The Washington herald., 1908-01-12

New York, Jan. u.-Beeause of the con.
dition of the walls of the burned out
Parker Building. at Fourth avenue and
Nineteenth street, it was decided late
tonight to discontinue running subway
trains past the Eighteenth street station.
This decision followed a telephone talk
between Deputy Police Commissioner
Bugher and Building Commissioner Muir
ply at 10 o'clock. At this conference
Mr. Murphy said that the building was
unsafe. Then Commissioner Bugher got
into communication with Manager Frank
Healey, of the Interborough. Mr. Hedley
then gave out a statement to the news
papers in which he said:
Il have received from Commissioner
Bugher orders to close the subway. The
trains win be taken off by II o'clock. and
we viii operate after that hour as we did
earlier in the day. No trains will run
north Of Fourteenth street and none
south of Forty-second street.
1T Will also be necessary to cut the
scheduled number of trains down some
because OF the inadequate switching facil-
ties at the two stations named
Building Supt Murphy gave out the
following statement after Mr. Hedley had
announcing the closing of the subway;
THE building is now cooling of. and
in the last few minutes alone over a hum
dred arches have fallen in. Not only is
the cooling of the building making 1t
more dangerous, but the constant vibra-
tion of the trains in the subway is un-
questionably affecting the safety of the
structure.
Commissioner Bugher and I have agreed
that the safety Of the passengers de-
mands the instant closing of the subway.
1t is also thought probable that the front
wall now cooling of, may fall tonight.
If it does not, by tomorrow We can shore
it up from the inside with steel cables. ."
wall Held Danger.
Shortly after o'clock this morning,
while the fire was practically at its worst,
and when the iremen had been thor
oUghly convinced that it was beyond
their control, Deputy Fire Chief Binns.
in charge of the fire, found that the
Nineteenth street wall of the big twelve
story granite building was seventeen
inches out of plumb. and that the two
upper stories on the Fourth avenue side
Of the building with their heavy granite
gables. were nine inches out of plumb.
Chief Binns became concerned at once
for the safety Of the subway passengers,
and he and Chief Ross went down into
the Eighteenth street station Of the sub
way to see what effect the running Of
trains was having on the building. Chief
Binns. after an examination of the struc-
tuTe there, found that at this point in the
subway it is nearest the surface, being
about twelve feet below the street
The tracks Of the subway run about
two feet from the outer building lire OF
the Parker Building. but the station it.
self is IN some places eighteen feet under
the building. Several trains ran past the
station while the two men stood there,
and they sent for Fire Commissioner
LangtTy.
An express train went past at this point
and the rumbling Of the building above
was so great that the three men ran from
the station to a point of safety. Chief
Binns then went at once to a telephone
and peremptoTily ordered all subway
trains to cease running at once. The train
dispatcher at the Grand Central Station
held up the express trains and all locals
at that point and the same thing was
done at the Fourteen street station, %
that a gap OF nearly two miles was made
in the subway where there was no
service.
Trains Taken on
Manager Hedley's office at once order
ed out all the special policemen Of the
subway, and customers were warned on
entering the stations that there was no
trains. Shortly before 5 o'clock Chief
Binns decided that danger was not as
great as it was earlier and as the fire was
under control the chief decided to let the