Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-08-02
MEM 49, nrhainsn1zz
SUBWAY
TURNED
OVER
New York Contractor Has
Completed His
Work

, New York, Aug. John B. McDo
. aid, the contractor for the most colo
! sal piece of engineering work ever Vi
: dertaken by man, has made good
: True TO his promise Of several month
ago Mr. Mcdonald today turned tn
New York subway, complete in pra'
} tically all its details, over to the Of
Grating company. A few weeks wi
be spent in running experiments
trains and on September the fines
and safest system of rapid transit Il
the world will be opened to the teen
ing millions Of New oYrk.
Surmounting all obstacles and prov
ing superior to all difficulties Mr.. Nc
Donald has fulfilled the terms of hi
agreement and accomplished what few
believed was within the bounds Of hui
man possibility when the provisions
of the $35,OOO,0OO contract were an
nounced a little more than four years
ago.
Extending from the Battery at the
southern extremity of Manhattan is
land to Bailey avenue and 230tt
street in the west side in a long
sweep of thirteen and half miles OF
four, three and two tracks, and As
miles of single track; from Tooth
street and Broadway under Central
park, to the east, under the Harlem
river to Bronx park and 1S2nd street
! a distance of seven miles. or In
miles of single track This is the
Manhattan division which Mr.. McDon-
aid today turned over to the operat-
ing company. To Brooklyn another
great system is being pushed rapidly
toward completion. Thus, spreading
out from the heart of the metropolis,
like gigantic spider web, are more
than 65 miles of single track, cover
ing distance of 25 miles of space to
be travelled by trains.
Mere figures are inadequate to ex-
press the extent of this system The
largest single contract in the history
Of civilization was entered into for the
purpose of constructing this wonderful
system of transportation. When it is
know that 1,70O,22S cubic yards of
earth and 921. .1S2 cubic ysrds of stone
and rock have been excavated, S6S, ,6O6
cubic yards of rock tunneled, 130,OSS
tons of steel, 1892 tons of cast iron
and 1853 cubic yards of brick used
in the work, to say nothing of the
hundreds and hundreds of thousands
Of cubic yards of water-proofing and
concretes and stone and toe 300. 600
linear feet of steel tracks and the
hundreds of thousands of tons Of
other materials--one realized that
vast undertaking has been accom-,
plished.
The difficulties of the work. too
have been without parallel. Fifteen
miles of sewers had to be taken up
and relaid-many OF them almost as
big as the subway itself. There were
miles and miles of gas mains and
water pipes and conduits that twined
themselves in and out and crossed
and recrossed the path of the under.
ground railway that had to be under.
mined, but so bolstered up by artificial
that the daily transporta. |
tion and traffic of the great city was
not disturbed Blocks and blocks Of
busy Broadway in the upper part OF
the city were hollow1 out hike a !
flute Tunnels were fearlessly bored !
under lower Broadway, reaching al.
most to the very foundations OF the
big skyscrapers and brushing against
the walls OF Trinity church. while
above the rumble OF the electric cars
and the rattle Of the carts never
ceased, In regard to the cost. il is
'ufiiefent TO state that II amounted to
million dollars a mile.
Persons who have a constitutional
islike TO riding in tunnels based for
he most part upon disagreeable ex.
'erience, need have no misgiyings
'6out the subway. throughout IT'S
n'ire length II will be as light as dan !
i all nours. Electric lamps and are !
igh's stud the walls and ceilings from
'eglnning 10 end
Modern methods have been en-. D.,
'loyed by the new road to an extent !
which reduces danger of accident 10 !
minimum The covered third rail 4
implies the power directly. and there n
block system OF switches With n
ppliances, every SEQ feet. Taere are ;
o arranged that even should motor
ian drop dead at his post. when a
anger signal Was set against an an
roaching train Il would be Impossible N
u the latter TO run past ID for the n
'ason that the same mechanism that n
splays the signal AZ the same time N