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

o Trains dawn b. electric IocoInp- 8
I o tiyes. q
. One hundred locomotives. 1000 >
. cars ordered. q
@ Total cost - date. ahou; s21- 4
:. 0I0npa a
y Ultimate extent Of tunnels. 100 q
o miles. 4
4 8 = . . . . . 9 . . = = >H
Of tho hello giri." were tho prime mov-
ers. Capital. in which 81. Louis thc,! was
largely interested. gave fiaancia! cncou.-
esenett TO the scheme, md a franchise
was asked Toy Of the Chicago City Council
AT once the savage opposition of the
franchise-holders Of she system. which had
us wires strung in every street and alley.
was aroused and It's influence was exc, ted
! with Chicaco's Council. One night tho
irancfiso was granted to the new CON-
| TfanE, put with the IToviso that every wire
/ should be buried beneath the earth snd in
insulated subw7ys.
In the construction Of thcs, =,lbvays.
not an inch of pavement was TO ne dis
turoed and not for n Tnnrnent should lass-
age il street or on sis!ewali, I've Irnnedaa
pE the company. Terms Of mGriC.,al re-
mureratcn were added. with q ,iarss
I which eventually gave to the c:ty the sub
ways and the old company ana Us tools
IN the Council laughed in 'Is sleeve ~ On
< thought Of tho t~anahise. Nl.i,h lad
been granted 20 the :ut"c!orerS upon terms
IL t1surmoUntatle.
I"o years raSSed- TN Monday night
when the City Council was ~ -eSsio. a
request was presented in le-al form ask
ing that the Illinois Tnls-.Ipn and Tnle-
phone Company be granted ti.. iiit oral
right Of carrying freight ana the mails in
| its subway.
ALDERMEN ArF- cr-"'T'r:rSTD
The Aldermen sat M and r1bfad their
eyes. The newspaper representatives who
had been paying scant attention to :.he
routine of the city lads, began to take
notice. and a day later one nf the City
, papers presented 3 7aga exploitation of
what had been accomplished and Under
/ heavy headlines announced tc the as
( tonished ChiCagoans that six miles Of tln-
nels had been already constructed and
that forty feet under the surface there
was street system which corresponded
block for block with the downtown streets
Almost alarming was the intelligence
/ offered the startled public Stockholders
in towering skyscrapsrs wondered If all
was well with their deep foundations
Street-car uasrates were anxious to learn
how deeply the Plans of the tunnelers
ware laid.
Business men listened to the unfolding
Of the schemes OF the promoters and re-
jo.ced at the prospect. The public in gen.
! eral with avidity grabbed the intelligence
and laughted at the discontinue of those
who would oppose the march OF progress
Sober Investigation by Mayor and Alder
men. by the property owner and merchant
most directly benefited by the proposals
Of the promoters, soon developed into
well-seated municipal inclination TO give
all possible aid. The financial interests be-
i'm r-a u
dlilerent from those o. the ordinary fran
Chise graDter
The result was additional grants by the
CITY. a reasonable condensation 10 the
city with eventual municipal ownership of
the entire property and a career of the
ordnance through the City Council. un-
tienshed or unstained by the charge OF
doodle. a feature in itself worth the en-
coraiums showered upon the achievements
OF the engineers.
Some opposition first came from the
storekeepers. big and little. through the
business section. They had first to be
assured that il was not the purpose nor
the wish of the promoters TO transport
passengers through tho subterranean
ways.
The merchants were right. Their bust
ness and trade depended upon the power
ot the surface lines Of transit to land the
residents OF the outlying districts at the
immediate doors OF the shops. TraffiC
from the passenger standpoint was not
congcsted be:Oud the confines of the mar
row Go"ntnWh territory ana there was n
sutticienCy Of car lines and OF cars to ac-
con1Inodate everybody after they had once
crossed the river.
The builders had realized this and did
not attempt to consider such plans in their
scheme. The merchants Were then salts
fed. and indeed pleased. and the work
then went on apacc.
DOWNTOWN REPRODUCED.
AS indicated in a diagram of the streets
OF Chicago. which is presented, the tun-
nels to-day extend along every main ar
terry of traffic in central Chicago. Under
every cross street penetrates the bore and
at an average depth of forty feet from
the surface OF the pavement there is a
reproduction of the downtown section
block by block. the intersections aupro-