Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-18

DI "iLiAAh tthliS
Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
NEW YORK. May II, 1905.
On the 9th of April trains had been
running through the New York subway for
six months, and during that time they had
carried 1892. 49, passengers, an average
OF nearly 100000 day. On the day of the
great blizzard. In January, 425.3TS people
were carried, which is the highest record
The total receipts from fares during the
six months were 2,S15725. Five hundred
cars have been in operation, and expert
ence has taught that three hundred more
capable Of carrying half a million passen-
gers, can be handled daily without crowd
ing
There are two kinds of trains-express
and local. There are four tracks; two in
the center of the tunnel for the express
trains and two the outside for local
trains. There are platforms between the
tracks at all stations so that passengers
can go from local train to an express
train or vice versa by crossing twenty-five
feet of concrete pavement The local trains
haul five cars; the express trains eight
cars. The locals make thirty mile an hour
including stops; the express trains fifty
miles an hour. The express trains stop
five times between the terminil at Battery
Park and la5th street; while the locals
stop every five or six blocks You can go
from the city hall to the Grand Central
station, at 42d street In seven minutes;
to Doth street in thirteen minutes to llGth
street In sixteen minutes. and to 13Jth street
IN twenty-five minutes. The trains on the
elevated road run at about half that speed
the locals at fifteen and the expresses at
twenty-five mdles an hour.
Best System in the World.
In some respects these tunnels are the
greatest triumphs transportation science
has ever achieved. They perfectly sat
isfsctory TO the public There are ''kickers"
and knockers" OF course No public i'm
provement can be made without them, and
you will occasionally see In the newspapers
letter from some indignant citizen who
does not think the management Is what IL
should be because somebody jostled him,
or he was not able to find seat on a
crowded car. The most serious criticism
has been directed at the advertisements
that hang In the underground stations, and
many of them are shabby and defsce the
walls. / have yet to find. however, any
one who does not congratulate the inha5 i-
tants of this city upon having the most
perfect system of urban transportation In
the world. The new London TUNE els, or
Tupenny tubes" are equal in some re-
spects: but their trains do not run so fast
the stations are farther apart and the ven
tlation and light are not nearly good.
i ne same may De SAID OF the underground
roads in Paris, which are not equal to those
OF London. Buda Pest had the best system
In the world until the New York subways
were completed; but the mileage there is
only about one-fourth as much. In the
New York subways the light, temperature
and ventilation are perfect. There Is no
dust. no smoke, no odors, and plenty of
good, pure, fresh air To some nervous
people the speed of the express trains is
too rapid for comfort, and those who ha-
bitualy them acquiring ISL hway
glare" just you have heard of the ''bi-
cycle stare" and the automobile eye"-an
expression of apprehension which becomes
fastened upon the face by being frequently
hurled through space at the rate OF a mile
a minute.
A Titanic Undertaking.
The tunnels now begin at Fulton street
and Broadway. but will be open to the bat
terry, the tip end OF Manhattan Island. in a
few weeks: and they run under 4th ave-
nue. and Park avenue TO s2d street where
they branch of TO the westward and fol-
low Broadway to Spuyten Duyvil creek.
They are fifty feet wide aud thirteen feet
high and are lined with a steel casing COW
cred with concrete. The stations are large,
light and airy, and the walls and ceilings
are covered with white tiles, which gives
them a bright and cheerful appearance AZ
some places downtown they are just below
the surface. the street above being support
81 by steel Sanctions. At other places the
track runs more than 100 feet beneath the
surface. The stations at 10th and lslst
streets are 10 feet below the street and are
reached by elevators. In the work of con-
JtruCtiOn 2l2O0 cubic yards of tunnel were
eXCaVatcd. from which 10000 cubic yards
Of earth and l.3l2,OOo cubic yards of rock
were taken. Sixty-fve thousand tons of
steel and $3.50 tons of iron we're used ana
b5l,JD tons cubic yards of concrete were
Eot. The cars are built OF steel thirty-two
Feet long, and are arranged like those on
The elevated railways-four seats running
crosswise in the center and a bench along
the walls Of the remaining space. The
third rail system of electricity Is used.
Other Roads Benefited.
The most remarkable fact in connection
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