..
". Sanger OF Madison square Garden; Marc
Klaw e Klaw 4 Erlanger; g: Z: Buckley q q
Holbrook OF the Gorham Company, Theodore
B. Starr, Of Black. Starr Frost g. Il sehu-
mann q MsTtins Restaurant John Kn 1Ues
Charles Thoriey. G. Albert SmaI and Messrs.
Huyier. Hatch, Stratus and Martin.
Another meeting Of the full committee
is to be held on Friday. and In the meantime
Rapid Transit Commission proposes to do
about the ditch plan proposed by Chief
Engineer Parsons and when the commlsslo
intends to hear the merchants evidence
against the ditch. The committee hasn't
heard from the commission Il I..f foI iodhg
in view OF the strength Of the opposition
manifested against the ditch.
The visiting British Royal Commissioners
saw a bit more of the half completed sub
way yesterday under the guidance of Chief
Engineer Parsons. Mr.. Parsons also took
them for a ride in q Broadway car along
the route he proposes to ditch next, If the
merchants will let him.
Mr. Parsons said last evening that the
visiting commissioners had expressed few
opinions to him about the subway, except
such as were expressions OF courtesy, and
he had not sought to learn their views about
the work He also said that he thought
the clearing up process along the surface
of the ditch was making fair progress. As
TO clearing up Forty-second street. Con-
tractor Mcdonald had certainly been mis-
understood. He hadn't promised to have
II done in ten days, as the merchants there
had thought.
THAT has been a very difficult section
OF the work" said Mr.. Parsons, land it is
only natural that there should be some
delay in finishing it. But i! expect that
great deal more of the sidewalks will be
replaced in the next few weeks and perhaps
even some Of the roadway.
He wouldn't set any date for the end OF
the clearing up process, because so much
, depended on weather conditions and other
things.
In talking about underground railway
building MIR. Parsons Salu tlldt tHe slludtioll
practically was that somebody had to be
inconvenienced. II the ditch or surface
tyne of construction was adopted you
had it during the building; if the deep
tunnel system was chosen the Inconvenience
came after the tunnel was built and lasted
as long as the tunnel.
.But isn't ditching rather hard on the
people along the route?" he was asked.
Practically you admit that the merchants
there are sacrificed to the general con-
venience"
ut is hard on them" responded the
chief engineer cheerfuly. But. then, isn't
II hard in the other case upon city resi-
dents yet unborn who would be incon-
venienced by travelling in deep tunnels?"
parsons's remarks were repeated, said that
hat; &c