The New York Herald Newspaper, August 10, 1875, Page 3

en a RAPID TRANSIT. The Work Before the Com- missioners. he-eindeeemaiement ‘MORE DETAILS OF PLANS Illustrations of American Engi- neering Ingenuity. In addition to the many plans for rapid transit already Pictured and deseribed in the HenaLp we give to-day & bumber, some of which have been heretofore alluded to | and partially explained, Each has its specu! excel- Jences and is believed by its promoters to be the very best that engineering science can present for solving the , knotty problem in which our whole community is so deeply interested, Under the rule adopted by the Commissioners no more plans will be received or considered by them. fhey will now, with the assistance of their consulting engineers, go thoroughly over the great mass of sug | gestions, practical and impracticable, embodied in the | many plans and models which Ifive been presented, sifting the useful from the worthless, Having thus before them, in addition to their own pre- vious convictions on the subject, the ideas of an army of inventors and students of the city’s needs, they will enter upon a thorough study of the route or routes most advantageous for this system of railway lines which they are empowered to authorize. By the law they aro required as early as the 8th of September to decide pon the question of routes, and after that is fixed upon they will decide upon the plans of construction and the company or cofpanies to which the franchises shall be assigned. No one doubts the thorough carnest- nes# with which the Commissioners have undertaken to give our people the very best means for making the slosest possible connectibns between our chief centres | of commerce and industry and the uptown or suburban residences of our people, as well as with all the great trunk railways which, like the veins and arteries, cen- tre in New York, as the heart of our country. ‘To their wise decision of the important questions bound up in this complex problem of rapid transit New York looks with eager expectancy, From the data before the Commission it is evident that abun- dant capital waits to carry into practical effect the plans they may approve, and to give the city atthe carliest possible period the full benefit of we built and amply appointed railrouds to replace the slow and clumsy methods of transportation which have only retarded the growth and prosperity of the city, There Will be a session of the Commission to-day, and every day through the week, in which these matters will be thoroughly canvassed, and an early decision upon them is hoped for, HULBERT, AUTIN AXD WOODWARD’S PLAN. ‘This plan is an arched elevated road, consisting of a series of arches spanning the roadway from curb to curb, ata distance apart of not over fifty fect. Where streets in- tersect, the crossings will be spanned diagonally, and the structure will thus acquire immense longitudinay strength, as if, indeed, an abutment were built on every block. Over a street of sixty feet, as Third avenue, the arch will be semi-circular, and will therefore rise to acentre height of thirty feet. Sixteen feet aboye the present roadway the main tie of the arch or girder wil! | be thrown across and firmly held in position by truss rods and suspenders from the arch itself, Between each arch will be hung an intermediate girder, which will also be kept in place by vertical and diagonal suspend- ers and braces, Upon this series of ties or girders will rest the traeks, four in number, occupying an ex- treme breadth of less than thirty feet, or about half the width of the street below. The two inne? t@acks will be used for quick transit, and the outside ones for the slower requirements of way travel; While at the termini and at such points on the line as may be found expe- dient the usual switches for transfer of cars from track to track will be placed, Level with the rails will be the | stations, landings, platforms and necessary gangways from track to track, ‘The whole will be of wrought iron, excepting the or- namental work, which will be of cast irou. The arches will be of rolled iron, the segments all rolled and punched alike, and the double plates together forming a 1 set up with “joints broken.” The ties and girders will be of the different required forms of rolled iron of the very best makes. The material employed in each and every piece will be thoroughly tested and proved and will be an exact duplicate of every other similar piece, thus insuring harmony in construction. ‘fhe ost of construction will be about $360,000 per mile ouble track). ‘The rails will be of steel, especially smooth rolled on Yheir face, with continuous joints, and held down to their place on the sleepers by bolts, Between rails and Hcepers, ut proper intervals, will lie leaves or cushions of rubber. The whole line, say from the Battery to | Harlem, having been divided into as many sections as | may be deemed expedient for efficient and rapid work, the blocks of granite, or cylinders filled with concrete, which are to form the foundations of the arches, will be sunk in their places along the curbstones, At the beginning of each