Omaha daily bee., 1906-03-07
ROUND ABOUT NEW YORK.
RippIes on the Current of Life In the
MctropoIis.

| RippIes the Current of Life In the
| Metropolis.
Three months in the penitentiary was
| the penalty imposed on a New Yorker who
confessed that for years he has polluted
the springs Of justice in the jury room. His
! trade was that of professional juryman.
but the cases which interested him most
were damage suits against the Metropoli-
| tan Street Railway company. No matter
! in what court such cases came to trial, the
| confessed jury hxer was on hand, and
rarely failed to get on the jury. He stood
| in with court clerks and thus managed to
render effective service for the company.
1t does not appear that the fixer worked
| for his health or for glory, yet the court
thus scandalized took no step to discover
and punish the real culprit-the employer
! of the jury fixer.
| A new form of lingering death from the
subway was discovered by DR.. o'Hanlou,
coroners physician. Steel dust, gen
Grated by the friction of the shoe on the
| third rail, amounts to a ton a month, and
| track walkers, according to the doctor,
have already shown symptoms of consump-
| ton due to the inhalation of the fine steel
| particles. The disease is somewhat like
| brass fnishers' and stonecutters' consump-
| ton. When complicated with subway
germs it is as surely fatal as hanging, but
/ not 50 swift in operation. The steel dust
| is kept suspended In the air by constant
| rushing of air currents, due to passing
trains In time passengers who have the
chronic subway habit will be affected. DIR,
| O'Hanlon claims that If you ride for
hour in the underground and then knock
| the dust off your hat upon a piece of white
! paper a magnifying glass will reveal the
| presence of fine steel particles George
| Westinghouse, who has always been an
advocate of overhead trolleys against
| the third rail, has never made any refer
ence to this danger. His objections have
been largely on the score of mechanical in
efficiency, larger cost, greater dangers and
shorter life of equipment in third-rail de-
vices. DR.. o'Hanlon is really serious on
the new danger He says: mo practical
remedy has as yet been suggested for en-
ployes and patrons of the subway, but one
will have to be found If the mortality from
this cause is not to assume startling pro-
portions. Even the man or woman who
only uses the subway twice a day cannot
hope to escape without ultimate i'll effects,
and on people with weak lungs the danger
is all the greater
The experience of teachers and pupils IN
a New York City school a day or two ago
is one that should cause school authorities
in all parts of the country to insist that fire
drills should be had frequently, and that
| never under any circumstances, should
they be omitted for any length of time.
1t made the hearts of all parents beat a
little faster to learn how the teachers,
calmly and quietly, formed their pupils into
line and marched them safely to the street
without one moment of fear or panic on
the part of the little ones, while the roof
was blazing over their heads, and the fire
engines tearing madly down the street Ths
children had been taught many times just
what they must dc, and in the moment of
danger their impulse was to do that one
thing and nothing else.
Mayor Mcclellan has declared against
granting the Pennsylvania railroad the
franchise for the New York connecting road
on the terms favored by the rapid transit
board. The mayor will insist upon terms
which will give the city $2,500,0oO. instead
of $l100,0OO, for the twenty -five-year fran
chise, and place in the hands of the city
authorities many powers over the connect
ing railroad which not given In the
contract proposed by the rapid transit
board. One of the most important features
of the contract which the mayor will in
| sist upon is the original clause that the
| Pennsylvania railroad shall not discrimi-
| nate against New York City in freight
rates. 1t also gives the city the power to
control local rates over the road.
The new Manhattan bridge now under
way is a stupendous engineering work 1t
will span East river from the Bowery at
Canal street to the terminal of the new
Flatbush avenue extension in Brooklyn, in
Nassau street. between Jay and Bridge
streets.
In accurate figures the bridge is 6,s54.48
feet long length of the New York APP
proach, 2.O66.4s feet length of approach on
the Brooklyn side, l,S67.95 feet; length of
main span between the towers. lao feet.
| The roadway at the center of the main
span at mean temperature with dead load
| is 1883 feet above the water, and the clear
head room under tine bridge at this point is
| 135. q feet of maximum temperature with
| working loads.
The maximum grade on the ends of ap-
proaches is 3lR feet in each 100 feet The
bridge will have on the lower floor a road
way thirty-five feet wide between curves
two tracks for subway trains, two tracks
for surface cars and two footwalks each
eleven feet wide On the upper floor will
be two tracks for elevated trains and two
tracks for surface cars
This gives one ar idea of the great capa-
city and spaciousness of the structure The
weight of steel in the bridge between
anchorages is about 10000 tons. In the
language of experts the bridge is proper
toned for a regular traffic load of 1900
pounds a lineal foot, or a maximum con-
gested load of 5000 pounds lineal foot.
The bridge is expected to be ready for
traffic in four years The original Brook
lyn bridge was fifteen years in building,
and the recently constructed Williamsburg
bridge seven years. Both of the founda-
lions for the new bridge piers are finished
and ready for the steel work of the towers.
! Personal NOTES.
The Longworths have returned TO Wash
ington and Joined the ranks OF the plain