New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-04

which separated by distance. send out |
branches that touch In the same way the can |
tilever bridges made up of two independent
parts thrust forth from towers, which meet over
the midstream. and joined merely by a
roadway, while sixteen inches is left for the
expansion of the steel in their structure
In point of fact. the Blackwers Island
structure will be four distinct units. just it
Is in reality two bridges, for BackweIl's Island
viii furnish a central pier, while each branch
OF the East River will be crossed by the steel
structures which viii rest upon the piers al
ready completed. In height the bridge will
span the river at exactly the same elevation as
both the present structures, 135 feet. But in
length of span the new bridge will exceed both,
although it will not approach the length of the
single span of either. The structures two
spans over the branches of the East River will
be 1900 and 1000 feet respectively, the west
ern span being the longer. The span of the
Brooklyn Bridge from tower to tower is 1875
feet, and of the Williamsburg Bridge 1000 feet.
The total bridge length of the structure,
from the New-YOrk approach to that in Long
Island City. will be 3,724 feet, far exceeding
either of the present structures, and in its CEN
ire span t WI be more than 40 feet above the
level of Blackwells Island.
From this vantage point the passengers on the
new bridge, which Will carry two elevated and
four trolley tracks, will obtain strange vision
of the island world far below them. From
NETWORKS most modern bridge they will see
the great citys most progressive public insti-
tutions-thoSe for the of the dependent pop
ulation. and in particular. of the cOnsumptives
OF the work accomplished by the Low admins
tration in bringing the city institutions up to a
modern standard there is more characteristic
example than that furnished by the hospitals
on BlackweIl's Island which will lie within the
vision If he bridge The
panying photograph shows a typical example
of this in the solarium or sun parlor, provided
for the consumptives in the city's care. This
photograph shows some scores of patients en-
loving the bright sunshine and clear air that
this new solarium has given them. This sun
parIor is two hundred feet long and only twenty
feet wide the width being proportional to the
height so that the suns rays will reach the
furthost corner of the room Three tiers of
windows each four feet high. practically con-
sttute the walls, but the wood and brick work
serves to prevent the extreme heat of the sun
turning the parlor into dollhouse. The Win
dows are intended to be kept open for the first
two tiers which arranged so they can be
raised, giving a clear air space of eight feet
On three sides-that is, on every side save the
windward-these windows intended to be
kept wide open; the fact that the photograph
shows them down may indicate that the sola
clearly being administered by a Tammany Off
cial.
The majority of the patients seen in the
photograph are wearing brilliant plaid golf
capes the spoil of a most successful coup OF
ex-Commissioner Folks. The capes were orig
inally manufactured during a brief period OF
popularity of Scotch plato and intended for the
use of ocean travellers. But a sudden shift OF
fashion closed this market, and the city pur-
chased the whole lot at a price less than a
fifth as high as that originally fixed The fort
innate veering of the weatherVane of fashion
has thus furnished the city's patients with cloth
ing not merely warm but strikingly gay. There
are other evidences on Blackwells Island of n
recent enlightened city administration. Notable
among these are the training schools for nurses,
who will care for the city patients. These
schools are connected with the City Hospital,
which with the Metropolitan Hospital. is stu
ated on the lower end of BlackwelTs Island.
No college in the country possesses finer or
more modern plant than this city training school
Here are laboratories in which there is every
sort Of scientific apparatus for preparing food