Evening star., 1937-04-18
D. c. ONLY CAPITAL
WITHOUT SUBWAY
=
AT Major Countries Have
FaCiIities--Rome's Re-
Gently Begun.

o0iIiStSS ItOIItS y Nv
Gently Begun.
Discussions Of a subway for the
District Of Columbia are reminders
that this Is the only major national
capital Of the world today, without
this type OF rapid transit" says a
bulletin from the National Geographic
Society.
The bulletin adds:
England, France. Germany, Japan,
Argentina and Soviet Russia-all
these world powers have underground
railways built into their capital cities
foundations. Italy, joining the coun-
tries with underground transportation
this year, broke ground in February
to plant four miles Of subway at the
roots Of ancient Rome itself.
Even countries which do not have
marked traffic congestion have pro-
vided their capitals with subways-
Hungary, Spain. Scotland and Greece.
Chile has approved subway plans for
Santiago and Czechoslovakia has
started on Is underground miles for
Praha.
London tubes" Paris Metro"
6erlinx white ~" on blue ground,
the broad flaming 'M' over Mos
cows subway entrances, crowds fun
neling into the sidewalk hoods of
New York's subways-all are the talk
Of tourists and the speedy escape from
tangles of surface traffic.
subways in IL Cities.
About II cities in the world have
subway systems, with underground
tracks. stations and appropriate cars
or trains. -Four others have under
ground sections in their street rail-
ways, where surface cars 60 under
bower for several stations, then emerge
farther on.
A great many more street railway
systems employ underground passages
where track and train dip below the
surface to avoid a hill or congested
area, as in Pittsburgh and in Los
Angeles, and at the Kobe end of the
line between Japan's metropolis Of
Osaka and its port Kobe. Chicago has
3 subway for freight but none for pas
tengers.
So far, the closest approximation
TO a subway in Washington is
midget underground railway which
has no schedule, no tickets and only
the most distinguished patrons. 1t
shuttles back and forth beneath the
Capitol and the Senate Office Build
ing, carrying Senators from office to
oratory without exposure to trafic or
weather hazards.
/ In Liverpool, Newark, Rochester
and Athens the street railways lead
9 DR.. Jekyl-Mr. Hyde existence, going
underground for only part Of their
career. Athens has couple OF bright
orange-and-blue stations on less than
Q half mile of sub-surface railway.
Liverpool's subway section operates
under the Mersey River, in tunnels
Of brickwork set in cement with three
Of its seven stations underground.
Newark has Ia miles of subway
eonected, with 3 miles OF open cut,
built In the old Morris Canal bed,
with = car q minute whizzing along
the channel OF vanished bArHes.
Started in 1929. this project was com
pleted in 1885.
Canal Bed Utilized.
The Rochester system makes the
Best Of the demise Of the old Erie
Canal. converting = section Of It's
abandoned bed into 4 subway, which
surface cars can reach by ramps.
be travelled in less than a half hour
with stops at 16 stations Freight
service also makes use of these sub
way tracks.
London blazed the subway trail,
with an underground steam railway
in the 1s60s. Glasgow, Scotland, fol-
lowed suit in 1895, with cable cars
running In q pair of iron tubes, be-
tween IS and 45 feet below the sur
face. This system now runs by electric
power, but the line still goes around
In . circle without any functions.
1hs Budapest subway, completed at
about the same time as Scotland's,
~ Of shallow instead Of deep con-
struction-A trench with q nat roof
Of steel
Berlin, another pioneer, now has
over 40 miles Of subway. Instead
Of separate cars for different classes
OF passengers, as in part of London's
underground system, 1t makes dis
tinction only between smokers and
nm-smokers, with red cars for the
former and yellow coaches for the
later. Some of its subway stations,
such a. the Alexander-Platz. with its
pictures in tile of old Berlin, are
three stories high and serve the
elevated railway as well.
29s Stations in Paris.
paris has An even larger system,
spreading an underground spider web
beneath the city's foundation, with 296
Stations In contrast to New Yorks
simple coin-in-the-slot entrances, the
subways Of Paris require tickets for
FIRST and second-class travel.
The subway has even reached Asia,
for Japan now uses this rapid transit
solution for two of her rapidly growing
cities, Toxic and Osaka. Toxic is
dotted with subway entrances marked
by the sharp peaked roof of the Orient.
Passages down to the platforms are
lined with arcades of shops, and one
station even blooms with artificial
cherry blossoms. Coins when dropped
into the box at the entrance are
maznifed, as in New York, for detec-
tipn Of wooden nickels.' Late reports
mention newsreels to be shown on
subway platforms to annuse the waiting
public.
"A newcomer to the subway circuit
L. ~fak