section will be placed in position a huge carriage, mounted on rollers, and so spanning the street as in no way to interrupt travel. This carriage will be in length equal to the ground covered by two arches, and by its aid the stracture can be built as far ap to and including the girders and track platform. From this platform the succession of permanent arches: will be raised independently, and the whole strue- ture finished. All material to be used during the day will be delivered at night and elevated by power to the platforms. As bolts and nuts are to be employed to the almost entire exelusion of rivets, the objectionable noise of riveting will be avoided, and consequent increased rapidity of construction insured. ‘Thus the whole structure can be erected without the necessity of large excavations, the interference with | sewers, gas and water mains, or their connections, the ase of derricks, or the encumbering of the sidewalks or roadway with material, | When finished, the gaslights, telegraphs, signs and awnings can all be affixed to the arches, and the present posts which severally support them entirely dispensed with, The obstruction of light to the wayside houses will be slight. Tn fact, it has been calculated that the total diminution of light from the whole structure will be about equal to that absorbed by a brown stone front, or to that caused by dark paint applied to an opposite house or block, ‘ 4. & J. M. CORNELL'S PLAN, The Messrs. J. B. & J. M. Cornell, in presenting the Commissioners of Rapid Transit with their model and plans of an clevated railway, accompanied them with a description of the route and a proposition to build and operate the road in accordance with the act of the Legislature aud such regulations as the Commission might impose, THE ROUTE, They commence at the South ferry and run up Whrough Broad and Nassau or William street to the foot of Centre, through Centre and Marion to Prince, then run easterly through private property to Mal- berry, up Mulberry to Bleecker, continuing directly on’ | through private property to Lafayette place, ap through Lafayette place into Fourth avenue at Kighth street, turn easterly out of Fourth avenne between Twellth and Thirteenth streets, and run through private prop- | perty to Fourteenth street, at foot of Lexington avenue and up Lexington avenue to Harlem River, From the City Hall to the Forty-second street depot they propose three tracks, the central track to be ex. elusively for express trains between those spoints, this | express track to turn up in Forty-second street and run directly up to the front of the depot. All the remaining part of the road to be double track. ‘They propose to have the road completed and in op- eration tre depot in ely way is secured to the company. Down to the Sout ferry in eight months more, and to Harlem River j thirty months from the time the right of way is secured to the company, Their plan is n the elevated system, and provides for Wrought iron columns on each sidewalk, near the curbs, placed from forty to sixty feet apart along the street, With wrought tron girders extending across the street from column to column. Framed into these cross girders are similar wroaght iron girders ranning along the streets and serving as track stringers, directly upon which are secured stecl raits, Interposed between the rails and the track stringers ‘at short intervals ure pieces of thin sheet rubber, for the purpose of preventing the jur and the nowe which would otherwise be experionced. Rubber is also introduced between the ends Gr track stringers and upports at 48 girders Jer the ends of the cross girders ‘on the tops of the columns, The columns vre inserted in cast iron sockets situated Delow the par t, These have a browd base, which ' crating in § | tind a restia dy supported by solid masonry, The track stringers ar braced to each other by & continuous system of diagonal _ bracing, which gives atoat drmuoss to the entire struc: | ture. The model is betwen ten and cleven feet long by four feet wide, and is on # seale of one-cighth of full size, exhibiting quite clearly the mode of construc- on and the appearance the road would present when built, . SPKER’S BNDLESS RAILWAY, This proposition to give the people rapid transit is a novel one indeed, nnd so different trom all other plang presented that a description is given below, The in- ventor has a track of about seventy-live feet in length working on a floor ut) street, Mr. Speer thus deseribes th The nature of this may be described as consisting in an endless, perpetually and rapidly moving train or series of light platform ears, eight feet wide and thirty 1 long, the flooring to be with semi-circular ends, one fitting in the other similar to a rule joint, by. which they ure closely coupled together, thus preventing any ‘open joints between the ears when turning curves. The underneath framework of the two cnds that come together are inade to lap so that they both rest ou one truck, thus facilitating the turning of curves and re- quiring but one track to each car section of thirty feet. The wain when complete will be endless and ts to cover