New-York tribune., 1922-07-02
Largest Holiday Crowd in
History of Station Han.
died Before & O'clock,
Despite Crippled Force
30 Special Trains
Ease Off the Jam
Forty Policemen Find the
Crowd Good Natured:
Confusion Is Avoided

Standing room only was available In
the vast concourse Of the Grand Gem
tral Station yesterday. The strike Of
the railroad shopmen caused a delay in
the dispatching OF the trains on the
very day when there was more ncces-
sity than ever for promp;ncss. owing
TO the unprecedented number Of vaca-
tion travellers taking advantage Of the
combined week end and Fourth OF July
holiday.
Thirty thousand persons were con
grcgated in the concourse and waiting
rooms Of the station. while every mo-
mcnt brought additional travellers
pouring in by subway. taxieab and
street entrances. The waiting rooms
were soon jammed and the corridors
and lobbies chokcd with the latest ar
rivals, who could not have reached
their trains even had the trains been
ready 20 start on time. II was the
largest crowd in the history Of the
new Grand Central Terminal.
New Workers. trained By the subway
however. found II not surprising 70
lean on one another's shoulders In the
railway station. Jcsts and barbci
shafts by merrymakcrs KEEP; tho crowd
good -nnturcd. and when forty extra
policemen arrived they found they had
very little TO do except add 10 the
general hilarity. Thunder roared out
side. and the torrents descending also
Frightened the corners where young
women tourists IN their hraycst ho.i-
day array prayed that the trains would
not start until the shower had passed.
Some Relief Comes at La,t
When Chief Inspector William J.
McGrath Of the Third District arrived
he found his forty pairolmcn were
fully in control OF the situation. the
crowd being marvel Of wcll-brcd
ccnposurc or jocular endurance. There
WAS limit 20 the capacity Of tho
Grand Central even for Rood-naturcd
crowds. however. and az noon Inspector
McGrath was on the roirt Of ordering
all entrances 20 the building closed
Just then the trains started running a
little more frequently and the congcs
tion was somewhat relieved. All dag
long. however. the concoursc was
crowded.
Inspector McGrath said that he had
handled crowds 81 the Polo Grounds
for four years, but had never seen a
more gentle and reasonable collce-
tion than those who waited in the rain
and the heat yesterday. Tho new
green cap" messenger boys saved
many nerves By telephoning messages
20 the homes Of the delayed travellers.
New York Central officials said last
night that only hfty men had walked
out Of their inspection squads ana thht
record breaking business ~ passen-
ger trains had been done.
Jam Ended at Last
Thirty special trains were put on rs
relief 10 carry the overflow OF depart
inc vacationists. The normal daily
average OF Fourth Of July vacationists
has been 100000. but yesterday saw
new record when the number Of pas
sengers rose 20 10000.
The passenger schedule Of the New
York. New Haven & Hartford Rail-
road. where 300 men were on strike.
was intcrfercd with TO a greater extent
than was the New York Central. How
ever. in addition 20 the regular week-
end service the company put on TWEEN
ty-one extra sections Of trains and one
special camp train for Maine. The
Boston expresses ran in three sections
the Bar Harbor express in three sec
tions and the Knickerbocker express in
two sections.
At s o'clock last night officials OF
both railroads reported that they had
coped with Sn unprecedented crowd OF
tourists and that traffic was no more
delayed than in any other holiday
period.