New-York tribune., 1919-12-30
Most Complete Shutdown
In City's History Follows
Explosion of Fuses in In.
terborough Power Station
City's Business DELAYED
Surface Cars, Subway and
'L' Trains Are Halted:
Trading Forced to Wait

With an explosion which shattered
doors and windows and rocked tho
building, fuses in one of the fifteen
nuge electric auxiliary mains of the
lnterborough power station at Fifty
ninth Street and Eleventh Avenue
blew out yesterday at the height of
the morning traffic rush. Bursts of
flame and smoke spangled with crack
ling sparks followed, and to prevent
destruction of the power system all
the great dynamos were shut down.
The result was the most complete
traction tie-up New York has ever ex-
perience0.
Every elevated and subway train
was stopped. Not car moved on
most of the surface lines in Manhattan
and the Bronx, and the business o.
Wall Street and the entire downtown
district awaited the arrival Of 750,-
900 belated men and women from haif
an hour to an hour after their usual
time.
The Stock Exchange opened late for
the first time in its history. Technical
ly it did not mar its record for
promptness. for at 10 o'clock, the time
set for beginning trading, the presi-
dent of the board announced the for
NAL opening OF the days trading in
securities and at the same time in
formed the brokers that operations
would be suspended until 1920.
Clerical Forces Delayed
Al about twenty minutes before
10 those few brokers who were on the
floor of the exchange began to notify
the governors that their clerical forces
were unable to transmit orders TO the
exchange because many clerks and
telephone operators, Indispensable
links in the chain, had not yet re-
ported for work. The governors acted
hastily, and the delay was ordered
Many floor members were late in ar
irving. and several OF the highly essential
specialists were missing as the moment
FOR opening approached. No specialistin
Steel common, the most active security
on the board, was present. respite the
lost half hour, yesterdays transactions
we're moro than 100000 shares in eN-
cess of those of Monday last week
Except on holidays, trading has al
ways taken place at the appointed time
on the exchange, with three exceptions
On March 13, 1888. the time of the
great blizzard, the exchange closed for
the day and remained closed the fol
lowing day. On July 81, 1914, when the
war began. the exchange closed and re-
manned so for almost four and one half
months. On the day 1t was falsely re-
ported the armistice was signed in No
vcmber, 1918, the exchange closed at 9
o'clock instead of 3.
Lights Flicker First Warning
For the hundreds of thousands of
men and women on trains yesterday
morning the first warning of trouble
occurred at 9:10. The lights in the
subway cars fickered, and the trains,
like those of the elevated lines, bumped
and jerked Five minutes Fater trains
stopped everywhere - on bridges, in
the tubes under the East River, at
stations and in between
Not a train moved again until 9:45,
and by that time junction and transfer
points were undergoing unprecedented
pressure. Passengers on elevated and
surface lines abandoned the cars and
sought the subways, only to find they
also were stalled and the sale of tickets
stopped. The tYeup lasted about half an
hour.
b. Il. T. elevated and subway trains,
which were halted with the rest be-
cause they receive part of their powcg r
from the Interborough system, resumed
service first through the cutting in of
current from the Centre Street plant.
The resumption did not, however, pre-
vent serious frantic congestion on the
Brooklyn lines.