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Show NEW YORK'S GREAT ' UNDERGROUND WORK MOST UNIQUE.. ENGINEERING F3 AT EVER UNDERTAKEN UNDERTAK-EN BY MAN; I New York's great underground railroad, rail-road, the latest step in the movement toward rapid transit from the old city, was formally declared open and ready for business today. The ceremonies connected with the opening of the tunnel tun-nel were very simple. The subway is the consummation of years of study of the transportation problem on Manhattan island and marks the completion of the first stage of what will be the most comprehensive comprehen-sive system of rapid transit in the world. Considering the peculiar difficulties diffi-culties faced by its builders, the suo-way suo-way stands unique as a feat of engineering en-gineering and construction. In the shape ot an irregular Y. with the stem resting at the city hall, the tunnel runs ; north to Forty-second street, where it i bends sharply west of Brcauway and out that thoroughfare to One Hundred and Third street. This portioa of the tunnel is a four-track system, two track tor local and two for express train service. At One Hundred and Third street two tracks diverge in a generally northeastern direction, cross under a corner of Central park and on to the Harlem river, under which it passe? by means of a tunnel made famous by the engineering skill called into play to I complete it. After passing under the ! river it continues to Third avenue and ! One Hundred and Forty-fifth street, I where the tunnel ends and the line is continued upon a viaducts to Bronx park. The West Side branch of two tracks continues north from One Hundred Hun-dred and Third street to Hillside avenue ave-nue and Eleventh avenue, where it emerges from a tunnel and is continued upon a viaduct to its terminus at Spuy-ten Spuy-ten Duyvil. Nine miles of this total cf about fourteen four-teen were ready for traffic today, but it is expected that the East Side . .vision and the remainder of the West Side . line will be ready in about three mbnths. The recently authorized line from the city hall under the East river to Prospect park, Brooklyn, will not be completed for about thrse years. With that and other lines? under construction con-struction and authorized, Greater New York will have twenty-three miles of subway and allied lines. Takes Tour Years. Ground was broken for the tunnel March 25, 1900, after years of agitation and legislation xout of which, the present pres-ent project grew. It had been decided by a municipal ballot that the city should own the system, but that it should be- constructed under private contract on money loaned by the city, j to be repaid by the contractor with in- ( terest. It required six month? to lay out the route and plan the size and character of the tunnel and the viaducts, via-ducts, the work being under the supervision su-pervision of a commission of which Alexander E. Orr was president and William Barclay Parsons chief en- gineer. This accomplished, bids for the gigantic work were insucd. ' There were but two responses, that of John B." McDonald, a New York contractor, being the lowest, at $35,-000,000.- -In spite of -the. splendid franchise fran-chise Involved, the enormous difficulties difficul-ties of driving a great tunnal under . . the crowded ..city,, the blasting and inevitable in-evitable suits for damages for injured : property 'and the possibility of a great catastrophe with its attendant liability, , deterred all others than McDonald and i Andrew Anderdonk, whose bid was ' $4,000,000 in excess "of The successful, j bidder. ' The contract under which McDonald undertook the work provided that he should construct the subway read in four years at a cost of $35,000,000; that he should have the right to operate it for fifty years, with a right of renewal , i for twenty-five years; that the city , ' council would furnish him with $35,000,-000 $35,000,-000 by an issue of bonds bearing 3'7i per cent interest, and that in fifty years he should repay the $35,000,000 and interest inter-est by annual installments. The entire property would belong to the city, and at the end of the lease the city coulcL release the system on its own terms to" whom it pleased. The contractor was to make his profit out of the construc-I construc-I tion and operation of the road. I The Tube. ;- I The construction of the tube has involved in-volved difficulties of a character probably prob-ably never before faced in such a work. ! ! Portions of it pass under skyscrapers, I involving costly and specially desig- ; ( I nated supporting, systems, and practi- j cally its whole length lies under a , I crowded city requiring the solution of ( such problems as those involved in the-: , disDlacement of hundreds of sewers. 1 many of them great main trunk conduits, con-duits, masses of intricate and ' interlaced inter-laced electric wires, gas, water and steam pipes, and all without seriously i interrupting the services of these es- sentials to the life of a great city. Old i foundations were encountered in unexpected unex-pected -places and quicksands, strongly flowing springs and long forgctten streams frequently called into play every device of modern engineering genius to meet perilous emergencies. . About 3,000,000 cubic yards of excavation exca-vation were made for the tunnel, one-third one-third of which was stone. As this required re-quired blasting, another serious obstacle obsta-cle was encountered in devising means for the safe use of explosives, particularly particu-larly in those portions of the worn which were in the form of open excavation excava-tion or ditches. ... In preserving the grade, the depth of the tunnel underground varies