The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-23
RAILROAD BUILDING UNDER THE SURF FACE Enormous Projects Under Way
 Around New York W0ULDBUlLDEI6HT CANALS Simplon Tunnel Is the Largest In the World and Cost $16,ooo,ooo, ,ooo.
 America Leads the
 World.
W0ULD BUILD EIGHT CANALS
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKlN.

BY FEEOEHlO Js nAofNiN' 1 The completion of the Hudson river tun- I nel. at the opening of which the govern 1 ors of New York and New Jersey will meet Tuesday, represents the opening ol
 a new era in transportation. Americans l have come to look upon the construction
 of the Panama canal as the most siganeie ] task of history And such it is, in a cer- ;. tain sense. But the great engineering projects mat are collectively being car-
 ried on in New York city today makes
 the Panama canal look like sort or IT. rigation ditch. Six hundred million dol lars has already been appropriated Tor the great project in and around New York Plans that have already passed the formative stage, and which are cer- tain to be completed within the decade between 1904 and 1914 call for the expeDol- ture of another billion dollars. The total which conservative authorities estimate will be spent on engineering protects Ill and around New York city in the 10 years between 1900 and 1915 will amount to enough to build eight Panama canals, or IS tunnels under the rivers that make Manhattan an island. Eight of these tubes are under East river, six Of them are under the Hudson, and two or them under the Harlem. This takes no account of the six projected from the Brooklyn bridge to the Battery, nor Of the TOUT which are expected to be put under the Harlem nor of the two that are expected to be driven under the East river above the williamsburg bridge. Hemlned in by three rivers, with the greater part Of the population spending the day in Manhat7 tan and the night at their homes across these rivers, the handling of the New York morning and evening crowds be- comes one of the greatest problems municipality has ever had to meet. It is estimated that three-quarters or a mi lion people cross these river boundaries twice a day. The growth of this out-and- in travel has been something without par allel When the Brooklyn bridge was opened in 1883 some sanguine people thought 10000 people would use it every day More matter4of-fact folk thought them dreamers. But even as far back as 1902, and traffic has increased vastly since then, 1t was estimated that 35OO0O people passed across that structure on an ay- craze every day in the year.
 Nothing like the underground work in New York has ever been accomplished. In all the rest of the world put together there are not as many miles or supaoue- ous tunnels as there are being driven uh- der the rivers of that city. Boston mas its underground railroads, so has Chlea- go, so have London, Paris and other Eu- ropean cities But the whole world stands eclipsed before the stupendous work under the New York rivers.
 In 1888 Frank James Sprague equipped and put into operation the first troily line in the world A year later cylindrical tunnel shield was planned by John Henry Greathead, the eminent English engineer If was these two inventions that made the ,-f.~ o fno nF0nOq1fl0n Without electric power 1t would be prac- tieally impossible to operate in long tun- nels of this nature. Steam power In the Park Avenue tunnel on the New York Central has been tried and found wanting where there is heavy traffic. Animal power would have been out of the dues- tion Without the tunnel shield 1t would have been impossible to drive tunnel through the soft ground under the Hud- son. It was these two inventions that have permitted New York to emancipate herself from river thralldom.
 The city has been growing at the rate of about 200 900 every year for some time At this rate every two years they add enough population to populate city like Washington, with enough left over 10 make city like Richmond, It is believed that the new tunnel and bridge facilities of the city will cause 1t and its suburbs to spread out over twice as much ground as they cover today, and that there will eventually be compact city built up with population not far from that or London and Paris combined
 c. M. Jacobs has probably contributed more to the building of the underline river tunnels than any other man. It was he who had charge of the construction of the gas tunnel under East river many years ago. The lessons he learned there have been of the greatest value in all the work that has followed.
 When all of the tunnel and subway systems now under construction are com pleted it will be possible for person to go to any portion of the city, north, south, east, or west, without leaving tunnel after he has once entered it. Likewise he will be able to get off the city subway cars and take a train to any station in the United States without again coming above ground The fight of the Pennsyl- vania to get into New York was almost without parallel in history The most powerful railroad in the world for years knocked at the doors of the city govern ment in vain, but once they got in, New York became free from the domination of the New York Central.
 But not all of the underground railroads of the world are to be found in New York The most famous underground railroad in the world today Is the Simplon tunnel. It is nearly 13 miles long and brings Milan 80 miles closer to Paris by rail It cost nearly sixteen billion dollars. It was the plan of the railroad to run steam trains through it. But an enter prising Milan electrical house asked to be allowed to install an electric haulage sys- tenn. The only terms upon which they would be allowed to install it were that they should bear the expense of the in- stallation, and take 1t out if it was not thoroughly satisfactory Moreover, they were to have 1t ready for operation with in very few months, less than half the time they would ordinarily be allowed for the same sort of work In this country. It was to be ready for opening by the time the gates of the Milan exposition were thrown open 1t was a big task, and Il heavy outlay of money, but the Milan electrical firm was game. and the job was ready for delivery on the appointed day
 With such an experience as this before them, when Congress talked about re- Ak de to. ta all nnfr