w 1- i ■ — — Z^S '&&M83m&. ^pidTransit " King's Booklets " cover an endless list and variety of subjects Fifteen illustrations in each. Uniform price of five cents. Mailing only one cent the world over Twenty-five assorted booklets-all different subjects ; four hundred views-Sent for One Dollar Far cheaper than single picture postals and more entertaining. Sold by all Newsdealers, Stationers, and Booksellers Published by MOSES RING. New York City. M&MSK 'v E EC BACK COVE FJ FRANK HEDLEY GEN'L MANAtiEK. PARSONS .INEEH. AUG. BELMONT, CAPITALIST. B. McDONALD, CONTRACTOR. STATISTICS. Ultimate cost of planned construction #60,000,000 Length of main line (City Hall to 104th St.) 7 miles West branch (104th St. to Kingsbridge) 7 East branch (104th St. to Bronx Park) 7 Brooklyn extension ^ l / 2 Total, including all extensions planned 45 Single track railroad in same 135 Tracks in main line _ 4 " " east branch tunnel 2 11 " west " 11 2 " on viaducts 3 Steel used in tracks, tons 10,000 " " " other construction, tons 70,000 Pounds per yard of rails 100 Dynamos in power house 9 Capacity of each, kilowatts 5000 Total horse power 120,000 Capacity coal bunkers, tons 25,000 Cost of power house and equipment #7,000,000 Motors in 5-car-trains 3 Motors in 8-car-trains 5 Speed per hour, miles: Local trains (5 cars) 28 Express " 18 cars) 16 STATIONS. City Hall. * Brooklyn Bridge. Worth Street. Canal Street. Spring Street. Bleecker Street. Astor Place (8th Street.) •14th Street. 1 8th Street. 23rd Street. 28th Street. 33rd Street. * 4 2d St.& Madi- son Ave. 42nd St. and Broadway. 50th Street. Opened Oct. 27, 1904. 59th Street. 66th " •72nd " 70th " 86th " QlSt " *q6th " 104th " 110th " 116th " Manhattan Street. 137th Street. 145th Street. ' Express Stations. LEWIS B. STILL WELL, ELECTRICIAN. HISTORY. First Commission appointed by Mayor Hugh J. Grant, April q, 1800. Commission recommended 4-track tunnel July 16, 1890. Plans for same submitted and approved, Oct. 21 '8qi. . . . ... No bids for franchise being received, municipal ownership was decided by popular vote, 132,64710 42.916, Nov. 6, 1894. In 1894, new Commission appointed, who pre- pared a contract; approved Aug. 10, 1899. This memorable contract, about #36,000.000, awarded to John B. McDonald, and signed Feb. 24, 1000. Construction formally begun by Mayor Van Wyck turning a spadeful of earth ( place marked by bronze tablet), Mar. 24, iopo. Brooklyn Extension route (from City Hall via Broadway and tunnel at South Ferry) adopted Sept. 27. 1900. Brooklyn Extension contract, $3,000,000, signed Sept. 11. 1902. Official inspection train, City Hall to Harlem, J n 1 . 1 9^4 . Opened lor public traffic. City Hall to 145th St., Oct. 27, 1904- SIGNING THE MEMORABLE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR *35.OOO,O0O, FEB. 24, 1900. — At head of table is Pres. A. E. Orr: at right, John B McDonald, B. S. Coler, Mayor R. A. Van Wyck, Aug. Belmont, M. K. Jesup: at left J. H. Starin, W. Langdon, John Whalen: at end, C. S. Smith and Geo. L. Rives; standing, Wm. B. Parsons, R. A. C. Smith, B. L. Burrows, D. Nicoll, E. M. Shepard, Perry Belmont, etc. „ ■ U .„U~00» f. r r<^- » ...» ...» INTER BO ROUGH "SUBWAY" INSPECTION TRIP. January loth. 1904. CAPITALISTS' TRIP, JAN. 19, 1Q04. Many MULTIMI1.LIONAXRSS. representing POUR nil. lions. Aug. Belmont. Geo. J. Gould. A. J. Ca«aatl, lacob H. Schiff, James Speyer, Val. P. Snyder, George W. Young, J. L) Rockefeller, Jr , Frederick Cromwell, R. H McCurdy, Cor. Vanderbilt, etc. SUBWAY PORT/ ONS SHOWA/ THI/.5 VIADUCT M operating details throughout are of the highest order. The " tunnel " is in part open-air travel, from 123rd to 135th St. and all north of 194th St., and on east branch uvii i' l A miles (including Brooklyn extension) for one