The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-28

very accurate the character of excays- | ton to be mades but In some of the sub- divisions unexpected obstacles and com ditions were found. The tragedy of the entire work, which up to date has cost about 120 lives, lies practically in the division on Park Avenue in the Thir- | ties and Forties. A series of misfor- tunes and acidents befell this section. causing a number of deaths, eptailing | many damage suits and financially | running the subcontractor, who, to crown the one dark chapter on the | subway story. finally lost his life in a | blasting accident.
 The history of the subway is one of pluck, skill and energy. Even with full realization of what it meant
 when completed. New York has an- | athematized it daily for four years | when blocked streets, dirt and all the thousand and one inconveniences and
 annoyances incident to a work of such ] magnitude, have been forced upon them. but today when swiftly moving I express trains glide through the miles | of brilliant, tile-lined tunnel and the dream of From the City Hall to Har- | lem in fifteen minutes is a reality | there remains only the pride in the | accomplishment which was manifested
 in the ceremonies of the opening.
 conveyed meaning of dark under
 ground passage, is lily applied to the | subway It is not only a means of
 transportation. but a thing of beauty. been kept in mind, and it represents
 the highest type of such work. Throughout it Is lined with white glass | tiles, the iron work Is tasty and as far | as possible has been designed with an 1 eye to the artistic as well as strength and durability, while the stations are ] treated in color schemes with ceramic 1 tiling. Each station has its own dis l tinctive color idea, and the decorative : scheme Is varied in each. This was
 done not only for decorative effect, but , in order that the prevailing color may
 indicate the locality to the underground : traveller, whose usual means of know . ing his whereabouts are not available The stations are commodious and bril- ' liantly lighted, and the finishings are | all of bronze. brass and other metal, ; woodwork being eliminated as far as
 possible The system is electrical, one 1 great power house developing the re- l quired energy. The cars are of the lat l est type. being especially designed for
 the system, and are either copper or
 steel sheathed. Every known device
 and every idea suggested by skill and | experience, have been provided to in-
 sure safe transportation. A complete
 signal system is in operation, and for
 weeks the trains have been running
 regularly in order to train the motor
 men and guards in their duties and fa-
 miliarze them with the road. When MT Mcdonald secured the contract for | constructing the subway, a group of
 capitalists organized the New York Rapid Transit Construction Company with q capital of $6,000.000. This con | cern furnished $4.000,000 of Mir McDon- aids S5.000,000 bond to the city, the
 other million being placed in security lcompanies. Two years later the com
 pany formally took over Mir. McDon- aids contracts, and 1t is under 1t that Ethe subway will be operated for the fifty years provided in the agreement. The rapid transit system, of which the subway opened today is but the first stage, when completed will make | New York unique among the world's s | elites. Its twenty six miles of under
 ground tracks. elevated structures and Yiaducts, over which will run express trains at nearly a mile a minute, will
 reach to the city's northern and south
 ern limits and diving under the East River, make the extreme eastern skirts
 of Brooklyn as accessible to the great | business districts as the apartment house crowned heights of Harlem. It
 Is estimated that over this vast system.
 and those of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company and the Manhattan
 Elevated Company. will pass annually
 more than nine hundred millions of | passengers Crossing this huge system of public utilities will be the great | $50, ,000, ,000 private tunnel of the Penn sylvania Railway Company. which.
 crossing the Hudson River from the
 Jersey shore to Manhattan Island. will go under the city. dive under the East River and furnish an exit to the great
 Long Island country Other links in
 this giant system are the New York and New Jersey Railroad tunnel, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad tun-
 mel. the New York and Queens tunnel. | the New York Central Terminal tunnel,
 the Williamsburg Bridge, the Manhat-
 tan Bridge and the Blackwells Island
 Bridge, involving all told an expendi- ture of about $205. .O00, 900.
 The Rapid Transit System proper, however. which includes the present
 subway and it's extensions already au- thorized, Is owned by the city of New York It has not expended a dollar in
 its construction. but. as has been said. loaned the money for the construction,