The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-18
WASHINGTON
DAYBOOK
Ry A C STINNETT

lliSS lSd ny
No citv i'm the country, without a subway
system. is so honeycombed with tunnels, cata-
combs, conduits and beloW-surface passages as
the nations capital. It's a mystery-Wrlter I'M
discovered delight.
The capitol itself is center OF a spluer-Web
Of tunnels and I'M condultS lnat lihsef
their way to the house and senate OFFICE build
incs. to the Library of Congress, the Supreme
Court building and down the capltols pack-
yard to the Botanical gardens.
Deeper down under the capitol and the clus-
ter of buildings there are the railroad tunnels
that run from the Union station.
There's hardly a government office building
that doesn't have its tunnels connecting with
an annex, a new or a sister building. All in
all. there probably are miles Of these alone
but there's nothing mysterious or eerle about
them. They are lighted and tiled and the pc
dcstrian traffic in them on a rainy day around
quitting time is heavier than on the streets.
100 Above
But the catacombs that nobody knows are
made up of the system of tunnels that run
from the central heating building and carry
the big steam main out to all official sections
of the city. The smallest of these are four feet
wide and over six feet high; the largest eight
feet wide and seven feet high. Five steam
mains lead out of central heating and these
are locked against the walls and ceiling of the
tunnels, Steal0I1lleTS, NOIhllS Ill pans, dlG
making inspection tours up and down the tun-
nels "a hours a day-but there are four and a
half miles Of tunnel in the system and you
could spend hours down there without seeing
a soul.
The capitals underground is not on any
tour, but if you know the right
people, like Alex s. Eadie, chief engineer, You
might get at least a look-in.
Dropping down through the spotlcss halls
IhrpdrefS of TONS of coal are burned there
daily, but there's not a sign of smoke or sooD,
[ came to the yaWnins mouth of the main
tunnel and was met by a blast of 12O-degree
dry heat that comes from the asbestos-encased
pipes. Surprisingly, the heat becomes bearablc
within a few minutes and after a block or SO
of tramping, almost unnoticeable.
The tunnels are lighted on a block system,
the traveller Tipping on the lights ahead and
turning off those behind at regular intervals.
The tunnels have a phone-system, too, that
connects with central heating. At most points,
the heat is pretty even, but the E-street eN-
tension is known as the hell-hole of the sys-
tenn. The temperature there is almost always
around 100 degrees. It's a Turkish bath for
certain. Even the hardy steamfitters make their
inspections there on the run.
Battle of the Catacombs
Like the sewers of Paris. the capitals cata-
combs have their story. During hard winters
of years past, they housed a small army of
buns. In the early days of their habitation.
the hoboes would scurry out of the tunnels
when a fleet-footed scout warned them of the
approach of the steamfitters, but later they
began to resent the intrusion.
Once there was a battle royal in the tunnels.
a group of buns chased two steamfitters
away, but the pipeline boys returned with re-
Inducements and an arsenal of wrenches. Some
of the tramps probably are carving cracked
heads yet.
One hobo took up permanent abode in a
branch of the tunnel down near the Potomac
and refused to be dispossessed until police gave
him quarters in the hoosegow.
One branch of the tunnel runs into the
White House. Another into the Bureau of En-
craving (where they make our folding money!,
and another into the treasury buildings. At
these points the steamfitters have their trou-
bles. The captain of the guard has to be called
out and the steamfitters conducted on their
inspection tours by an armed escort.
1t WAS the new deal that turned on the heat
in Washington. the central system being start
ed in 1888, but it was the I'D deal that planned
it,.