Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-06-15

Nipples on the Current OF Life IN the
Metropolis.

ROUND ABOUT VIEW XoRK
Nipples on the Current OF Life In the
Metropolis.
teaT-dravinR sight In a city where
sights are common drew a bunch OF re-
porters. city ofncials and corporation man
ayers together few days ago. The sight
was not photographed. as II deserved TO
be, but the descriptions convey per
spective Of the pathetic spectacle. The
group surrounded a hole In the ground
In the hole we're water pipes-a large one
owned by the city. smaller one belong
ing to a private water company Both
we're artistically Joined together the little
drawing sustensnce from the larger pipe.
carrying the fuid few blocks. where
again It connected with the city main
through meter which registered the flow
for which the city paid good old money.
The president OF tho private water company
viewed the connected pipes and sobbed as
constituent Between sobs he declared his
company never did g. II was unthinkable,
There must be some mistake" he said.
Then he sobbed again and turned from the
melancholy scene 70 hide his grief. A har
dened looker-on murmured, TITS hard to
part with an iron pipe cinch." A muscular
city employe, with sledge and chsel, soon
severed the connection, plugged the hole
and the scene dissolved.
The total amount Of real estate, land and
buildings exempted from taxation in New
York IL larger than the assessed valuation
Of twenty-five of the forty-ive states Of
the country. New York has 81 500. 10000 Of
real estate upon which no taxes are paid.
II has $ls5. 10000 represented in churches
and church buldlngs. 1t has S15O.0C0000 in
hospitals and charitable institutions; II has
500, 900 in schools, exclusive OF $50 100000
In colleges. universities and other buildings
wholly devoted to the purposes Of educa-
ton. The city of New York includes. OF
course by far the largest proportion OF
these holdings, though in the matter Of
church property the land and buildings out
side the city OF New York represent a total
value Of $4,000 900. The federal government
has 3S0.00oOO0 worth Of land and buildings
in the state Of New York. Of which s60,OOO,-
900 worth is in New York City
The United States has begun a sixty-day
trial Of the submarine bell as an aid to nav
igation. These warning bells were put in
continuous operation on all the lightships
from New York to Boston, and there was
a nedNy IOk OH new lOTh 10 make ttle 0TSt
days test OF value. At least one ocean
liner, the Baltic. received warning OF its
whereabouts through the submarine bell at
tached to the Sandy Hook lshtship 1t was
then about two miles from the lightship
which was hidden from sight by the dense
mist.
IL Is said that the sound of bells ringing
under water can be heard ten miles away,
and person below the water line, and with
his ear to the hull Of the boat, can hear
the mufied tones of the bell distinctly But
it Is not necessary to station men in the
hull to listen for these sounds, for ships can
be equipped with telephone receivers fitted
to the hull and with wires running to the
bridge, so that the oficer in charge can be
placed In immediate possession OF the guild
ing sounds. II IL by these sounds that the
course of the ship can be directed. This
has been demonstrated beyond question.
Last March the North German Lloyd
line steamship Kaiser Wilhelm II, feeling
It's way toward port In a dense fog. caught
the bell notes OF the Sandy Hook lightship
through the hull forward. The sounds
came through the port bow, twenty feet or
so aft. The course of the vessel was al
tered until the sounds came dead ahead,
and then the liner went straight. and finally
glided under the stern of the lightship, for
which II had been searching. Other in
stances Of like character have been re-
ported, so that there should not be much
question as to the value OF these warnings.
An innovation in apartment house build
| ing Is noted in the construction of the
ive six-story elevator apartment houses,
each 100 by 100. now nearing completion
/ Ia a
Thirty seventh street, covering the entire
block from Broadway to Riverside Drive.
Chief among the new ideas which will be
applied will be the furnishing OF light. heat
and power to the entire group Of structures
| from a central plant The central power
! plant idea IL based primarily, of course,
| upon considerations Of economy. but I'm the
opinion OF the owners 1t will justify itself
also by affording more satisfactory service
than could be provided by separate plants in
each OF the houses. Present estimates of
| this economy place IL at about $4,000 a
| year, q sum approaching / per cent on the
total valuation OF the property. The out
come of the project will be a matter of
wide interest among builders and real
estate investors.
The new Pennsylvania railroad station in
New York will be unique among all the
railroad stations in the world in the num-
Der and conveniences OF it's entrances and
/ exits. This condition is due to the fact
that each OF the four sides Of the structure
! is a front, opening respectively on two
wide avenues and two important streets,
which latter have been widened by the
company to eighty feet each. The station
is bounded on the east by Seventh avenue
and the west by Eighth avenue; on the
south by Thirty-hrst and the north by
Thirty-third streets Thirty-second street
having been closed and included in the
station site. The frontage on the avenues
is 40 feet and on the streets $50 feet, the
sides Of the structure forming a perfect
parallelogram. As the tracks are forty feet
below the surface of the street. the sta ton
! Is divided into three levels,
One Of the Coney Island sensations ar
ranged for the near future is head-on
collision between two eighty-ton locomo-
] tives travelling at a Speed between seventy