New-York tribune., 1905-06-06
VENTILATION PLAN GOOD.
fEYPERT.S PRAISE GRIESI.
Lingering Tuberculosis Produced oy
Steel Dust in Subsoay, Says Doctor

,-ta ,-onose5 subway ventilating scheme OF "
e Grfest as explained in yesterday ii4nu.e. -, - -
met With wide approval among the N ,,-sttar
,ertflatins engineers of the city c b , WIZ
.,oov the heating and ventilating expert OF paht,
smith & Co. one of the ablest men IN ms iiiiS ast
YESTERDAY that the plan, as outlined Os M &c,
would be most admirable he even - tba
,,rtber and proposed making ornaments Oh '"'
necessary ventilating shafts. He Went on
TO N rs-sest would carry his exhaust pipes p ou on
,o the middle of the street, ana there sboI,t
islands Of safe s io height with openings on top
covered with fancy grafings; NE ri+b the impurities
the streets @ ;o as wen as 10 away
IN the al atfer of fact the idea was earE1en III
So,sre In this case it was also hecesSa' t+ iaveI
@ exhaust fan was placed the bottom mt2ones 81 Ie
tube and thus drove out the the eda sqaning. In
an d ans IS what Mr. Griest would do with s ais
proposed pan snr n Sn exhaust that would draw out
the air the rate OF 500 feet nlGi With the fans
and reiy solely in currents to force air OUT TO @
foul air WITT i pfSP hoIes fye feet in diameter and ioe
feet apart-the velocity of the air doreeo enooteeabIe
movement of the trains would make d I''i0e0O-e
'difference IN the purity OF the alF'
Alfred P Wolff who has the reputation OF beine
the best authority ventilation IN he Oii.eu 90
lStates consulting expert for CoIunola ohi :,
l.,a the erpert who put In the present system OF
,rerrlation in the New York Stock Exchange "<is
80 ,E o,inion that as far as it went, Mr. Griest
tproposition was just what was needed. He saio'
n, course the air must be carried somewhere
and any method of drawing it of and getting rld
OF NJ r. W eet es pIan Would be all right in the sum
ne too coId the question of heating the air a1a
drying II would UP. and there you @ Srengl and
upon a multitude of problems growing NiO-0 '-
will say this nosVec Scheme Mr. Griest is per
1ectiy correct for this hot weather
/ George s Rice. acting chief engineer Of the SUD
rav Commission was much interested IN the 0ries'
proposition He said:
OF course S6 we are Scheme but we are Investigating
VIE entire matter and shall finally nahe e. u baen ~
Ia use since last October and up TO ms nnS IlS
have found no trouble 10 spear 4 oH Whole line and as
Vast as We are able shall correct the e'ils dS
This question of the exhaustion of air by means rs
OF fans and pumps is as old as dh9 Rnaon tS subway
In London in the tuppenny tubes the air IS IorSeo
shead OF the car fbs1e ana i is that the tubes run
one another and thus the air is not Iorceo oul t0
Exhaust fans are constantly used in mines ana
in ali sorts of underground places. ana IN d I'd"
Tiety of ways
A. +ba office Of the Interborough Rapid Transit
Company it was stated that Vice-President Bryan
had entire charge of the subject of ventilation but
preferred TO give an opinion on the Gr1est
proposition until he could acquainr himself further
with the details.
tuberculosis. in the lingering form known as
s'srinders asthma" viii be the result Of continued
breathing of the subway dust according to a state
,ent of one of the chief officials of the Health De-
partment He said yesterday:
: Grinders asthma results from the 1aceration Of
she cells in the lungs by particles OF steel snq
stone dust. It takes its name from the fact that
the men who contract # chiefly those who grind
stones metals for living No persons, re-
eardless of constitution and general health can es-
cape if continually exposed to the sharp cutting
dist particles -
In the subway the air is always filed with steel
dust 1t is caused by the friction between the
brakes and the wheels, the wheels and the tracks
and shoes and the third rails. AT present
there way for this dust to be removed 1t is
constantly accumulating, and is a growing menace
to the health of the hundreds of subway employees
and thousands of patrons.
Several subway employees said yesterday that the
subway dust is one of their most serious annoy
ances They find their throat continually choked
with it Health Commissioner Darlington said a
few days ago that the steel dust in the tunnel
germicide, and was OF actual benefit to those in
haling il The say that the Interborough
Rapid Transit Company compelled to hire
about fifty new each week for the subway
owing to the number of regular employees who are
taken sick. who longer able to endure
subway conditions