New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-09
SMOKED OUT BY MURPHY.
HIS MEN USE SOFT COAL.
Loud Protest from Dscellers Nedi
p. r. r. Terminal ErcdUatiOn.

+. n. fs. Il q ULtitttB 1UCOttOH'
The tenement house dwellers near the site OF
49,. great Pennsylvania Railroad station have
h.sn made to realize, even more than most cit
TENS Of this city, how little Charles F. Murphy.
che boss of Tammany Hall. respects the law or
s-es lot for the poor. They have been COM
.,,.d ~ suffer one plague after another be-
csnse Of the free and easy way the New-York
contracting Company. of which Mr.. Murphy is
=. bAsd and stomach. has conducted the work
:, excavation for the railroad structure. And,
=. ~ all these people have been made to
H.s+bA the smoke OF his engines. at work IN the
.-s+.on simply because soft coal costs less
than haro coal
p.cause Of many complaints made by resi-
,snts in West S1st, 32d and SD SITS. that the
,surphv company violating the soft coal
ordinance The Tribune made investigation
,sstsrday, and found that these grievances were
spparently well founded.
T7ae people OF this neighborhood have endured
,ha various plaques with which Mr.. Murphy s
Germany has afflicted them with wonderful
rssisnstion. They complained to the Health
D,rartment when the work of excavation was
carried on with as much uproar at night as in
The daytime but they Quieted down being
told that IN such a great improvement there
wss bound to be night work, and they should
suffer few discomfoTts for the sake of the
benefit the station would eventually afford
Again they demonstrated when Mr.. Murphy
men set off blasts so recklessly that the con-
C,lssions knocked people down In the street. They
were told that they should not mind being
knocked down.
When the Murphy laborers blocked up adjoin-
ing streets the poor people took up arms, but
only to lay them down again. Streets had to be
blocked. they were told, in a great work like
c1;le of
houses facing the excavation the Murphy firm
was further exonerated.
But even the most long suffering residents of
this district will take no excuse for Mr.. Murphy's
burning soft coal Such act, they say, is an
out and out violation of city ordinance. There
can be no lodging 1t, they say.
OF all the plaques which these people have
suffered at the hands Of the Murphy company
the smoke from its engines is regarded as the
worst Recently it has become bad that in
spite of keeping their windows closed night and
day. the people in the nearby houses cannot keep
the SCOT out. The engines are at work constantly,
and any who watches them may see how
every now and then they will pour out great
heavy clouds Of smoke which settle Ike pail
all round about.
The engines which contribute to make the nui-
sance look much like those used for running
tnT2E6l0S machinery One winch SJG00S neal
the corner of Sth-ave. and 31st-st. often pourl
out a cloud which would make q spectator
block away believe that a house was on fire.
The switch engines which run the dump car!
from the excavation to the North River, wher,
the loads OF rock and dirt are tumbled int
Eoovs. also emit black, dense smoke. The peo.
pie who suffer most from these engines live ir
West 32d-st-, between eth-sve. and the river
front for II Ia through this street that the dirt
trains are continually running.
When Tribune reporter went through this
part OF West 32d-st. yesterday the Sunday
quiet was frequently broken by the rattle Of
dit trains which rolled by Sometimes the en-
gines threw out thin blush fumes. as If an
thracite was being used IN their f1reboxes, and
then again they would emit dense clouds OF
thick. sooty smoke.
Among those who protest against the smoke
nuisance and who has already brought a suit
for damages because a part Of the structure
came, she says, too near her property. is Mrs
Mary Hughes. of No. 800 West 32d-st. She
said yesterday:
The smoke from the engines passing my win
dows has grown thicker and dirtier every day
We try TO keep our windows shut all the time
and yet the SCOT viii creep in and begrim'
everything In the warm weather we suffered
more shan l can tell If the windows were shu
we seemed suffocated for want OF breath. and i
they were opened We were fairly stified with
the smoke.
Patrick Gillian, master mechanic OF the New
York Contracting Company, who was In charge
Of Nj Murphys job yesterday. denied that the
company used soft coal When his attention
was called 10 engine throwing out srea'
volume of black smoke, he explained the phe-
nomencn by saying:
That IS not soft coal. but coal dust We use
sa9vo and Nv "
is a certain amount Of dirt as they call II
Well when a fireman throws a lot Of that dlr
on bed of Goals it will cause black smoke
unless he Is careful If he starts an engine puff
ing right after coaling he will get some smoke
but if he fires while standing still he makes nc
smudge at ALL Carelessness is the cause Of the
smoke. That's all.
Health Denarfment officials would not tall
about the subject OF smoke yesterday.
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