the track on the Whole route, up one side of the street, around & curve, and down the other side, or up one strect and down another street, forming an endless belt of curs, Suitable drawing rooms (or enclosures), six feet wide, are to be erected on the outer part of the train, which: will leave a pce of two feet on the inner part of th train not enclosed, for the use and free passage of the twansfer car, ‘The drawing rooms, or enclosed cars, will be in groups of eight or nine ears together, and these groups will be one-eighth of a mile apart, or the dis- tance of three blocks; the centre car of each group to be with open sides and designated as the train station, One of these drawing rooms may be exclusively for ladies and one as & smoking car for gentlemen, All to contain warming apparatus in winter time, A space of two feet on the inner edge of the train (toward the building) will be open and unobstructed, The flooring of this two feet to be covered with thin plate or boiler iron, upon which the two wheels or friction shoe of the transter car will run. ‘The distance between ono set or group of enclosed cars to the next being one-eighth of a mile, the interme- diate space is to be oceupied with light platform cars. ‘These platforms may contain as many seats as desired for those who choose to oceupy this part of the train, ‘This endless train is to be ved by stationary en- gines, placed under ground, one mile apart, the power w be transmitted to the tain by means of iwo pairs of horizontal driving wheels attached to. porpendicular shafts Uyat come up from the engine below. By means of powerful springs these driving wheels are pressed against an iron flange, called the aa, that is fastened Wo the under side of the tra nd eprojects below it; each pair of driving wheels bei rot iS together from opposite directions against this keel, with springs pow- erful enough to get as much tractive force as the weight of u locomotive imparts to its driving wheels on an ordi- nary railroad (rack when moving a heavy freight tram. One is done by the force of springs, the other is done by | the foree of gravity, the being the same in one case 4s the other, ” Each set of driving wheels, therefore, with one engine, docs its share of the work, by moving its mile of the train, Each of these engines to be of one- third more power than is required to run the train at the most crowded hour of a stormy day, so that should one engine, or even one-third of the engines, get out of order, there will be reserve power in the others, which, ee brought into use, will be suilicient to do all the work. ‘This train is to be run continually without stopping from daylight in the morning until one o’elock at night. During the time it is not running, from one o'clock until daylight, the necessary repairs and oiling will be done, Telegraph wires are to connect all the engines with the fixed stations and with cach other, so as to have a unt formity of motion, also a separate telegraphic line of batteries on the train circuit, connecting with all the train stations, and with a series of car brakes, 80 Chat in case of accident at any part of the line the engines can be immediately stopped’ and the brakes put on all parts of the train at the same time, The train being constantly in motion, it will be a through express train, without stop, and ‘at the same time a local accommodation train, taking on and letting off passengers all along the route, both combined on one train and oné track, This taking on and off of passengers is done by means of transfer seats, or may be more properly ealled transfer cars, Iminediately auljolning the movable train, and about a foot from it, will be a single bana ieg td track, on a level with the flooring of the train, for the use of two wheels of these transfer cars; the other two wheels rest upon the floor- ing of the trai ‘The axle of cach wheel is independent of the other, or, in other words, the axles are cut in two in the centre, so that the motion of the wheels on one side of the transfer car are independent of the mo- tion of the wheels on the other side, ‘The facilities to be provided for passengers to get on and off the train without stopping it are simply by means of these transfer seats, or cars that can be made to start or stop at the will of the conductors who have them in charge. This is done by friction brakes, which may be applied to the wheels résting on the permanent truck to bring it toa stop, or to the wheels on the train to bring it in motion. When the transfor car has ac- quired the same motion as the train it is a8 much a part of the train as a settee on a deck is a part of a steam- Vout, Passengers then step out of the transfer car on the train station and take their place in one of the drawing rooms or other places on the train. At the sume time others who may wish to get off the train, | having ass led at the train station, get in the trans- fer car, und the conductor, by reversing the brakes, causes the train to drop the transfer car behind, which gradually slackens it speed until {t comos toa stop at the next fixed station, where it again exchanges passen- pers and by