New-York tribune., 1908-01-10
TO BROOKLYN By TUBE.
Continued from first page

the city against municipal ownership and super
vision save when these unavoidable
Ex-State Senator Stephen Nj. Griswod spoke
on behalf of the Society of old Brooklynites
and Frank Bailey paid a tribute to Alexander
f. Orr and August Belmont for their services
in making possible the extension Of the subway
to Brooklyn After the exercises the members
of the Brooklyn League. which had charge OF
the celebration. and their guests. adjourned to
the Hamilton Club for luncheon
The almost universal opinion of those who
took the trip under the river yesterday was that
the tunnel was an unqualified success. There
were no mishaps accidents. and only Few
delays due to the extra caution exercised by
the officials and employees of the operating COM
pany, owing to the crowds of sightseers With
few exceptions the company was able to keep
to it's previously published schedule of trains at
all times of the day and night.
SCHEDULE IN RUSH HOURS
During the rush hours in the morning and
evening trains were run under a three minute
schedule and often only two minutes elapsed
between the departure of trains from Bowling
Green for Borough Hall and vice versa The
biggest crowds of the morning came between
80 and 9 o'clock but they were as nothing
compared to the homegoing rush from Manhat-
tan last night
All day long the trains to Brooklyn were well
patronized, mostly by persons who had no other
business than TO find out how it feels to run
under the East River and actually to get into
the city which has so long been forbidden TO
many Manhattanites by the unpleasant prospect
of a bridge crush or making several changes OF
cars if ferry is taken
The officials of the Interborough Company
estimated at O'Clock last night that from the
number of passengers who had already made
use of the new subway hundred and forty
thousand all told would have made the trip
through the tube by midnight From O'Clock
yesterday morning until 9 o'clock last night it
was said, about forty-five thousand tickets were
sold at the Borough Hall station in Brooklyn
This means that about nnety-fve thousand peo-
pie took the trip in the first twenty-four hours
operation of the Brooklyn extension The Of
fcials said. however. that it would be impossible
to base any accurate estimate of the regular
business on these figures, because yesterday
was the opening day and many of the pas
sengers We're persons attracted by the novelty
Up to 7:3O o'clock yesterday morning there
was comparatively little for the extra force OF
police detailed to the Borough Hall station to
do, and even after that hour, when the rush
set in. there was comparatively little dlfhculty
in handling persons bound for Manhattan, The
failure of more Brooklynites to use the subway
ably due to their expectation that there would
be an unusual crush on the first day and to
their desire to wait until the experimental stage
of operation of the new route to Manhattan had
been safely passed
No exact figures for the morning rush hour
on the other side of the river were given out
by the Interborough officials. but it is probable
that not over five thousand people made use
of the mode of transit to Manhattan be-
however. and the reports of the successful
working of the tube were spread to home going
Brooklynites the crowds steadily increased.
The downtown platforms of the Brooklyn
Bridge Wall street Fulton and John street
stations, where there is generally plenty of
room. began TO fill up with Brooklynites at
o'clock last night, and from that hour until
o'clock there constantly increasing
stream. The receipts from the downtown sta
tions at Fulton street Wall street and Bowling
Green have heretofore been inconsiderable but
up to O'Clock last night $500 tickets had been
sold at the Wall street station and 1000 tickets
each at the Fulton and John street stations
Most of the Brooklyn bound trains were filled
to their seating and standing capacity when they
reached Bowling Green. the last stop before the
run under the river. The crowds dis
tinguished by their good nature. everybody
seeming eager for the sensation of actually get
ting to Brooklyn by quick run under the river,
with the usual jam at the bridge well left be
hind From 80 to o'clock p. m. the Lenox
avenue expresses bound for Borough Hall. which
have been set down to run every three minutes
on the regular schedule came running into
Bowling Green station at intervals of often less
than two minutes. Most of those who used the
station, which has island platform, were all
going the one way and all wanted to get near
possible to the front of the trains, each of
which made up of eight
GREAT RELIEF AT THE BRIDGE
The change in the aspect of things at the
entrance to Brooklyn Bridge needed
than glimpse from those accustomed to the
strange and terrible sights witnessed there for
years to tell the tale of what the starting of
the new tube had done for that terminal No
one paused to wonder where the struggling
crowds of yesterniGht had vanished All knew
and smiled and proceeded in orderly fashion
to the surface cars and TO the train platforms.
Where only twentyfour hours before tur-
moil Of beings struggling to get to their des-
tinations had moved at slower than snaiIs
pace it was possible last night to walk along
at an ordinary gait None OF the platforms
were overcrowded. and though there were plenty
of straphangers in both the trolley cars and the
regular bridge trains. there was a wonderful
increase in the service The usual fights TO be
first at the gates We're missing. and if there
were not seats for ALL there was at least plenty
of standing room
Captain Murtha of the Bridge station said
it had been long time since he had seen such
quick change and the officials of the Brook
lyn Rapid Transit Company estimated that
there had been a falling off in the numbers of
people using the bridge in the evening rush
hours of from 10 to 20 per cent Varying esu-
~ ba number rauoa fr,u, 4. ANN 30