New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-24
THROUGH THE SUBWAY.
Continued f:om ninth page.

Forty-eecord-st The cries Of the gang putting
rock ballast in between the rails grew fainter.
and finally were heard no more. Occasionally
the lantern OF n solitary workman arranging
enc OF the signal boxes made spot in the dark
ness Then a faint haze began to appear. shed
from the gray tunnel walls. and there suddenly
burst into view a scene weird and unclnny.
Flames from gas tanks sputtered and Kissed
revealing grimy workmen in various pastures
Through t-.e sides Of the tunnel walls could be
seen a spot Of day in the blackness OF night
Hammers clnked on anvils. The cries Of men
sounded strange. over all rang a dull, re-
verberating roar. Behind were the mouths Of
the two tunnels here merging into one. This
was Forty sccond-st., and the reverberating
roar came from the traffic about the Grand Cen
trail Station.
\ half-dozen red brick pillars caught the eye
for all the other subway pillars are white
These pillars three times the size OF any Of the
others. are Of solid steel, incased in brick. and
they support the new Hotel Belmont. now build
ing. Practically the entire weight Of this huge
structure rests these pillars, supported on
the subway roof. intervening between them and
its foundations. The Forty second-st. station
proper Is only about half completed. as the
tunnel construction there enforced excavating
through solid rock and called for extraordinary
care on account OF the 1Olel belmont
The plunges again into the rows OF col
umns. red now. Every once in a while men are
seen kneeling in embrasure in the side Of
the tunnel wall These are the conduits IN
which placed the cables containing the
wires for lighting the subway and conducting
the current TO the third rail The electric lights
and the third rail power are to be supplied by
different conductors that each is indie
pendent OF the other. An accident to the third
rail would cause no dimunition in the light Of
the tunnel
The Fiftieth-st. station lacked only a group
Of waiting passengers to make II complete. Here
the borders of the walls green. and the pre-
vailng color effect is bun. The station numbers
are white a blue panel The Circle station
has already been thrown open to and inspected
by the public. The green OF the ocean is the
color scheme. and on the walls at regular in
tervals panels showing a white Spanish
galleon on green sea. One of the stairways
from the street here ends almost directly In
the centre of the concerted floor, the station
differing In this respect from any of the others
The other entrance is one side. Here the
incandescent bulbs shOne from spaces in the
ceiling. into which they are set. The same
method will be followed at the other stations
The slylights at the Circle station are larger in
area than at most of the other stations and in
the daytime permit so much outside light to
enter that the electric lights are hardly neces-
sary.
The Eighty-sixth-st. station. with its mosaic
In blue and yellow; the Ninety first and Ninety
siXth-st. stations were passed in turn. and the
car kept on until 1t reached the turnout at
Observation-Disclosures where the East
Side branch begins There were no lights there:
all was black as night. and the tracks were
laid on bare ties. The entrance gaped like the
opening OF a different tunnel, instead OF a con-