The evening world., 1904-09-05
MEN
SEE THE SUBWAY
Six Hundred Foreign Engineers,
Some Accompanied by Wives,
Ride on First Regular Train Of
Rapid Transit Road.

A complimentary trip Of Inspection o,
the subway and the electrical power
houses was made to-day by the foreign
electrical engineers who are In New
York on their way to IRE international
Electrical Congress at 81. Louis.
L. B. 6tillwell. electrical director OF
the Subway Construction Company and
consulting engineer to the Manhattan
Il system. was In charge Of the func.
lion. among the guests were some o.
the greatest engineers and pioneers In
electricity In the railroad world Of to-
day. They included Robert KAYE GRAY.
President OF the Institution OF Electrt.
cal Engineers Of Great Britain; John
Perry, Col. r. z. Crompton. c. B. past
presfaents, and Robert Hammond,
Treasurer Of the same organization;
Prof. Ascot, President. and Prof. LINN.
bardi, Secretary OF the Italian InStitue.
Prof. Elihu Thomso Frank ]
spFasus' Inventor Of the unit multiple
system under which the Subway 4, op-
Grated, and his associate, b. J. Arnold
OF the New York C~entrars Board OF
Consulting Engineers.
Other Foreigners There.
There were engineers from France,
Germany and Russia, as well az from
England and the United safes. All
appeared delighted with the trim
through the subway. but none OF the
big men would discuss its merits or de-
fsnts when the end OF the Journey was
reached at the Columbus Circle station
Mr. Hammond said no compar son
could be drawn with any other undts-
ground road that he has seen.
The most attractive point about the
system he said. lis the purity Of the
air and the lack Of any OF tho dark
ness and damp one naturally expects an
. subway. The construction work ex-
GELS anything ( have seen. 7 am a little
disappointed at the all-steel cars. II
seems to me that the seats should also
have been OF some freproof material.
The cars are Of steel. but the seats are
OF bamboo-about as In fiammable a ma
tsrial a. there 10. They could Just az
we'll have been made OF steel or steel
wire. Don't put me down as an alarm
ist. do not believe there Is the sll~ht-
est danger OF IRE, but II was 50 widely
announced that the new cars were alb
solutsly hrsproof that ] am Q little dis
appointed"
Many Had 20 stand.
The trip through the subway was
without Incident. and was tote worthy
only because II was the irst trainful OF
passengers 10 be taken through the sub
way on a regularly made-up train with
q regular crew. The train was eight
cars long-hye composite and three all
steel cars. The motive power was the
third rail-. with a current equal to 400
horsepower. or greater than the power
OF any steam engine on the Centrsl's
system. To add to the reality Of the
trip twenty or more OF the passengers
during the thirty-two minutes Of the
Journey from tn, City Hall station to
Columbus Circle.
Alexander Max enzie, who has served
A. apprenticeship as a motorman on the
EE ANNA = Ga Gssx nspdl.d thames, meter and a.
u charge OF the train, The others Of
the train crew were John r Murphy.
! fAEman, and II. Dawson, c. J. Brown,
Adam Hoits. Henry Bruno and Joseph
Hyland. guards. All Of them are union
men.
Saw Bis Power Houses.
Arrived At the Columbus Circle station
the p~arty-there were about six hundred
Of them, including a dozen women-lef;
the train. and after an Inspection Of
the station and Its cJnvenien ces started
on foot for the big power house OF the
system. at. Fifty-elghth and Fltty-ninth
streets and Eleventh avenue. The power
| house. the largest In the world. occupied
the attention Of the visitors for an hour.
From the Peterborough p~ower.house
two stes mers took hosts and gnests to
the p~ower-housc ~ tho Metropolitan
system at K~lngsbridse, An informal
p4rty went through NE Harlem ship
canal to the other power house N the
Metropolitan at Nlnety-sixth street.
From that point the journey was
made to the Seventy fourth stree.
power plant ~ the Manhattan e."
A large majority Of the party, er-
merits as they were, had seen enough
~" power system had been submitted
TO their inspection and baked A. the
trio 10 East ~Thirty-elghth street 10
look az tho present and proposed
plants Of the Edison Company. The
Edlson's new plant will exceed In pow
e~r-producing capacity the plant NJ the
T~nt-rborough system. A couple ~ hun.
dred. however, went through the
plants and admired what they saw en-
escorts, q W. Lieb. vice.President o.
Tire Fi'son Company. and W r. Potter
and W. J. Clarke tn. representative
J1hs GsnsrAi HeC<JA Cpncam