The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-11-20
SUBWAY HAS NOT
CHECKED Il" CRUSH
SAME OLD FIGHT FOR STRAPS
DESPITE 100000 SUBWAY PAssEN-
GERS CARRIED DAILY.

There Is No Seeming Diminution OF
Travel ON the 81" LInes-OmciaIs
Are Unable to Figure Out Where
the People Come FrOm-The Sub
way Supposed to Lessen Travel
ON the Electric systems About
$4,000 Persons "A Day.
New York, Nov. 19.--while there are
widely divergent opinions as to the
quality of the air in the subway and
experts are disagreeing as to whether
loss Of three or four per cent of oxy-
gen will prove injurious, and with the
war against the station picture gal
leries, which Mr.. Belmont has charac-
terized as business entertainment
for the public" still raging and prom
Using to gain In bitterness, there is
still one matter connected with the
subway on which the public is a unit.
1t is a matter for universal wonder
ment that with the tunnel carrying
It's thousands there is apparently no
diminution in the morning and evening
brushes on the elevated lines.
1t is a fact which nobody who has
to use the Il" roads during the rush
hours dispute that seats are as hard
to find as ever, In spite of the opening
of the new rapid transit system. Even
the management Of the two system Is
at O loss to account for the situation.
A careful study of the traffic figures.
now that travel in the subway has
supposedly reached a normal basis,
shows that for every 100000 passen-
gers carried in the subway there is a
loss Of $4,000 In the number of those
using the elevated lines.
AS there are now being carried In
the subway from 225.000 to 100000 pas
sengers a day, there are at this ratio
74,2b0 to $500 fewer persons to fight
for straps on the elevated trains. This
number, however, Is so small, COM
pared with the approximate million OF
persons who use the IL" trains every
day, that It is measurable only by an
actual count of the tickets sold, as
compared with the average sales just
before the subway was opened to the
public.
Where the remainder OF the persons
come from who are using the sub
way Is a question which the general
manager OF the road Frank Hedley.
admits he is unable to answer. Many
of them doubtless have deserted the
surface lines, but IL exact figures were
obtainable from all Of the transporta-
tion system affected there would still
be a large number of subway passen-
gers TO account for.
1T is a question which nobody has
been able to answer" said Mr.. Hedley,
land Il always comes up with inn
proved transit facilities. The better
the means afforded the more persons
use them. They come from somewhere,
of course, but nobody knows exactly
how to account for them"
But very Soon there " likely to be a
decided change In the situation. due
chiefly TO the opening next week OF the
Lenox avenue branch OF the subway.
This will reach a large territory not
80 far affected by the subway and In
expected 10 increase by more than 100.-
900 passengers a day the volume of
subway traffic.
As soon as the tunnel Is In operation
in lower Broadway, so that the thou
sands who have their Offices below city
Hall, the present downtown terminal.
find the subway as easy OF access as
the elevated stations now are, there
will be another tremendous Increase
In the numbers who will use the sub
way, and by that time II is expected
there win be a noticeable falling on In
the volume Of Il" road travel.