Year: 1872

From the New York World, Dec. 2. }


The imperative demand in large cities
for some means of travelling quickly
from point to point calls forth some.
novel designs for securing rapid transit.
The most curious that mas yet been pro-
jected is plan, already patented, for a
moving sidewalk, which shall be in per-
petual motion, carrying pedestrians at
the rate of ten miles an hour, speed
which they can increase by their whole
power of independent locomotion. The
inventor is Mr.. Albert Spear, whose pre-
vious achievements have been mainly
confined to the manufacture of wine
and bitters. The particulars of the
plan are briefly these: 1t is proposed
to have series of pillars along the
outer verge of the curbstones, rising to
the height of the second story of ordi
nary buildings. Space between the
adjacent is to be a sidewalk, one half of
stationary. This is to be reached at
every corner by a stairway. On the in.
ner or stationary walk pedestrians can
pass back and forth at their leisure, en-
tering the stores and offices which
might then occupy the second story OF
the building, and be entered immedi-
ately from the streets. The other half
of the walk, made of sort of lattice
work, and moving on small trucks,
which are beneath the surface and alto
gether concealed from view, is propelled
at the rate of ten miles an hour by en-
gines beneath the surface of the ground
at such intervals as may be necessary to
secure the requisite power. The side
walk is moved by friction rollers,
worked upon by shafts which pass up
through the upward pillars, and on one
side of the street passes up, and on the
other side down, continually night and
day. On this moving roadway pedestri-
ans may stand or occupy the numerous
chairs and settees thereon provided, and
be travelling toward their destination at
the rate Of ten miles an hour, or, if so
inclined, can walk at full speed in the
same direction, thereby adding four or
five miles an hour 10 their rate of pro.
gress.


The most ingenious part of the whole
contrivance is the device for getting on
and off this moving pathway. The pc
destrian mounts to the stationary walk,
and then if he were to step from this to
the moving one he would of course be
suddenly foored. To prevent such a
catastrophe, there is series Of seats in
geniously contrived to move partly on
the stationary walk. These are stopped
by applying brake, which releases
them to run on their own trucks on the
stationary one, where they are readily
stopped. The passenger takes his seat,
the conductor takes his fare, the brake
is reversed, and Immediately the seat
moves on, and the traveller can then
leave it without the risk of breaking his
neck. nta
All this is very curious and novel, but
how about it's practicability We are
told that several competent engineers
have examined into the plan and pro
nounce il entirely feasible and far less
expensive than any that has been
broached before for carrying citizens
rapidly up and down town, or back and
forth between distant points. The ma
chinery will work with very little noise,
and that will be continuous, and there
fore scarcely noticeable; there will be
no danger of accident, and the contriv-
ance can be put in any street, long or
short, where it may be required. 1t is
said that an attempt is to be made very
soon to demonstrate the feasibility Of
this scheme, probably on Chambers
street, from Pavonia ferry to Broadway.
Whether it proves successful or not, the
project is very curious and ingenious and
will therefore attract no small degree of
attention