largely, notably along Upper Broadway, where it was driven under the middle of the street. Here the roof of the subway is but a few feet under the pavement. The detailed work of constructing the tunnel was done by means of sub-contracts, the route being divided into sections sec-tions which were advertised by the chief contractor. As extensive borings had been made along the entire route, the contractors were enabled to judge very accurately the character of excavation exca-vation to be made, tut in some of the subdivisions unexpected -obstacles and conditions, were founds Has Cost 120 Lives. ' Th& tragedy of the; entire work, which up to date has cost about 120 lives, lies practically in the division on Park avenue ave-nue in the 30s and 40s. A series of misfortunes and. accidents befell this section, causing a number of deaths, entailing many damage suits and financially finan-cially ruining the sub-contractor who, to crown the one dark cha.pter on the subway story, finally lost his life in a blasting accident. ' This history of the subway is one of pluck, skill and energy. Even with a full realization of what it mean3 when completed, New Yorkers have anathematized an-athematized it dally for four hours when blocked streets, dirt and all the thousand and one inconveniences and annoyances Incident to a work of such magnitude have been forced upon them, but today, when swiftly moving trains glide through the miles of brilliant, tile-lined tile-lined tunnel, and the dream of "From the City Hall to Harlem in Fifteen Minutes'" Min-utes'" is a reality, there remains only the pride In the accomplishment -which was manifested in the ceremonies of the opening. ' The term "tunnel," with its generally conveyed meaning of a dark underground under-ground passage, is illy applied to the subway. It is not only a means of transportation, but a thing, of beauty. In the whole project the esthetic has been kept in mind, and it represents the highest type of such work. Through-out Through-out it is lined with white glass tiles, the ir5n work is tasty and,' as fast as possible,, has been - designed with an eye to the artistjc. as well as strength and durability, while the stations are treated in color schemes with ceramic tiling. Each station has its own distinctive dis-tinctive color, idea, and the decorative scheme is varied in each. This was done not only for decorative effect, but in order that the .prevailing color may indicate the locality .to the underground traveler, whose usual means of knowing know-ing his whereabouts are not available. avail-able. The stations are commodious anci brilliantly lighted, and the finishings are all of bronze brass and other metal, woodwork being eliminated as far as possible. System Is Electric. The system is electrical, one great power house -developing the required energy. The Cars are of the latest type, being especially designed for the system sys-tem and are either copper or steel sheathed. Every known device and every idea suggested ty skill and experience have been provided to insure safe transportation. transpor-tation. A complete signal system is in operation, and for weeks the trains have been running regularly in order to train the motormen and guards in their duties and familiarize them with the road. When Mr. McDonald secured the contract con-tract for constructing the subway, a group of .capitalists organized the New York Rapid Transit Construction company, com-pany, with a capital of $0,000,000. This concern furnished $4,000,000 of Mr. McDonald's $5,000,000 bond to the city, the other $1,000,000 being placed in security companies. Two years later the company formally took over Mr. McDonald's contract and it is under it that the subway will be operated for the fifty years provided in the agreement. The rapid transit system, of which the subway is but the first stage; 'when completed will make New York uniqua. among the world's cities. Its twenty-six twenty-six miles of underground tracks, elevated ele-vated structures and viaducts, over J which, will run express trains at nearly ) a mile'a minute, will reach to the city's northern and southern limits, and diving div-ing under the East river, make the ex- j treme eastern skirts of Brooklyn as ac-7 cessible to the great business districts." as the apartment house crowded" heights of Harlem. It is-estimated that . over this vast : system, and those of the Metropolitan1 Street Railway- company and the Manhattan Man-hattan Elevated company will pas annually an-nually more.;than 900,000,000 of passengers. passen-gers. Crossing this huge system of public utilities' will be the"-great $50,-..-000,000 private ' tunnel of the Pennsylvania Pennsyl-vania Railway company which, crossing cross-ing the Hudson river from the Jersey short to Manhattan island, -will go. un: dsr the city, dive under the East river and furnish' an exit to the great -Long Inland country. Other links in this giant system are the New York & New Jersey railroad tunnel, the Hudson & Manhattan railroad tunnel, the New York & Queen's tunnel, the New York Central Terminal tunnel, the Williams- ! burg bridge, the Manhattan bridge and j the Blackwell's Island bridge, involving involv-ing all told an expenditure of about $205,000,000. ' . The " Rapid Transit, system proper, however, whtch! includes the present subway and its extensions already authorized, au-thorized, is owned by the city of Ney. York. It has not expended a dollar in its construction, but, as has been said, loaned the money for. the construction,,, and the terms provide that it shall be operated by the contracting builders for a period of fiUy years, with the; privilege of ' renewing the lease for twenty-five years longer. . |