Mohave County miner., 1904-08-13
The New York Subway Finished.

A New York dispatch says John B. Mcdonald, the contractor for the most colossal piece of engineering work ever undertaken by man, has made good.' True to his promise of several months ago, Mir. Mcdonald has turned the New York subway, complete in practically all of it's details, over to the operating company. A few weeks will be spent in running experimental trains, and on Septem Der 1 the finest and safest sys. tem of rapid transit in the world will be opened to the teeming millions of New York.
 Sormounting all obstacles and prov ing superior to all difficulties Mir. Mo. Donald has fulfilled the terms of his agreement, and accomplished what few believed was within the bounds of human possibility when the provisions of the 13,OO ,,0JOS contract were an. nounced a little more than four years ago.
 Extending from the Battery, at the southern extremity of Manhattan is- laud to Bailey avenue, aud 23Oth street on the west side, in long sweep of thirteen and half miles of four, three and two tracks, and forty eight miles of single tracks; from tooth street and Broadway under Central park, to the east, under the Harlem river to Bronx park and l8lnd street, a distance of seven miles, or seventeen and half miles of single track. This is the Man haitian division which Mr. Mcdonald has turned over to the operating com. pany. To Brooklyn another great system is being pushed rapidly toward completion. Thus, spreading out from the heart of the metropolis, like gi gantic spider web, are more than sixty five miles of single track, covering a distance of twenty five miles of space 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 wonder ful system of transportation. When it is known that 1,7OJ,22S cubic yards of earth, and 921, IS! cubic yards of stone and rock have been excavated, 368,606 GU bic yards nf rock tunneled, 130, 8S tons of steel, 15,902 tons of cast iron and l8,519 cubic yards of brick used in the work. to say nothing of the hun dreds of thousands of cubic yards of water prooting and concrete and stone and the 3J0.0OO linear feet of steel tracks, and the hund reds of thousands of tons of other material-one m realizes that a vast undertaking has been ac. complished.
 The difficulties of the work, too, have been without parallel. Fifteen miles of sewers had to be taken up and re lsid-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 them selves in and out and crossed and re crossed the path of the underground railway like a labyrinth. There were elevated railways and surface railways that had to be undermined, but 50 bolstered up by artificial construction that the daily transportation and traf tic of the great city was not disturbed Blocks and blocks of busy broadway in the upper part of the city were hol lowed out like flute. Tunnels were fearlessly bored under Lower Broad way, reaching almost to the very foun dations of the big skyscra pers and church, while above the tumble of the electric cars and the rattle of the carts never ceased. In regard to the cost, i, is sufficient to state that it amounted to a million dollars a mile.
 Persons who have a constitutions dislike to riding in tunnels, based fol the most part upon disagreeable ex perieuce, need have no misgiving about the subway. Throughout it's en tire length it will be as light as day a all hours. Electric lamps and ar, lights stud the walls and ceilings iron beginning to end.
 Modern methods have been em ploye( by the new road to an extent which re duces danger of accident to mini mum. The covered third rail supplie the power directly, and there is