Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-01

| single tunnel Two tracks are for expresses
| ana two for locals 1t is arranged that
| express trains will run on express tracks
| only. and local trains on local tracks-an
| excellent system which does not now pre-
vail on the elevated railways Of New York
| city.
The road consists of two double-track
| tunnels above 34th street. which pass
| Oh either side of the existing Park
| avenue street railway tunnel. but at a
| lower level. Manhattan is indeed becom-
| ing honeycombed in all directions, and the
| end of the tunnelling is not yet in sight.
| New Workers are living in thirty stories
| and travelling In three-in tunnels, street
| cars and elevated trains.
The subway follows Broadway to 1O4th
| street and there divides into two lines-one
| Oh the East Side and the other on the West
Side. At two points before reaching 104th
street the tunnel has to pass under the
elevated railway and the task OF holding
| ur the great weight of that structure whila
the tunneling was going on was one of tho
most difficult that the engineers had to
| fsce. Downtown they Owed under
| Park row newspaper office with sucn
small margin to spare that the ends of tho
| presses actually projected over the tunnel,
| and vet were able to keep running without
| an hours loss of time. Another ucklish
| problem was to run underneath the vaults
| of the New York post office without dis
turbing the work going on there.
Maintaining the Grade.
! But it is not only the underground work
of which the subway engineers have good
reason to be proud From 1O4th to 10th
streets they have carried the line on a
single solid concrete arch in an open cut,
with a span of forty-two feet This is
technically regarded as one of the best
pieces of work of Its character ever done.
At the end of this cut comes the long,
deep dip known as Manhattan valley, which
Is crossed on an immense elevated steel
viaduct in order to maintain the grade Of
the tunnel had to be bored entirely through
solid rock, and this part of the work alone
is said to be the longest double-track rail-
road tunnel in the United States.
On an average the army of subway labor
ers has consisted of about ten thousand
men during the past four years, and the
of the entire contract price of $35,O00,000
The drilling of the rock took up the greater
part of the time. If it had been drilled by
hand the engineers doubt whether the
work could have been done in a quarter OF
a century. There has been no such diff
Guilty in any previous work Of the kind.
The subways of London and Paris were
cut through clay, and that Of Boston
through earth.
Many unexpected difficulties were met
with in the course of the work One was
the interference with the drainage of tho
city-running suddenly up against net
work of sewers which seemed to effectually
block the path These were problems sufti-
Client to turn an engineers hair gray. In
one place, merely as q ilItie size issue OL
their business, the makers of the subway
had to change the system of drainage of a
large district, making the sewers drain into
the East river instead of the Harlem river.
AT another place they had to tear up a
network of street car tracks and relay
them.
Clean and Bright.
The subway will not be dark. miserable.
stuffy place, like the London underground
railway. 1t is clean and white throughout.
and so thoroughly lighted by electricity that
it is as bright day everywhere. The sta
lions are, in many cases, real works of art.
and all of them are convenient and COM
Portable.
The gigantic power house on 5Sth and 59th
streets which vitalizes the third rail, is q
structure of which the makers of the sub
way are justly proud. 1t has frontage OF
2CU feet on 18th avenue and extends west
ward for nearly 700 feet. while the height
Is 125 feet. 1t is thus one of the largest
buildings in New York, and one of the
largest power houses in the world The
weight of the steel framework alone Is
about 1900 tons The total generating ca
pacity of the plant is about 10000 horse
power. The third-rail system Of electrical
propulsion is to be used throughout
The subway Is now practically completed
throughout the entire length Of Manhattan.
1t is a great work greatly done. but 1t
must not be supposed that 1t has solved the
vexed question of transportation in the
metropolis. Engineers and traffic managers
familiar with conditions in New York be-
ieve that it will be at best merely a. tenn
porary and partial relief to the present un.
bearable congestion of traffic. There will
still, in all probability be a vast army OF
"stra p hangers''-on the subway itself, az
well as on the elevated and surface lines.
Other subways will have to be bui,t,and
plans for them are already being tentative
ly prepared and considered.
The Brooklyn extension runs under the
East river to Joralemon street, Brooklyn.
n,NtI ,,cit fcci0r hoc oil W
authorized an extension of this Brooklyn
road to Prospect Park, and South Brook
Ign has also begun to clamor for a branch,
and is likely to get It,
In many parts of Greater New York the
public is agitating for an extension of the
original scheme of the subway. The Brook
lyn extension under the East river was not
a part of that original scheme, which was
designed only to relieve the congestion OF
traffic in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Railroad Tunnels.
The railroad companies. especially the
Pennsylvania, are also doing much tun-
neling in New York at the present time.
and are connecting their systems with the
The rapid transit board has
granted to the Pennsylvania, New Jersey
and New York Railroad Company, and to
the Pennsylvania, New York, and
Long Island Railroad Company, jointly
franchises for a tunnel system passing
from Weeha vixen, N. j., across the North
river, right under Manhattan Island (along
32d and 33d Streets, and thence into the
borough of Queens There is to be double
tunnel under the North river This Penn
sylvania extension will cost about $50,OoO,-
600, and will be provided with what has
been described as ''the most massive rail-
road depot yet conceived Of" Four full
sized city blocks have been torn down to
make way for it, and from this station
three tunnels will extend under the East
river into the borough of Queens. The
will thus have direct commu-
nication, without the aid of floats, not only
with Manhattan but with the extremitieS
of Long Island. The big station in the CEN
ter of Manhattan is to be connected with
the subway and the Grand Central station.
They are doing great things in New York
city today to bring Father Knckerbocker's
children down to work without packing
them like behring's in barrel. But, though
the dollars are being poured out by the mil.
lion every month for the improvement Of
facilities, the provision is
still inadequate to the need, and Is likely
to remain SO for many years to come.
1t is impossible to give any exact figures
ON this point of the relation of the pro-
vision to the need. Even the daily carry
ing capacity of the subway cannot be de-
termined by estimate. The officials In charge
Of the enterprise will each give you a diff
ferent guess, all of which away up into
the millions The variation in these esff.