another’ reverse movement of the brake andle it starts oif very slowly at first, gradually accel- , until ina fow seconds it has acquired tho speed of the train and is a fixture to.it ax before. ‘These transfer cars will be but four feet wide and twelve feet long, with six seats capable of holding ‘wo persons each, b transfer car to be in charge of a conductor, whose only duty is to attend to the brakes and see to the transter of passengers to and from the train. ‘There will be sixteen transfer ears to a mile, so that there will be one starting from cach station every few seconds. While some are dropping from the i station# others"@re starting from the fixed ‘sta- ons. By this means gers may get’ off and on all along the route with perfect ease and safety, without stopping the train or causing loss of tine to others: who want to go a longer distance, A passenger once on the train goes through to his destination without stop- page, and thus much time ix gained by the travelling public, besides which the local and through travel is all on track and one train, thus saving the cost and space of another track in the street, In addition to the enclosed drawing rooms on the train, the open platforms may be provided with seats for persons who choose to occupy them in pleasant weather. This part of the train may also be covered with awnings if desired. A collector of fures is to be at each fixed station and collect from passengers beforé they go upon the station platform. In addition to the transfer car conductor there are also to be train conductors, one at each station, to direct and attend to passengers’ when once on the train, There must also be one inspector of the road to every mile, also eight laborers (on an average) to each mile to replace cars on track or do any repairs during the time the train is still at work. THE MANSPIELD-MOORK. PLA In bringing the Manstield & Moore Elevated Railway, ‘on the cable plan, to the notice of the public, and espe cially to the consideration of all those who Teel inter- ested in having a railway constructed that will meet all the requirements as to safety, noiselessness and darability, besides being, from thé nature of its con- struction, neither unsightly nor interfering with the property holders or dwellers on the route whereon the railway may be so placed, it may be contidently as- serted, says the attorney, that this railway will ‘meet all the requirements that should constitute a railway worthy of public notice and patronage, This plan for a l transit railway was before the New York Legisla- 1868; referred to the committee of the Senate nd to select a plan or plans for rapid transit; ap- «of by suid committee, and favorably noticed at w time by the leading newspapers of New York and Brooklyn, Since then the plan for said road has been perfected by L. B, Mansfield, mechanical engineer. The following synopsis of What this road is intended to be will fully prove that this road, to consist of four tracks of four and a half inch ‘cables, is specially adapted to grant the much-desired relief’ to our now overcrowded streets and avenues, bringing remote laces in close proximity as regards time, obviating Jong, tedious and disayreeable rides in crowded, slow- going horse cars; offering an agreeable change from rough jolting and’ frequent detention, from balky, over: worked horses, snow drifts and mud, 'to an. easy riding, perfectly safe mode of conveyance, not subj tw de ‘ount of weather, aint never to be encum: or ice, ax this road offers no chance to place th This road being ch on wrought iron pillars, sixteen feet above the roadway, will be out of the reach of interruption or detention, ‘The curs on the road, constructed with side doors, will be reached safely | which, starting from the cross streets, will not encumber the streets or avenues whereon this road will be located, and the airy and light construction thereof will not, and cannot, in fere with business or impede the movement of the le on the sidewalks. — ‘The stairways will also serve, by using thegassenger platforms, to cross from one of the sPreet to the other, ‘The road is to be, and can be, built with the strictest regard to salvty, 80 as to absolutely prevent any chance of accidents or danger, as well in entering or leaving | rs as While in motion, H ‘The road being, a stated, an elevated rapid transit cable rod, is to ha trussed parapet, or rail, in this railing the trans- " The piers or towers, cight feet from curb, to be of wrought tron, se At cach corner of the curb’ at cach intersecting street. ‘The four and n half inch eable omnposed of | best No. 9 gauge i streteh the | whole le process by | whieh the eable tthe requirement of costly ma- chinery, can be manutuctured on the spot makes this | cable Froud not only the strongest, bat also the cheapest railway that can be built, | ables, constructed of 82 No, 9 tron wires, would be able to bear a weight of 75 92-100 vos. By using, as proposed, 660 wires of the size named, the 4!5 inch cable would be able to bear a loud of 610 9-100 tons, or eight times as mach as the cable ever would have to support, The motive power for this road