NEW YORK CITY. 



391 



In September it was finally determined to build 

 an additional underground road from the ter- 

 minus of the rapid-transit road at City Hall, un- 

 der Broadway to the Battery, thence under the 

 East river to the foot of Joralemon Street, Brook- 

 lyn. It will run to the intersection of Fulton 

 Street and Flatbush Avenue, and will connect 

 with the Long Island Railroad. The length of 

 this road will be 4 miles, and the cost about 

 $10,000,000, against the 21 miles of tunnel road 

 in Manhattan and the Bronx, the contract price 

 of which is $35,000,000. As the legal proceed- 

 ings necessary for the building of this road were 

 only completed in December, 1901, the contract 

 for its construction had not been let when this 

 volume went to press. 



In October, August Belmont, John B. McDon- 

 ald, contractor, E. P. Bryan, his general manager, 

 and Chief-Engineer William Barclay Parsons, of 

 the Rapid-Transit Commission, visited Europe 

 and inspected the single underground road in 

 Paris, the two roads in Glasgow, Scotland, and 

 the five in London, with a view to obtain the 

 latest improvements in motive power, heating 

 and lighting, and construction of stations. Chief- 

 Engineer Parsons is authority for the statement 

 that while they had secured much valuable in- 

 formation, they had not come to any definite 

 determination as to these matters, as they hoped 

 that American ingenuity could improve upon the 

 best methods employed across the water. The 

 roads mentioned are the only underground rail- 

 roads in the world with the exception of the one 

 in Boston and one in Budapest, the construction 

 of which was begun last year. 



Street-Railways. At the annual meeting of 

 the Metropolitan Railway Company, the report 

 for the year ending Sept. 30 was submitted, which 

 showed that the gross earnings were $10,455,- 

 872.30, and the operating expenses were $5,328,- 

 649.04, resulting in net earnings of $5,127,223.26, 

 against which are charged interest on bonds of 

 $1,809,680.92, and on taxes of $873,451.23, leaving 

 a net income of $2,444,091.11, from which divi- 

 dends of 4 per cent, on $48,000,000 were paid, 

 amounting to $1,920,000, leaving a surplus for 

 the year of $524,091.11. The total number of 

 passengers carried were 194,152,316, as against 

 183,788,851 for the previous year. The operating 

 percentage was 50.97 per cent., as against 52.21 

 per cent, for the previous year, taxes excluded. 

 With the taxes this percentage is increased to 

 59.32 for last year and 60.98 for the previous 

 year, and 65.60 for 1899. The line from Tremont 

 to Fordham was completed and put in operation 

 on July 1; also during the year the change to 

 electrical equipment has been in active progress. 

 Buildings for a central power station at East 74th 

 Street, and substations at Allen Street, 34th 

 Street, and 99th Street were completed, in which 

 the machinery was installed. Motor equipments 

 were procured, and 300 new cars were received 

 during the year. 



Bridges. Early in the year announcement was 

 made that the first strand of wire to be strung 

 across East river on the new bridge from anchor- 

 age to anchorage was ready, and at the close of 

 the year announcement was made that the first 

 of the 37 strands for the first of the big cables 

 was completed on Dec. 14, and work on the sec- 

 ond strand and on the first strand of the second 

 cable was to begin on Dec. 16. There will be 4 

 cables in all, each strand contains 208 wires, and 

 the strands are built up in place on the bridge. 



The plan for the construction of the Blackwells 

 Island bridge from 60th Street, Manhattan, to 

 Ravenswood, was approved by Secretary Root 



be ir,o fffi. wide, 



on Feb. 23. This bridge will 

 arid will be constructed on Du- 

 ple. From the East river shore or' Manliai. 

 the opposite shore of Long Inland it-, |< t: .-i 

 be 2,710 feet, and its middle pier will I 

 Blackwells Island. It will aoeonirnodati 

 vated railroads, 2 double roads for irollc< 

 paths for bicycle riders, footpaths, ^ roa 

 for heavy teams, and also roadways for 

 vehicles. The estimated cost of the struHm, 

 $5,740,000. 



On July 24 it was discovered that 7 of the 

 suspension rods and 2 of the cable bands on the 

 bridge between Brooklyn and New York were 

 broken, in consequence of which traffic on the 

 roadways was suspended for several days. The 

 bridge was promptly examined by experts, and 

 while the belief was expressed that subsequent to 

 the repair of the bridge it was stronger than 

 ever, still a limit had been reached for possi- 

 ble traffic. The fractures were found to be due to 

 dead weight and vibration instead of heat, as 

 originally supposed, and it was found during re- 

 pairs that a sag or drop of some six inches had 

 occurred on the north roadway in consequence of 

 the accident. While it was not originally intend- 

 ed for street-cars, they had been permitted to cross 

 the structure under regulations to keep 102 feet 

 apart, but at rush times the cars were frequently 

 within 50 feet of each other. Regulations were 

 introduced compelling them to remain 200 feet 

 apart between the New York and Brooklyn tow- 

 ers, and 102 feet apart on the spans extending 

 from the approaches to the towers. 



The American Scenic and Historic Preservation 

 Society arranged for aicompetition for the nam- 

 ing of the four East *ver bridges that are now 

 built or in process of construction, and a prize, 

 consisting of a silver copy of the medal com- 

 memorating the consolidation of Greater New 

 York, was awarded for the following names: 

 Brooklyn, for the existing bridge, variously 

 known as the Brooklyn Bridge, New York and 

 Brooklyn Bridge, Suspension Bridge, etc.; Man- 

 hattan for the Delancey Street bridge, which is 

 now almost completed; York for the bridge at 

 the foot of Pike Street ; and Queens for the bridge 

 across Blackwells Island. 



A bill permitting the erection of a bridge over 

 the Hudson river by the New York and New 

 Jersey Bridge Company, the franchise for an ele- 

 vated passenger and freight belt line over the 

 dock property, was passed by the Legislature, but, 

 largely owing to the severity of the criticism that 

 it met with on the giving away of valuable fran- 

 chises, the bill was vetoed by the Governor on 

 May 11. 



Tunnels. In connection with the development 

 of the rapid transit, the building of tunnels under 

 the rivers bounding New York was discussed dur- 

 ing the year. A proposition to construct a tunnel 

 to South Brooklyn and under the Narrows and 

 Staten Island to the New Jersey shore, was pre- 

 sented by Albert L. Johnson before the Rapid 

 Transit Commissioners, and was rejected by them 

 on March 29. 



The plans of the Long Island extension rail- 

 road for the tunnel that it proposes to build from 

 Long Island City to Manhattan island were filed 

 in the offices of the county clerks for New York 

 and Queens Counties on June 21. The tunnel will 

 begin in Long Island City at the right of way 

 of the Long Island Railroad at Thompson Ave- 

 nue, and will descend on a grade of 1.25 per cent, 

 to a point just beyond Vernon Avenue. Between 

 Van Alst Street and Vernon Avenue it will make 

 a curve to the southwest, and thence will con- 



