The farmer and mechanic., 1915-05-04

stretch Of subway between Fltty-hrst
street and Fifty-ninth street, all OF
New York's projected Dual system,
subway and elevated, is in the hands
of the contractors, and must be com
rleted not later than January L, 19I'.
When this system is opened for travel
If will represent, as far as Manhattan
is concerned, all the subway construc-
tion the famous island will be able
TO install on the single deck plan, says
an article in the Philadelphia Record
That part of New York which is
designated as Manhattan never came
closer to the occasional visitor re-
mark, when he said: You must nave
"a mighty poor sort of city II you re
always tearing her down and putting
her up"
Aside from the erection of new sky
scrapers which seems to be a constant
metropolitan employment, Broadway
and Seventh avenue in the lower part
of the city looks like some OF the
towns in the Iron Range in Minnesota
where they go after the iron ore
under the streets.
There is a constant blasting under
the wooden sidewalks and wooden
traffic ways, marked by shouts OF
warning and occasional traffic hold
up.
Concrete mixers are at work. Huge
cranes at important points rumble in
6ustriously. Lines of wagons fill up
with broken rock and soil and travel
eff in endless procession. When one
peers into the depths through some
chance opening the magnitude OF the
undertaking is impressive. Far before
improvised tracks are to be seen for
facilitating the removal of blasted
rock and earth and for the dlsfrlbu-
tion of the concrete.
In the side streets, as the work ra-
dates north, there is tearing up OF
sidewalks and streets proper, and the
substitution of the heavy planks.
Troubles of Contractors.
The contractors troubles lie in
Manhattan proper of the great un-
dertaking of which as a whole we
shall speak later. In the contested
business section of New York con-
struction problems of great difficulty
present themselves. The subway
line has had to swing from one street
to another in the very heart Of the
skyscraper district. taking it's way ir
dangerous proximity to the founda.
tions of huge buildings. To keeI
these buildings from eventually col
lapsing or their foundations from
crashing through the subways extra
foundations have been built under
the buildings. and special cOnStruc
tion was adopted for the tunnels, tht
builders using single deck and specia
double-deck steel-bent construction
and cast-iron tube tunnels. TIL,
tracks had to be spaced so that flu
ture skyscrapers could be built with
out blocking subway travel TO
weeks. The Vesey street section o
the subway will for long time stant
as a monument to engineering skill
Of the highest order.
Planned in 1913. =.
1t was back in 1913-March 10, t
be exact-that the present elaborat
Greater New York rapid transit line
were planned and arranged for. O.
that date the Public Service Commits
sion for the First district, the Boar
of Estimate and Apportionment c
the City of New York, the Inter
borough Rapid Transit Company an
the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Compan
concluded the negotiations for bot
the construction and the operatio
of the new lines.
The various parties to that agree
ment are significant. The Brookly
Rapid Transit Company is an intel
ested party because the Dual System
with it's arrangement of elevate
lines, subway lines and under riv,
tubes will knit Brooklyn more close
to other sections of Greater Ne
York, and will allow that boroua
to be easily and quickly reached. TT
new transit lines will, no doubt, pls
great part in relieving Manhattan
congestion by sending it into Brool
lyn to some extent.
Brooklyn's mysterious highwa
and byways whose bewildering a
rangement furnishes material for Il
New York jokesmiths will becon
thoroughly familiar to the cond
scending Manhattanite to the exte
of Offering him a home instead of
few ornamental boxes as a habit
in an apartment house.
VIII Extend To The Bronx.
The Interborough Rapid Tran
Company is interested because t
new lines will extend their prese
sphere Of operation in Manhattan a
the Bronx. This solution Of the DR.,
ent congestion of travel will come
the manner Of a relief to the col
pany, which is facing the stupen
OnS Drohlern Of caring for praa1