will be fur: nished by dummy engines, or any other approved method © power, ‘The estimated jays on i od with #1 pe rots four track clevated cable railway, $416,000 per mile, Approximate estimate of rolling stock per mile, $20,000, WEISS’ ELRVATED RAILROAD, In submitting his plan to the Commissioners Mr, Weiss says:— would propose an elevated railroad, with hanging cars for two tracks. The height of the posts would be forty-eight feet from the stre The dummy moves thirty-eight feet abor f the street. The pas senger car moves at th ty-tive feet abe the pavement, and can be moved to a higher or lower grade ad Libitum, without additional cost, By this con struction ail the hoixe and annoyance is moved above the seeing and heuring line of the inhabitants. The erection of this elevated roud gives the clow te the un- | the sidewalk, 0 HULBERT, SPEER'S NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1875.~TRIPLE AUBIN AND WOODWARD'S PLAN. «(| obstructed use of crossroads of the Greenwich street kind, as room enough is left for them to pass un derneath, 1 proceed now to state the great ad- vantages of my banging system of rail cars, As @ vesgel on the ocean is always Kept in its perpendicular position by its ballast, just so is the hanging car, and it | appears that accidents are henceforth rendered impos sible, as the hanging ear cannot be thrown off the track like All others whose weight, always keeping them tn a balancing motion, makes them lable to capsize as soon as-an obstacle strikes the wheel, 1 would also remark that it would be most advisible to have my track traverse the city from south to north, 80 as to enable crossing railroads to pass underneath, As tt has also caused great controversy to find out a reliable and suitable mode for crossing the Harlem River at the terminus of the avenues to the newly an nexed district without great cost, as well as without obstruction to the navigation, I would most respecttully call particular attention to my plan respecting this eit- cumstance. The posts of my elevated road would hav to be about sixty feet high i the Harlem River abovi the water's surface, and would, at such a height, allow all kinds of vessels or steamers to pass unmolested and without any annoyance whatever to the track, Should it not appear advisable to have the railroad built through the centre of an avenue | would suggest to put the one track above the sidewalk and the other one right alongside of it, so a# to cover about ten feet of the main road, thas leaving the remaining part of the avenue entirely free, ‘As the two tracks rest on three posts, the one post | shall come to stand right close up to the house, the sec. nd at the opposite edge of the sidewalk and the third one ten feet into the main street, ‘To prevent the barri cading of doors or windows a post could always be put up at the Joining point of two houses, the latter mostly having twenty-live feet width, But, furthermore, | would remark that by having the railroad built: ov the jive of the avenue it would possibility of having another ele’ it, Which would be less feasible by & track over the sidewalk, a the noise would become (oo disayreeable near the windows. ‘The public want rapid transit badly, but they are not willing to be annoyed by 1, My plan’ covers Uh mands, and according to it every conceivable conv or railroad U evoss or pass underneath without the precautions of flag or switelimen—in winter ax well as summer, in daylight as well as at night, As the Com inissioners may al their own pleasure determine in what locality of the street to ercet my elevated oad, 1 would remark that it will anywhere give an elegant and grand appearance to the sweet, By ereeting the track along poston the sidewalk, the other two on the browd avenue, these posts would take less than twenty fect space from the avenue, From the elegant. promenade gallery one little cross gallery iu each block toward the Gaconiee of the houses would jubabitanta be in case of fire @ rolief to the MORGAN'S PLAN. (women, children a perpendicular fire escape ladders, RICHARD P, MORGAN'S PLAN, Mr, Morgan thus sets forth the main advantages of his proposed road : T have devised and patented a plan for sustai “wilway over the centre of the str sue not to interfere with its ordinary usi and oceupying at the surface by the supports a space least im amount and value. It is evident that the edge of the sidewalk near the curbstone is the least useful for | general purposes, Upon this apace I propose to ercet | iron ribs opposite to cach other and meeting over the centre of the street in the form of a Gothie arch, springing from a tangent line perpendicular to the sido: walk at the walk or at any suitable height above it, de: pending upon the width of the street or changes in tho | grade of its surface, Between these outer ribe a fla elliptical rib is placed at an elevation above the stree so as not to interfere with its use, and tirmly secured tO the outer ribs by such connections a will appear in the plans herewith submitted, and #0 as to form a compet transverse frame, such frames to be set up at suitad’ intervals, say about seventy-five