The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1908-02-23
TUNNEL SYSTEM
NEARS FINISH
NORTH TUBE FROM NEW YORK
TO HoBokEN TO OPEN
81 TUESDAY.
60O,OOO,OOO PROJECT
Plans and Survey Made BY California
Engineer--Roosevelt and Two
Governors to Take Part
in Opening.

New York, Feb. 22.-The north
tube of the Hudson & Manhattan rail
road company, commonly known as
the McAdoo tunnels, running under
the North river from Hoboken to Nor
ton street. Manhattan, will be opened
to the public next Tuesday This will
mark the completion of the first sec
ton of the gigantic $60.000,000 tunnel
system, and the event will be sig
nailed by fitting celebration. Presi
dent Roosevelt will press a button in
the White House at Washington
which will start the first train moving
and it is expected that Governor Fort
of New Jersey. and Governor Hughes
of New York, will take an active part
in the exercises.
The McAdoo system. which has fire.
quentIy been adiudged to be the
greatest and most costly engineering
feat of the country, as well as the
most comprehensive traffic arrange.
ment ever devised, was first started in
1874. De Witt Clinton Haskin, a Cali.
fornia civil engineer, who had been
active in the construction Of Union
Pacific railroad, drew the plans and
made the surveys at his own ex'
pense.
But at that time people laughed at
the project. 1t was the scheme of a
dreamer with a liscorded mind, they
said. and even engineering experts
shook their heads. Capitalists would
have nothing to do with it. The early
promoters of the project completed
about 1900 feet of tunnel under the
Hudson, and then failed. Ten years
later others took hold of the scheme,
built about the same number of feet
and again failed. From 1892 to 1902
there was nothing doing in the tunnel
line under the Hudson river, so far
as this scheme was concerned.
Then it was that William G. Nc
Adoo and his associates took hold of
the work that others haid failed to
carry to a successful termination.
Now the dream of former years is
about to become an accomplished fact
Within a few days passenger trains
-, --.--..I..-- l-a uiariy boneatiI the
great waterway between the Jersey
shore and Manhattan.
The section now completed com
prises about one-fourth of the entire
line of tunnels and tracks which viii
be opened for passenger traffic during
the summer. The route of this sec.
lion is from the terminal. at the foot
Of Ferry street, Hoboken, under the
river to Morton street, up Greenwich
street to Christopher, across Christie
)her to Sixth avenue, and up Sixth |
venue to Nineteenth street. When |
completed the system will continue
Up Sixth avenue to Thirty-third street. |
There will be a tunnel also from Sixth |
venue across Ninth street, connecting |
With the present subway just above |
he Astor Place station.
The southern division of the sys- |
EN- runs down the Jersey side from |
he Hoboken terminal and across the
liver to the Dey street terminal in /
Manhattan, with stations at the Erie |
md Pennsylvania railroad terminals
n Jersey and a connection with the
fulton street station OF the subway
mother line will extend from the
terminal to Newark
'hese sections of the system will be
pened in a few months.
The grand terminal station for
hese tunnels will be the great Ter
ninal building now being erected az
'hurch street, which, when completed
gill be the largest office structure In
he world There will be space on
he twenty-five floors for 1000 Offices,
nd probably it will house more va
led interests than any other Office
uilding on earth. The station will
e located under this mammoth
tructure, The floor just below the
treet level will be known as the
oncourse floor. Here will be located
'aiting rooms, telegraph rooms. tele-
hone kiosks. flower, cigar and news
aper stands. lunch counters and
Lher conyeniences for the travelling
lblic.