five-cent fare. Daily north and south travel in Manhattan (all railroads) averages 900,000 passengers each way. New York's Subway Rapid Transit: The Underground Railway The completion of the "subway" or underground rapid- transit sys em marks one of the greatest of human achievements. Discussed for many years and repeatedly pronounced impractic- able, the courage, skill and energy of a few men have conquered all obstacles, and the accomplished fact challenges universal wonder. The financial problem, involving upwards of $50,000,000, was met by municipal ownership, approved by popular vote. To avoid lnlringement of individual propeity rights required the highest legal talent. Engineering and construction difficulties were successfully met. Danger to abutting buildings had to be considered at every step. Besides dealing with innumerable gas and water pipes, electrical conduits and pneumatic tubes, long sections of sewers and pipes required moving, rebuilding and grade-al eration. Quicksands and underground streams were encountered. Solid rock in great stretches had to be blasted. Miles of electrical street railways were undermined without accident or the stoppage of a car. The Columbus monument at 59th Street, weighing 724 tons, presented extraordinary difficulties, but remains as stable as if solid rock still stood beneath it. The route cf the Rapid Transit Subway is : 1 . From City Hall (Brooklyn Bridge) north on Elm Street and Lafayette Place to 4th Avenue, at 8th Street ; up 4th Avenue to 42nd Street ; west to Broadway; then north on Broadway, 1 1th, Naegle and Amsterdam Avenues to Kingsbridge. 2. At Broadway and 104th Street begins the east branch : East to Central Park, under the Park to I 1 0th Street and Lenox Avenue, north on Lenox Avenue to 141st Street, then east, under Harlem River, to and through Bronx Borough, ending at Bronx Park. 3. Extensions north are planned ; and an extension south to Brooklyn is now well under construction. The portion opened to the public October 27, 1904, is that from City Hall north to 145th Street. The cars (lighted by electricity) are propelled by the third- rail e'ectric system. Speed will average 16 miles per hour for local (5-car) trains, and 25 to 30 miles per hour for expresses (8 cars). The power-house, at I Ith Avenue and 59th Street, is the largest in the world. It covers an entire block, 700 x 200 feet, double the size of the plot of Madison Square Garden. There are six smoke-stacks, 265 feet high, and nine 8,000-horse- power engines, driving dynamos of enormous capacity. Coal- bunkers, distributed overhead in the boiler-room, can store 25,000 tons, a month's supply. The construction of a work so vast in 4/^ years is unprece- dented. The first spadeful of earth was turned at City Hall by Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck, March 24, 1900. During ten years prevous various steps in legislation and formation of commissions had been taken, and the names of public-spirited men who took part in those preliminaries, under circumstances of great discouragement, would make a long roll of honor. Some have not lived to see the fruition of their labor, notably Abram S. Hewitt and William Steinway. The Rapid Transit Com- mission, as now constituted, comprises ; Alexander E. Orr, President ; John H. Starin, Vice-President ; Woodbury Langdon, Charles Stewart Smith, Morris K. Jesup, John Claflin ; Bion L. Burrows, Secretary. Chief engineer, Wm. Barclay Paisons ; Assistant, George S. Rice. Builder, John B. McDonald. The President of the construction and operating companies is August Belmont, who is in fact the financier and backer of the whole enterprise. To these men and many of their associates New Yorkers owe a great and lasting obligation. SEYMOUR DURST