feet, as an econo} distance, The office of these’ frames is the same as that of the piers of an ordinary bridge, vo sustain a series of longitudinal trusses, which latter carry. a double track railway above and over the middle of the street, The care move on the t the ellipti- and under the o bs before described. Care. ns of masonry are brought up from any needed depth to the sidewalk, and the capped with an iron bec ive and unite with the exterior ribs. From the’ i of the lower elliptical ribs to the apex of the outer ribs a ton gitudinal iron truss extends from tran and, dided by similar trusses on each side, supports the tracks. ” Between those outer trusses and passing weross the bottom chord of the middie one are laid, at suitable intervals, the door beams, also of iron, whieh directly » oor beams are to. b support the tracks, con nected diagonally, 80 that they sbail wi truse top i any lateral swaying of ture, the whole to be eft open Ko as the aceumtiation of snow or other obstructic and to avoid interti with the light and ventilation of the st as far as possible. The outer and inner ribs are firmly wnited by horizontal the struc to pri vertical and diagonal connections, arranged thi resultants of upon them, derived from t weight of the railroad Ming stock, are uniformly resist he, curve of the outer ribs entorees their yielding in one direction ouly—outwardly—which is readily and ettec y the interior dled, and con distribu iter ibs are Hot bearing posts simply, unaided by the prineiples yeferred to, except Unat portion of ther below the intersection of the interior rib with them, about tou feet in heiwht above the foundations, For 1 invalids) certainly better than the | nt a horizontal | SHEET. this portion of those ribs the necessary additional ma- terial is introduced to overcome the loss of sustaining Power, compared with that of @ straight post, occa- in Sioned by the slight deflection of the curved rib, all other parts of the frames the greatest economy in the use of material is attained, Aveoss to the cars is proposed to be given by covered ‘and platforms, constru of iron and gl ble interval rom stations provided at suita- ich passengers can wait for the arrival of ¢ waiting rooms should be in the buildin both sides of the streets, one for up and one fe inake it unnecessary for any | , oreven to go upon the tracks. | placed opposite the cross streets, | | as it as de y should be, the light of bnildings | on the street will be unatte The approaches to the waiting rooms will be by staireases in the build- ings in which the waiting rooms are situated, Thé floor of the cars, the top chord of the side trusses and the floor of the platform the station should be upon the sin to offer no obstruction in obtainin ‘The durability of the ma- | terial en fucility with which repairs ean | be made by ‘reason of the ready agvess vo every part | and its being practically unafleeted by rain, frost or | snow, and its greater freedom by reason of its matertal and its location in the middle of the street, from danger of injury by the burning of adjacent buildings, combine | ure the perfeetion of the work, and thus insure the | larity of trams parsing over it Itvis easily seen that such a road as this, suitably constructed, will approach more nei to a perfect railroad than any roud yet built ever has; “it will have no switehes on its el to be inisphiced; very slight irregularity of of alignment in ite tracks; and consequently travel, already less than munication, and which | two causes, will be reduced to a | wome persons the fact that the road is at nly elevated above the ground ina: nyer in case of accident by derail- ment. What ig stated above shows the small risk that such an accident can occur; but even if it should the arrangement of the structire is such that the effect | will be no greater than to @ train running off a track on are maint: mininauin all points consider: suggest a fear of d the level of the earth. The iron framework | kupporting the track will, in such @ case, up. hold the ears, und the side trusses will act as a real and substantial railing, 80 that ‘in no case can the cars be precipitated to the ground. These eon- siderations also demoustrate the increased capucit Such a road over one of ordinary construction, | more nearly perfect the road the greater the certainty | with which trains can be worked upon it and the more | frequontly they may safely be passed over ik Tt is ditli- | cult to see why trains may not follow cach othe: pr intervals than may be required to ol Speed of one, 8048 to insure the sifoty of that imme- diately preceding it, ‘These intorvuls, with the light trains proposed to be employed in paxsenger trailie, and their consequent small momentum, will be so short that no more than a single minute of time heed be interposed | fon either t ou the passa Of trains, thus in- suring a de; ency sueh as las not been in prae- tice attained on any road yet constructed, This fre- queney of trains is an indispensable element of success in whatever plan of Youd may be adopted, and without it neither the wants of the inhabitauts of New York | | can be met, nor