Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-07-09

RippIes on the Current % Life IN th'
Metropolis.

The frequency Of blow-holes IN the East
and North rivers. due to escaping air from
tunnel works. are surface indications Of
serious trouble in the river beds. Work
on the Pennsylvania double-tube tunnels
between New York and New Jersey has
come to a standstill. A strike OF the tun-
mel diEgers, locally known as sand hogs,
for fewer hours and more wages, Is the
announced cause Of the delay. The facts
are, according to the Times. that the tubes
are too near the surface Of the river bed,
necessitstins unusual air pressure to keep
out water. and men working under the air
pressure are said to be exhausted in two
hours Their workday is six hours in two
three-hour shifts. They insist on a re-
duction to two shifts of two hours each.
The Pennsylvania's East river tunnel was
planned to go under the river bed at an
average depth Of only twenty feet. The
English contracting firm which got tho
contract for the Pennsylvania's East river
tunnel argued that even II they did strike
through the river bed, they would be able
to construct a new or false river bed by
sinking bags of clay and cement They
had taken this course in tunnelinE under
the Thames. they said.
American engineers pointed out that the
tide in the Thames could not be compared
with that in the East river. They said
the East river tide was much stronger
than the tide of the Thames, so that bags
of clay and cement would be swept away
from the points where they were sunk.
Consequently It would be impossible to
create false river bed.
This proved to be the case when the
first blowout" occurred The compressed
air forced a hole from the comoleted end
- 81 a.. IL.
out to the water, where it made the water
bubble like a caldron. Bags OF cement
were dumped into the river in Ferry Slip
4. where the FIRST leak was discovered.
But as fast as the bags were thrown from
barge in the ferry slip they weye car
ried away by the tide.
The mystery which has long given Chi
natown its chief charm has been dlssi-
pated, the great secret has been laid bare
ruthlessly. Chop Suey is not edible. This
is the decision handed down by the Gus
tom house authorities. Many had sus-
pected It: a few had openly affirmed It.
But as long as the rubber neck wagons"
brought the daily recruits, whose chief de-
light It was to prod away at the weird
mixtures in the china bowls with chose
cute little sticks" the Chinese restau-
rant keeper dwelt secure and prospered.
Only the cook knew what the chop suey
was made of, and he could be trusted not
to tell. The question as to Just what a
1 chop suey Is was brought about by the
collector OF the port, who assessed the
article at 40 per cent ad valorem duty
The collector held II was a sauce, but this
view was disputed by the importers OF
| the stun. Voluminous testimony was
taken and merchants and manufacturers
of chop suey were brought here to testify
as to the edible properties OF the dainty.
Last week the decision was announced
and not being edible, chop suey in future
will be admitted to this country under a
duty of only 20 per cent. But II would
have been cheap at any price to have kept
the secret inviolate.
The federal authorities have begun an
investigation into the genuineness Of the
naturalization papers held by certain mem
bers of the New York police department
| and into, the methods with which these
members obtained their places on the force.
! The disclosures made thus far are said
to be little short of startling. From the
| cases that have already come to the no.
| tice of the authorities II il said that one
! third Of the policemen are neither entitled
| to citizenship nor a place on the force. 1t
| 10 generally conceded that many who are
on the force and some who have been made
sergeants and even captains obtained their
| citizenship papers upon their arrival in this
country. II is believed by many that some
| OF the policemen now on the force were
made before they left their native land.
New York proposes to celebrate the year
1909 which is the tercentenary of Henry
| Hudson's entrance of the river which bears
! his name, with a series of pageantries and
| observances which should attract the
| world with their unusual interest. Sep
! TENDER of that year will see the compile
| ton of several monumental enterprises
| The Hudson memorial bridge across the
| Hudson will be opened, and also the me-
| mortal viaduct across Dyckmann street
valley, which will commemorate the intro
! ductory trip of F>ulton's steamboat, the
| Clermont up the Hudson. Then also II is
hoped, a fine new park on Inwood Hill. in
| which Riverside Drive will meet the Hud-
son bridge, will be opened and also the
state parks farther up the Hudson at Yer
plank's Point and Hook Mountain. To
| lend interest to this occasion reproductions
| of Hudsons Half Moon, from Holland.
| and of F'ultons Ciermont will ascend the
| river; and land and water parades in which.
| no doubt. half the world will be repre-
sented with the United States, Great Brit
| ain and The Netherlands leading the march
| will add to the briIliancy and distinction of
the occasion. New York owes the country
and the world a first class celebration of
some kind and this proposed one Is OF
very good kind.
The dome of the federal building Is a
| genuine old curiosity shop such as II would
delight the heart Of any thoroughgoing
antiquarian to Tummage in. Around the
walls of the dusty old room under the
curved roof are heaped records of the fed
eraI courts running away back to the year