Evening star., 1907-08-15
INSPECT EAST RIVER BORES
ENGINEERS AND GUESTS WADE
THROUGH SUBWAY.
Station Between Sd and Lexington
Avenues First to Be Opened-Hol-
lowed Out of Solid Rock.

NEW YORK. August 15.-St John Clarke
and the other engineers who have superin-
tended the building of the Belmont tunnels
under the East river at 42d street took a
party of reporters. college professors and
engineering students on a tour Of inspec-
ton through the tunnels yesterday after
noon. 1t was the first time that anybody
outside of the workers had been admitted
to the tunnels, There were about fifty in
the party, and they returned to daylight
after three hours. pias:erei with mud and
with the sound of buzz saws running in
their ears.
Dean Fred \. Goetze of the Columbia
University school of applied sciences was
the head mud wader in the college contin-
gent. With him were Prof. Walter Rauten-
strauch of the mechanical engineering
school, and Prof. Charles E. Lucl1e of the
department of Hydraulics at Columbia and
forty students from the summer engineer
Ing school.
Trousers Rolled UP.
Roll up your trousers and look out for
your straw hats" said Chief Engineer
Clarke the lift loaded with human
knowledge and tho engineers started its
10i-foo. drop down the shaft at the foot of
42d street
Professor, why are you wearing those
overalls?' asked one of the students of
Prof. Eautenstrauch, the only member of
the party who had followed the example of
the engineers and dressed for the trip.
My son." said the professor, that is
something YOU will know after you get your
degree, or perhaps before the trip is over,
If you are Observing
Walking Was Bad.
Engineer Clarke distributed his assistants
among the party and struck out in thS
north tunnel toward the west. There was
a nice thick coating of crushed stone on
the bottom of this secllon Of the tunnel
and walking In low shoes was splendid ex-
ercise for the ankles. The trip over the
ballast continued from the foot OF 42d
street to spot eighty feet underground
in front of the Grand Central station
and then back again through the south
bore. Each tunnel is thirteen feet six
inches high and seventeen feet wide. The
section from the river to the Grand Central
station is IN solid rock. The curved sur
face of the tunnel is protected by thick
covering OF cement. The power rail is
fastened to the cement roof. At Park ave-
nue. there is 2 srake-like loop. Deep under
ground tunnels will connect the Belmont
bores with the Grand Central station and
the Hotel Belmont.
When the tunnel first opens, which will
be in about three months, the oaly station
on the New York side will be between ID
and Lexington avenues. There q space 800
feet long and 100 feet wide has been hoi-
lowed ont of the solid rock eighty-six feet
below the surface Of the street. Moving
stairways will carry the passengers up and
down. 1t viii be an up-to-date sanitary
station.
The engineers said that the work on tie
bores in 42d street was done in record time
both having been completed in sixty-one
working days.
1t took about half an hour to make the
trip under the river to the Long Island loop
were a good many leaks, and every little
while the party had to crawl under
muddy platform. \ trip through the COM
pressed air chamber in the south bore WAS
thing no