The Washington herald., 1913-09-09
UNDERGROUND LIFE IN CITIES.
'"FhouSandS Blinded by Surface
Light" Writer Says.

| From a million and half to million
and three-quarters Of the residents Of
! New York city spend at least a portion
of each day underground. and many thou
sands come to the surface 50 rarely that
! the light Of day blinds them when th,v
reach it," says Leo l. Redding in the
September Popular Mechanics Magazine.
! Discussing this phase Of modern city life,
Mr.. ReddinS adds:
! 50 accustomed has New York become
| to the idea Of living underground that
| only a few days ago a public celebration
was held when tlew underground pas
sagewdy was opened. This newest tun-
mel, costing many thousands Of dollars,
was duC to give the people who live
near the Hudson River and IN Ghe neigh
OOrhOOd of One Hundred and Eighty-fiTSt
Street an opportunity to pass beneath the
hills from their homes 10 the subway.
by which means they travel TO the lower
end Of Manhattan Island. TO Bryokk n.
and. by means OF a transfer, to New
Jersey. Until this underground cutoff
was opened. the same citizens had 10
walk about 1000 feet up and down hill
breathing the good outdoor air. Now
they will make the same trip underground
through a damp. dinEy passageway. and
because they save few hundred feet
and a bit Of eXertiOn, consider themselves
fortunate.
According to the hest obtainabIe sta
tistics. about 2l,000 persons in New York
City spend their entire working hours be-
meath the surface OF the earth. These
figures include 3.S0O employees on the two
systems of subways now in operation.
They include 400 men who are employed
digging the new subways. This force
will be more than doubled in the near
future. Also included are the 100 men.
of nh u-nrLriUr
dred feet below the street surface. dTiv-
ing that wonderful aQUeduCt which Is 10
carry throughout the Island Of Manhat
tan and over into Long Island the waters
that are being brought down by siphon
from the CatskiH Mountains. Then there
are more than lO,OOO men and women who
are employed in more private enterprises
that take them constantly below the
street surface.
ON quite ordinary days I50n.ohH per
sons are accommodated in the New York
subways, and the crowds are multiplying
week by week.
Men go below the surface TO reach the
trains that are to take them from that
architectural wonder. the new PenrsyI-
vania station. east and west out Ot the
city. After they have reached the trains
they are dropped still further under
ground. in order that they may pass be-
meath the bottom Of the Hudson and
East rivers.
To get out Of New York city by means
of the New York Central Railroad or the
New York. New Haven and Hartford
Railroad. it is necessary to make use Of
that other architectural wonder. the
Grand Central Station. and again travel
ers droD down into the bowels OF the
earth before they may start
Many of New YOrks greatest DEPART
ment stores are connected directly with
the subu avs. as are also some of its new
st theaterS Last February a family Of
three from San Francisco. visiting in New
York, lived for a fortnight in one of the
most fashionable and most expensive no
tells in the city, spent most of their time
shopping. sightseeing, and theater-goins.
and only once during the entire fourteen
DAYS passed into the open air Of the out
side world From their rooms in the hotel
they were dropped by elevator to the level
of the subway. Through the subwat-they
went to department stores, theaters. res
taurants. museums and even to church.
When they started for home they went by 9
subway from their hotel to the Grand
Central Station. and did aot get out into
sunlight until their train had well start
ed on its long journey. And this was
not on a bet. either