The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-06
SUBWAyS PACKED
WITH BIG CROWDS
|. GOING To PLAYS
Nightly Theatre Throng Like
Sardines On New York
Trains

NEW YORK, May 5.-(By Asso-
ciated Press.)-The "sardine" life
led by playgoers who nightly strug-
gle their way in crowded subways to
the great white way is graphically
described and characterized as al
most alarming" in report issued by
Nelson P. Lewis, formerly chief engi-
neer of the city board OF estimate and
apportionment, recently retained to
study the problem.
When smiling Broadway managers
hang out the Standing Room Only
sign, as they frequently are doins
nowadays, it means not even standing
room in the subways, the report dis
closes. with sometimes as many as
900 passengers over capacity load
trying to get on every train leaving
through each of the five tunnels that
lead away from Times Square.
O o o
Suggest Limitations.
Failure of the city to limit the
number of public halls in any given
area, as is done in London and other
old world cities. is blamed by the re-
port for the condition.
Between Thirty eighth and Fifty
first streets and between Sixth and
Eighth avenues SAYS the report,
there are no less than IS theatres.
Their combined seating capacity is
$4,000 Forty-four of them. with a
capacity of SO. 900, are within a circle
having radius of 1000 feet from
the center Of Broadway and Forty
second street.
Assume for moment that of
these $4,000 amusement seekers. 50.
600 come from the Times Square sta
ton between and $50. From this
station PETERBOROUGH and Brooklyn
Rapid Transit trains run both north
and south. while shuttle train runs
to the Grand Central station and the
east side Interborough line. If these
$4,000 people were equally distribute
between these five routes, it would
mean that 1000 people would have TO
be accommodated by each Now If
two-third of this total arrived be-
tween and sis and one-third be-
tween Sis and $50, it would mean
that 400 people would arrive from
each of these five directions in the
latter quarter of an hour.
me performances are over verj
nearly at the same time, and the
period during which. the crowds wish
to reach the subway trains is consid-
erably shorter. Let US assume, how.
ever. that they will be obliged to oc.
cupy the same half hour in dispers-
ing. A ten-car train, loaded to ca
pacity, holds about 1900, while with
all the standing room occupied to ri,e
limit of decency. it will hold 900
II, then. such 10-car trains left in
each of these five directions every
three minutes, it would mean that 94C
passengers would try to crowd into
these trains without regard to the
number already on them.
Conditions Even Worse.
The conditions are actually ever
worse than this, as the shuttle trains
Wh1le they start from Times Square
station and may be available for the
theatre crowd, are generally made ur
or less than one-half the number OF
cars assumed for the other trains.
To visualize this problem little
more clearly, attention Is called tc
the fact that the 5000 people at.
tending the IS places of entertain
ment, when all seats are occupied, i.
more than equivalent to the com
pined population of Mount Vernon
New Rochelle, the Pelhams, Bronx
Vilie, Tuckahoe and Scarsdale. If i.
also more than the total population
men, women and children, of Mont
cia1r, Belleville, Bloomfield. Nutlev
Glen Ridge, Cedar Grove. Caldwell
Essex rails, Verona, and the remain
ger or the Borough of Caldwell
another comparison is that th,
number exceeds the total population
OF orange East Orange aud Soutl
orange, and is almost equivalent /,
the total population of Passaic. elf
ton and Little Falls"