The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-02-18


city as the elevator. The swiftly moving
steel cage. with its quota OF passengers
plying upward and downward with al
most lightning rapidity, has made the
skvscraper a possibility. has made prac-
ticabie the segregation Of thousands OF
omces in a small space. and has revolu-
tIonized family life by making the big
apartment house a place OF homes that
are easily accessible.
The commercial supremacy Of the big
American city Is due almost as much 10
the modern passenger elevator as It IS
due 10 It's geographical location FOR ex-
ample. four-storied buildings, the maxi
mum height desirable where elevators are
lacking, would have made the Office build
fngs OF New York crowd all others en-
tirely OF Manhattan Island, would have
sent the householder farther than Brock
Iyn for a dwelling place. and would
have necessitated the walking Of endless
miles by those who constitute New York's
business world AS time is money in
these days, this would be equivalent 10
the loss Of millions Of dollars every
month. The elevator Obviates such a loss.
The elevators in the Park Place Build
ing, New York. are examples Of the
value Of the elevator in modern business
life There are ten in this building. They
serve 6.o90 people using the 100 Offices.
and have each a capacity OF sixteen per
sons Each elevator makes the trip 10
the top OF the building, % feet, and back
in three minutes, and makes 90 trips a
day. Every twenty-four hours the ten
travel IN the aggregate 90 miles. a dis
lance equivalent to that from New York
TO Washington. The latest elevator cen
sus shows that New York alone has over
1S0o elevators, and that over $500 OF
these are passenger cars, carrying an
average Of 2ea.oo0 people a day. or
billion or more a year
An expert estimates that there are 49,
90 elevators IN the United States. As
suming that each one is operated 800 days
in the year aFsd carries an average Of
leo persons day. the total carried in
year would be 5500000O00 The figures
seem too large for credulity. and vet they
show an average Of only 5fty-six rides
this country. and they illustrate the es-
sertiality Of the passenger elevator in
lattar-dav civilization.
Tire passenger elevator came into being
because IL had 10 be It is q product %
the Capitalization in given spots Of large
numbers OF people with the consequent
enhancement q demand for land ItS
perfection enabled the development Of
the modern downtown" section OF
city. so that a thousand men and women
carry on their activities, where without
the elevator there would be perhaps fifty
So far back as TWO OF three centuries
before Christ. freight HOSTS were III use.
Passenger elevators were devised eight
hundred years later. but were known in
only isolated cases, another thousand
Years eIapsing before there was
real progress IN perfecting them. Cities
began TO grow TO large dimensions and
vaster population Pressure Of popula-
ton began 10 force upward the value Of
city realty. Society grew complex Bust
ness took on more complicated phases.
The restless spirit. now deveoped 10 an
almost frenzy. took hold Of humanity;
and the 5av for the evolution Of the pas
senger elevator had arrived Higher IN
the air went business buildings As they
rose difficulties Of utilizing such high
structures increased, men brought into
application their inventive genius and
simple devices were created 10 be Oper-
ated by man power Then came the
hydraulic elevator. with car weighing
more than the weight and the motive
power supplied BIZ putting IN or taking out
water from an appended receptacle.
The first power elevators in use in the
United states were the belt-driven. spur
geared freight machines Of 1870 They
were used in factories and big stores, and
their efficiency. suggested their aPplica-
ton 20 the needs Of the people. This
suggestion began % take shape about
$50. and inventors devised 4 very noisy
affair. driven by two steam cylinders
IN 1880. the Western Union and the
Tribune buildings IN New York. were
equipped with passenger elevators. and
the new machine was classed as one OF
the wonders Of the world These two
elevators were operated by steam. but
later the Western Union changed It's mo-
tive force 10 a Tater-balance affair
These were later superseded by the
electric mechanisms, 10 which have been
added safety devices These render ele-
vators so safe that there is little risk
OF injury 10 the passengers. and experts
contend that one is safer travelling in
one Of these cages than in the coach or
Sleeping car Of standard railway
The value Of the new device had been
proved by the two New York companies.
and forthwith every new building was
made higher ard the elevator equipment
added. Old buildings were remOdeIed TO
meet the demands Of a tine-saving. en-
ergy-saving people. By 1885 there were
400 in operation IN New York alone.
speed and safety are the first two re-
CUisites- The higher the building the
faster must the elevator gO-if il meet
the demands Of its patrons. but wise
legislatures have interviewed in the IN
te-est Of human health and sanity. Now
the elevator in an eight or ten story
building runs about 90 feet A minute.
while in a twenty-st0ry building Il makes
800 or $50 feet in that time
With elevators as aids. builders Of Of
fee structures threatened the skyline. and
when the forty-one and forty-five-story
DGilQ-nES were Planned 10Y new J OIh il
1906. il meant a revolution in The elevator
industry Fortunately. By that tine cleo
tricity had come 10 take the place Of
steam, and the problem Of transportation
could he met
There Is a definite and fixed relation
between the amount OF rentabIe floor
space in a building and the number OF
elevators required 10 serve that building.
rT-a o-0rTsr.f non rrcr-.1T-- 1frorr-c g.a
square feet Of rentabie space TO each
elevator. He figures on each elevator
carrying so many passengers IN so many
I china