580 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193 



ity was granted them to proceed with the construction of a tunnel, 

 or tunnels, between a point in the vicinity of Canal Street on the 

 island of Manhattan and a point in Jersey City. 



Those who had the j)roject closest at heart felt that the tunnel 

 would 



1. Shorten the time of transit across the Hudson River and afford a con- 

 tinuous means of communication between New York and New Jersey, unaffected 

 by climatic or otlier interference. 



2. Relieve traffic congestion, already serious. 



3. Accelerate the movement of necessarj' supplies into the city of New York, 

 and thereby i-elieve conditions of distress. 



4. Increase the tax value of real property within a considerable radius of 

 the tunnel terminals. 



5. Pay its cost three times over within 20 years. 



6. Reduce the high cost of living by reducing the cost of trucking. 



7. Increase the facilities for commerce in the port of New York by removing 

 from the surface of the harbor many lighters and other floating equipment. 



8. Furnish means for the uninterrupted movements of troops and supplies 

 to and from the city of New York in case of need. 



The commission selected as chief engineer, Mr. Clifford M. Hol- 

 land, tunnel engineer of the Public Service Commission, First Dis- 

 trict, State of New York, in immediate charge of the construction of 

 all subway tunnels under the East River. He was regarded as hav- 

 ing had a greater and more successful experience in the work of 

 subaqueous tunnel construction than any other member of his pro- 

 fession. A board of consulting engineers was appointed, and a 

 contract or treaty between the two States was drawn up and ap- 

 proved by the commissions and given the consent of Congress. 



Chief Engineer Holland took office on July 1, 1919, and at once 

 began the organization of an engineering staff. His chief assistants 

 were selected from those who had been associated with him in the 

 construction of the East River subway tunnels. Having had not 

 less than 10 years' experience in subaqueous tunneling, they were 

 well qualified both by technical training and by practical experience 

 to meet the requirements of the work. Actual construction began 

 October 12, 1920. 



Upon the death of Mr. Holland on October 27, 1924, at Battle 

 Creek Sanitarium, where he had gone in search of health after de- 

 voting all his strength and energy to the construction of the tunnel, 

 the commissions gave it his name. Under his direction all the more 

 difficult portions had been completed and the remaining details 

 planned, and on the very day his body was borne to his home there 

 came a demonstration of his engineering skill and accuracy in the 

 successful junction of the under-river headings of the north turmel. 



His successor, Mr. Milton H. Freeman, had been his division en- 

 gineer. He, too, gave himself unsparingly to the work, and died on 

 March 24, 1925. He was succeeded by Mr. Ole Singstad, who had 



