New-York tribune., 1906-05-13

In working out the comprehensive ar u-.saf
network Of lines which has given the uesrs7oV.
tan district OF Boston the most rsr,rs,as1.
transportation system OF modern timss TIE er-s.
neers have had many curious problems % srlvs.
Among these has been the problem az hring,.z
elevators up from platform floors down IA 81 ty-.
mel. which are separated by the two track roas.
way over which the cars pass 70 single STATS,
above. Had the elevators gone straight u ana
down. II would have been necessary, og eou-ss
20 build two station platforms at the strsst Iavl
OF else TO have created IN the street huEsi1s
Of prohibltive size. with waiting room al Be-
yOnd the requirements Of the trafic 10 uass
the requirements battery Of four elevators vas
devised by Howard A Carson. engineer of ths
Boston Transit Commission. This service Is row
IN operation and Is working satisfactorily
The arrangement Is much as II on the llns q
one Of the New York elevated routes elevas1zs
were run IN tubes from buildings on opposite
sides Of the street into opposite sides Of ths
waiting room Of the elevated station The Bcs-
ton tubes start, however. from the subWays s2l
pass through the street level 70 the elevation
Of the elevated structure. thus giving a three
decked station The pecUliarities OF Construction
are ell between the two lower stories Frol
the second floor the cars run Up parallel q ssl1
other IN the ordinary way. The problem vhie1
had 20 be faced in the curved part Of the shaft
was somewhat similar TO that In the Ei1I
Tower. though in reality much more dt1cl1
In the big Paris tower the lifts approach
each other gradually toward the top Of tas
tower. But the slant at no one place n TIE
tower Is so considerable as IN the Atlaull
Chambers. and the fact that the floor Of ths
elevator Is little of the horizontal as the cas
goes up does not seriously incOmmode the pas
sengers- The angle in Atlantic Chambers IS
such that 1t was absolutely necessary 70 con
trive a means by which the elevators going %
and down inclined shafts a distance Of ffty-sH
feet, and at the same time travelling six fast u
a horizontal direction. should have level fooa
IN their ascent and descent. Where they sszzs
at the bottom on the tunnel level they are tTan-
ty-four feet apart When they reach the strsas
foor they are within twelve feet Of each o-ls-
Although they move on inclined shafts they are
kept on an absolute level by the use Of e-sva1
guides. The passenger hardly realizes thar Hs
Is travelling in anything but a vertical c.7-.'
ton unless he looks through the iron hll-s
work Of the elevator and notes that the unas q
the shaft appear all awry. The cars have
maximum speed or 25'O feet a minute, edel -
having a platform area Of about sixty s4l-7
feet and a capacity OF from forty to hIty p---
sengers.
The three-story station which these big ela..-
tors serve is one Of the many appropriately q.
namental structures with which BostonS s slros-
have been filed since the beginning OF
regime OF the elevated company Two e- -
foremost OF American architects coilaboFalss
its design. It is composed almost entirely o. u u
infOrced concrete and metal Hardly any ~ w.
has been employed. either in the building -
or In the bridge which connects the station ~ ~
the elevated structure on Atlantic avenue.
possibility of danger from fire has been SOL
cred here as throughout the Boston sunNt..
elevated system. and has been reduced. 50 "
engineers believe. TO an absolute minimum