The Washington herald., 1920-12-17
BY RAYMOND G. CARROLL.

NEW YORK, Dec. 16.-While the
first subway operated in New York
City is justly regarded as one of
the engineering wonders Of the
world. the fact that its construc-
ton was not undertaken until 1901
is equally marvellous, considering
that its prototype was conceived
and planned in 1864. The plans
made in that year for the proposed
Broadway underground covered al
most the identical route of the pres
ent subway from the Battery to
HCentral Park.
"Inasmuch as the present subway
was not opened until 1904. it took
exactly forty years to establish un-
derground transportation in this
city" said James Blaine Walker.
secretary of the Rapid Transit
Commission, to the writer this
morning. Asked to tell of the
earlier subway which never was
built, Mr.. Walker resumed:
Like other great conceptions
the rapid transit idea was born
during the civil war-both the
: transcontincntal railroad and the
telegraph having grown directly
out of the demand for better COM
: munication created by that great
struggle. The elevator also was a
product of that period. 1t was a
n time when women wore, hoopskirts,
| when Barnum's American museum
S and Niblo's Garden fiourished. when
Maggie Mitchell was making her
r self famous in Fanchon, and negro
= minstrelsy was in its glory; when
e the Academy of Music was the
s home of grand opera and Brignoli
r Zucchi and Massimiliani sang the
e early Verdi operas and the city lay
= mostly below Twenty-third street.
Father Of Idea.
Then. in 1864. along came Hugh
B. Wilson. a. Michigan railroad
man, who had been in London dur
ing the construction of the initia
e London underground railroad anc
= was present at its opening in 1856;
s when the first three and three
a quarter miles was placed in opera
IS tion. Wilson was the American
father of the subway idea and pro
- moter Of the Metropolitan Railwa.
u Company, which he capitalized a
n $5,000,000 with the cooperation o
II the late Henry ". Poor. The engi
n neer who planned the subway wa
A. p. Robinson and he deserve
a everlasting honor for his vision.
The Wilson subway was to hav
r been operated by steam power al
though there were engineers VIII
W advocated propulsion by pneumati
power. In the legislature the Will
l. son project was not received wit
Ig enthusiasm, and it was defeated
ot Instead of kiosks occupying valu
or able space on the sidewalk, willso
had proposed the purchase and us
g. of appropriate buildings on eac
ne side OF the street for stations t
ID be located half a mile apart. Blu
ID the legislature would have none G
er his project and he and his hacker
,y shared the fate of those advance
v, thinkers who are ahead of the
"a times" ~
We With three sets of rapid trans
, subways longitudinalIy traversin
70 Manhattan Island, in which millior
L. of people daily ride, thew are toda
=, talking of building new subwa,
he for vehicular trafic. Somethin
will have to be done within II
next five years to take care of II
he crush of motor cars in the gre,
es north and south arteries of traye
ut After 4 o'clock in the afternoc
it Fifth avenue is completely fiilt
I'd from end to end, and eth
on "sunken streets" must be created
some Of the existing avenues do,
dr. BILE decked. =
New Movie Idea.
No THE greatest difficulty with Il
motion picture SHOW" said wilfr,
Il. ~ a,
Hotel Pennsylyania, 'fs to proper
II. seat the audiences. Many seats r
16. main unused for the reason that
tedl darkened house it is almost II
&C. possible to locates them, Hence
ed have an invention whichX expect
to- shortly install in movie houses
over the country which will elimi