The St. Louis Republic., 1904-12-18

pgtateIy marked. ard all clean. dry. .leo-
tric lighted and lined sjirs top and bot
tom. Will concrete
Freight trains propelled hy si'c'ric!ty
traverse. the narrow SGu@" tracks winch
lay along the tracks iFubeied ia II" con
crete floors. the mails Dash from l'oSt ui-
ice ~ depot through the pneumatic tubes.
which 2T. affixed to II" roof ana iry.'Hr
tclepEOrC stations are connected through
III. cables witch line tie walls. The next
i..aci!cel DEVELOPMENT Will bs The insta
lG.ior cf y system which will deliver lie
newspapers from tn. great printing offices
ia tn. ieuots in Il tractor. % n" time
no" required and cb:iatirg lie necessity
Of W CONS.
The work Of construction was begun
September ?. 1901. l. was meceSsArr 10 fol-
low The middle OF The street ia digging the
suhways in order that the fouuiia;iD ms OF
was sr.p;,cs cd that the .NiEtiGE maps and
surveys ~ the city would ae sufficient Tor
the purpose The first week proved that
they were mos unreliable. and several
months were CONSUMED IN making fresh
surrey OF TIE proposed routes.
ENGINEERS WORK AT NIGHT.
To AVOID interfering with traffic the on
eirceIs worked IN the night hesinriug at
1879 y. y and ending at SD a II. With
the completion Of the accurate surrey the
digging again was resumed. Acting with
in the terms OF the franchise easements
Of buildings along ths Way were rented
and from one OF these tta first boring
was made. the dirt being brought ont by
tram cars and elevators. loaded into wag-
ons in the alleys and carried to the lake.
As the work progressed. he main bor-
ing WIS directed toward the lake, and
soon there was an electric tramway.
which conveyed little goncola cars. These
"a -. -, oil.
let near the water front and brought back
tho concrete ready for the woTkmen.
Nothing but blue clay was encountered
in the subsoii through which the excava-
tons Hcre made and of Suc! consistency
that it could be dug out and handled with
comparative ease. There was no water TO
contend with and the burTowers were far
below the tiers Of water. gas and sewer
pipes aHd of the cnndrIits uf the existing
telephone and telegraph companies.
4 great H-shaped machine was driven
ahead while 'hc work was in progress
and the clay was sliced Off then with i'm
plemeGts which resemble the r..vknives
of carpenters. IT.. clay came out in
mammoth slal3s. Each was load for a
car
TIE laborers worked in three shifts of
eight hour. zach. Th" day shift was com,
posed of the concrete workers. who laid
the floor walls and ceiling. tampinG II
into The ea.r-th and precludluS all danger
OF settling The miners then went TO work
removal of the dirt was done in the night
hours. This system accounts Tor the
practical ignorance Of the Chicago people
OF what was going on under their feet.
MANY REPORTS TO CONSTRUCTORS.
The constructors rented an entire Office
building and the general manager. George
W. Jackson. established headquarters in
that building. moving in his family and
receiving reports from the tunnel every
fifteen minutes. With every few feet the
telephone wires were extended and the
office force were in constant communion
ton with every foot of the work.
The quarter-hour reports were tabuIated
and at any moment of the day an official
was able to ascertain how many feet
had been eXcavated. where a certain gang
was at work or an" detail OF the CUnStruC-
ton. One thousand men were empoyed
and there was an office force of ac.
After operations began in earnest the
rate of progress was more than one mile
OF completed subway each month. During
the entire period of construction there
was not an accident and not Il life lost
other gangs began operations at the other
points. working toward each other on
the lateral feeders.
1t is an engineering feat accomplished
that when they would come together there
was not the variation of a quarter Of
one inch at sny intersection in the accu-
racy ot the lines.
FRANCHISE TO CARRY FREIGHT.
When the possinilitie of the new sub
way became apparent. the proposal 10
carry freight and express became a bust
ness matter, and the franchise. with the
added rights. became the property of
the Illinois Tunnel Company. Incorporated
10 engage in these lines OF commerce.
The latter franchise was granted in July,
1903. and the new company took charge
OF affairs in January. lSei composed of
the same group OF capitalists and man
ayers
rne main conduits are II feet 21a inches
wide and L feet inches in height on the
inside The lateral condUits which come in
from the side streets are 6 feet wide and
I feet . inches high. Solid concrete lines
the boring and the walls are of horseshoe
shape.
In the larger tunnels the concrete is q
inches in thickness on the bottom and Is
inches in thickness on the sides and roof
The smaller conduts have lS-!nch bottoms
and walls 10 inches in thickness.
The average depth below the street sur
face Is q feet inches. but reaching in
some cases 10 feet. Pure air is secured by
tapping chirDneys and SMOKE stacks along
the route. which gives direct ventilation
Valves protect the outlets from too strong
drafts drisfiis.,. ,,.,,, s,ros, ,,, ,-o- -...
now underlaid and connections hay, been
of the larger stores in the downtown dis
trIct have had switches built into their
Easements and freight is delivered directly
from the freight yards to the receiving
and shipping rooms.
Switches are now being built into the
Easements of the newspaper Offices. The
Post Office is connected both with the
tracks of the Tunnel Company and the
<,.h hof,