The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-28

from Fourteenth street to the Bridge was
minutes Is seconds.
The Hush TO he First.
At the Grand Central travellers who had
Just arrived, some Of them from distant
points, were conspicuous In the crowd
that waited for the opening OF the sta.
ton. They seemed to be az interested as
anybody else in getting their first ride
In underground New York. =: :,
At o'clock there were several hundred
people at the entrances some thousands
less than the crowd the police had looked
for From the entrances could be seen
the trains running almost empty. Then,
suddenly, just as the clock hands got around
TO I, there was a shout from the police in
side. the line OF police at the entrances
backed away and the crowd rushed down
the steps pell nell, each eager to be the
purchaser of the first ticket.
Say" said the big roundsman, as the
crowd fought to buy tickets, this amt
going to be carried away tonight. lt'll
be- runnin when you folks Is dead. What's
the use gettin' exoitedi .r
The first to buy, a ticket was a small
boy, and he held his ticket triumphantly
aloft and waved 1t in the air before he put
it in the box. In another second the ticket
boxes ware busy all over the big station,
people Were pouring in from all the en-
At Broadway and Forty-second street in
the first five minutes 3l8 persons bought
tickets. Tho first person to buy there
was man and he purchased six tickets
-Ill frame these, he said to the persons
following him.
After the first rush there really. was no
crush at all, but for half an hour there was
a steady stream Of people entering the
station.
First Theft in the Trains.
One of the first persons who got aboard
south bound train at this station was
parr Of
street. The car Barrett entered was full
and people were hanging by the straps
Barrett was wearing fifteen-stone dia-
mond pin when he got on the train. When
he reached Twenty-cighth street the pin
was missing: He lost no time in getting
to the Tenderloin station and reporting
what he said was 'the first subway touch. v
At the Harlem stations the greatest
crowd was at 10th or Manhattan street
In the first half hour more than 500 tickets
were sold, all to Harlemites bound down.
town. There were twelve policemen on
hand but they didn't have much to do.
Many houses in the neighborhood were
decorated with flags and bunting The
West End Theatre in l25th street was bril-
liant with electric lights and at the top. of
the building was a six foot electric sign
which read TO Harlem in Fifteen Minutes
At the 145th street station there was no
great rush. The local trains stopped at
13Tth street and the express trains went up
was no friction or confusion. both express
and local trains keeping to their schedules.
In the middle of the city, at the Columbus
Circle, there was no rush up to o O'Clock.
Then the station filed up. No express
trains stopped at this station, but there
were enough local trains to handle the
crowd. Both up and down trains we're
used about equally.
All Serene In the Big Power House.
Over in the power house at the foot OF
Vest Fifty-ninth street a person who
didn't know would have thought that here
as elsewhere the subway was old There
wasn't the slightest bit Of confusion. Oilers
walked around the big dynamos as uncon-
cernedly Us If they had never done anyt hing
else. There was neither nervousness nor
fear that anything would go wrong.
You would think, said a stranger, TINT
know better and that only half OF it has
been built"
There are twelve dynamos, and last night
when the public began using the trains
they were all working. In the afternoon
only nine OF the dynamos were in use. The
man In charge said that at no time during
the day had there been any mishap.
One Train Disabled.
A fuse blew out on an express train at
Ninety sixth street about 8P. NJ. 1t caused
a bit Of a scare among the passengers.
Mechanics were sent for, hut they couldn't
pushed the train in trouble up to l45th
street. The delay wasn't more than twenty
minutes.
According to some policemen, the motor
man OF a local train bound up town about
o'clock in the afternoon stopped between
Eft;eth and Ffty-ninth streets because
he came across signal that wasn't set for
him to go ahead. Some Of the passengers
urged the notorman to start his train. but
he wouldn't bulge. After a slight delay
- al lAp fh.
went on.
Misrepresentation About Free Rides.
AN can tell YOU said the train de-
spatcher at Ninety-sixth street, Is that
the trair.s arc moving without q hitch,
barring the inevitable little delays. Moth
ing whatever hes happened. We are
running just now just about full clear up
York had been in possession of their subway
Just two hours. Every uptown train that
was coming to the platform was packed
to the limit. Apparently there was not
suspended from it. But on the downtown
trains rarely was car crowded: some
were running only comfortably filed, and
others were distinctly light.
The explanation Of this was found further
up the line. At 145th street.-The end OF
and 800 was found packed around the down
town entrance. A line Of men and women,
four deep, reached half way up the block.
Every arriving train brought heavy
batch Of renforcements. The cause OF It
all was that in some way unkn Known TO many
the delusion had spread that the railroad
company was giving a round trip ride
for tive cents--thnt when you got to l45th
street all you had TO do was to go upstairs.
cross the st rect and take a downtown train
without money and without price.
The policemen on duty at firsI were dis
posed 10 lose their temper explaining things.
Then they were merely tired. Finally
they settled down to an ahable POPULARITY
In dealing with the questioners.
-Aw gwan," said one Of them for the
several dozenth time. Its a nickel. seel
The company's dom business. That's all.
It 3 after that nickel. So are you. II you
want IL worse than the company does, YOU
can keep it and walk. It's only nine miles
IL you're .goin' to the bridge. Watkins
good, too
Travel Tn Two waves.
That was one cause of the blockade.
But there were others People who saw
that mob around the entrance turned away
in despair. They dribbled of toward the
old trolley cars that led to the elevated.
Comparatively few held on and worked
their way down to the station platforms
The trains started downtown comparatively
empty. At Ninety-sixth street they began
filing up. and most of them got TO the Bridge
l.l, lad