The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-09-18
TUNNELS MEET UNDER RIVER
Pennsylvania Road will Soon Have
Entrance Into New York.
Longest Subaqueous Tubes i'm the
World on the Verge Of Completion.
Shields NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. OF the
Process OF Boring a Tunnei-Work
Is an Engineering Triumph.


two a and a half Of continuous
work the ~eastbound and ~westbound
shields In one of the .3-foot twin
tubes. which the Pennsylvania rail-
road has beer driving under the Hud-
son river to connect New York and
New jersey, met on Wednesday. Now
men may walk through dry 'shod
from one state to the other. The sec
ond tube, a few feet to the south, is
expected to join about October eth.
The meeting Of the shields marks ghe
beginning of the completion Of one Of
the most astonishing engineering feats
IN record. 1t can the realization
Of the longtime dream Of the Penn
~sylvania railroad-tO land its passen-
gers in the heart of Manhattan island.
Probably ne feat Of railway strategy
in the history Of the United States has
attracted more attention throughout
the world than this one. It's compile
ton will mark a triumph over diff
fculties Of tremendous magnitude, as
this will be the longest tunnel ever
bored entirely under water.
For many a the Pennsylvania
railroad has brought its passengers to
jersey City, and there they have had
to stop. The looked long
ingly across the Hudson river, but for
decades it seemed impossible that this
longing could ever be gratiied. Engi-
neers wagged their heads doubtfully
when the project Of a tunnel was
brOaChed, and f1nanciers were over
come at the drought of the expense
Of building a bridge across the river.
Soon after President Cassatt took
office, however, at the head Of the
Pennsylvania system, he determined
that the ambition of the railroad
should be realized. In his annual re-
port for the year 1899 he modestly
stated to the stockholders:
Ferry Inconvenience Eliminated.
In order that your company may
perform its duty to the public and
secure its share Of the growing traffic
it will be necessary to continue to i'm
prove INC add to your property
Then in the report for the yea 1901
Mr.. Cassatt stated the determination
of the road in the following simple
language:
The board have long felt that your
interests, as we'll as the convenience of
the public, require the ~xtenslo OF
your line into New York and the estab-
lishment of a centrally located pas
senger station in that city through
which the inconvenience and delays
of transfer by ferry will be avoided
The project required capital in un-
limited abundance. Above all else II
, REQUIRED extraordinary courage to
| fOresee and to feel sure of the ability
of the company to- realize from its
new improvements sufficient revenue
to pay dividends On the largely in
| creased capital. In the reports for
1901 Mr.. CaSSatt stated his views on
this subject as follows:
The cost of the work will be large,
| but your board is satisfied hat the ex-
penditure will be fully justified by the
results attained
This work, therefore, will represent,
! when completed, the culminatlon OF
probably the greatest series of rail-
road improvements ever undertaken.
On the Pennsylvania railroad alone
and excluding its principal lines east
| and west of Pittsburg, the sum of
1872 900. 900 has been provided for
improvements and extensions during
the past six years. Some idea of the
! vast figures with which the company,
under President Cassatt, has come to
deal-fgures which makes one think
of the budget of an emplre-naN be
| gathered from the fact that in 1899
the gross ncOme of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company was SI1,OOO,OOO
the net income was S11.OOO,OOo; the
dividend paid was five per cent. and
| the surplus, after paying d~lVldends,
was S4,O0O,000. In 1905 the gross in
| come was s146. 900. 900: the net income
was 8 100000: the dividend on the
largely increased capital stock was
| six per cent. and the surplus. after
| ,o1ip- tho dividend was S11T00. 900,
In the six years from 1898 to 1898.
Inclusive. h yearly dividend was five
Der cent. and the average surplus,
after paying the dividend. was $780,
600 per annum. In the six years from
1900 to 1905. inclusive, the yearly
dividend was six per cent. and the aV-
erage surplus after paying the divi-
dend was S~11,4O0,OO0 per annum.
To carry through the extremely diff
fcult undertaking involved in the New
York city improvements. the company
! designated its third vice president, Mr.
Samuel Rea. to take direct charge 81
the work, to superintend the acQuisi-
ton of real estate. to consult with
the New York city and state authori-
ties with reference TO obtaining the
necessary rights. to appear before the
board Of rapid transit commissioners
and other public bodies in New York
to explain the project and obtain the
necessary franchises and consents. anC
also to s~uperintend the awarding OF
the large contraCtr for doing the work
! itself. The company also appointed
a commission Of the ~,ost eminent civil
engineers in the world to draw up the
plans for the work itself. The com
mission consists Of Colonel Charles W
RAYMOND, United States Army. chair
man; Mr.. Charles NJ. Jacobs. Mr.
Alfred Noble. and Mr.. George Gibbs
Mr.. Rea and Mr.. Cassatt. of course
cooperating with them.
The Men Behind the Shields.
To have direct supervision over the
work on the Hudson river tunnels thu
company secured Mr.. Charles NJ
Jacobs, an Englishman, who has prob.
ably a to do with the building OF
more large tunnels than any other liv.
ing man. He designed the shields USED
in the work. The shields is the most
important feature of ~tunneling under
water, and it takes an engineer really