the confidence of capitalists to construct | the road be secured, MR VRYER’S WATER LINE BELT ROAD, To Tue Evrrok ov Tim Heratp:— More than eight years ago I published a pampblet showing the impracticability of an underground road for this city and advocating an elevated road to be built on the water line of this island, forming a belt line along the river streets entirely around the islund, and having | crosstown lines, either horse car surface, or elovated steam cars, on plan like a gridiron. The underground after being carefully examined by Mr, Vanderbilt and other gentlemen, has been laid aside for all time. Yhe Rapid Transit Commissioners, now sitting, are laying out a permanent work next only in public im- portance to the introduction of water, a system of sew- erage or a supply of gas. Cheap and rapid railroad transportation is requisite for the future growth and | benefit of this city, as well as to meet the wants of to- day, Every person has a direct interest im the commer prosperity of this port, The carrying trade, foreign and domestic, needs all possible encour: agement. With our rebuilt’ picrs and bulkhead wide river strects, fireproof warehouses and. railroad facilities, the supremacy of this city” will be assure Merchandise traillc must be tuken eare of as well as pass senger traffic, A loaded fre ar coming from Sap Francisco needs to be run direct’ trom the Battery or | switched into a pier warehouse, the second story of | which should be on a level with the elevated roadbed, ‘The Greenwich street Elevated Railrowl, has limitedly | filled the demand for passenger transportation, Tt is believed that the Commissioners of Rapid Transit will | grant that corporation the privilege of constracting a | | line on the cast side of the town, ‘This will then give a | double belt Line for passengers up and down the central part of the eity t road isthe best solution of an clevated road for avenues or streets, ‘The general m | up of that road bas always met with iny approval. | { | Greenwich street road was the pioncer, and that com- pany is entitled to such routes as will ‘enable them to perfect their system. To take up any avenue with a central line of railway, be it Third, Lexington, Madison or Eighth, will be doing | great injustic yperty owners on the selected ave | The d jon of light, the noise, &c., will do- | the value of prop ttwenty-tive per | cent. ‘The value of property along the length of any of the avenues is hundreds of inillions, and its depreciation would equal the cost of building balf a dozen railroads. Property owners have rights and they will not, without | | a bitter and long legal s perinit a road to be builty Such a road, at best, w y values of peal estate pw, if an cle’ road be built on the | wlong its line, preciute the Values of property along witter line it will a its enti th, and will meet with no opposition, Thay tin to the Rapid Transit Commissioners | plans for a four track Elevated Margin Road to encircle | the city—along the Kast River, the Harlem and the | orth River. ‘The proposed construction of this road | is wonderfully simple. At every distance of thirty feet | are set-up three iron columns, nineteen feet from | On top (stretching from colump to column wced Wrought iron plate girders and on these | wrought iron beams are laid every and a half feet apart, and, on top | the beams the = track timbers ~ and rails | ‘ are laid, thus giving a smooth, unobstructed roadway of four tracks, two lor passenger and two for freight, The * mutter of statious and other details, such as gaslights, | telegraph wires, & such as any railroad engineer is competent to lay out, 1 propose this railroad as a | railroad ought to be built, for all time, and not a clap- | trap construction. The route enables’ this to be done. | All the rattle and noise, the destruction of light, &e., is | comparatively of small importance on this reute Such | aroad would be a positive ornament to the city, and rs ; would fulfil the requirements of transportation of passengers and freight for a century | tocome, It accommodates people living opposite Man- | battan Island—people in, Brooklyn, Long Island, Jersey, | &e. A proper system of crossiown lines would prove wonderfully convenient, ‘The gauge of tracks to be the saige as on the leading trunk roads of this country, 80 that engines and cars from the New Haven Railroad or | the New York Central gRailroad can ran directly on the | clevated road, the structure strong enough and entirely safe and secure, Lighter locomotives and sinaller cars | will also be used for passenger tratlic, Sugh a road will necessarily be an expensive one, Experienced railroad men have agreed that to properly | build and completely equip such a road will call for a capital of $15,000,005, “I have asked the Commissioners | | toadopt this route and this plan. I am prepared to furnish to them a bond in the amount of $250,000 that | Such road will bo expeditiously built and put in opera- tion. WILLIAM J. FRYER, Jr. New York, August 9, 18 PREVENTION OF RAILROAD ACCI- DENTS. For some time past the public mind in Newark has boon exercised over the problem of how to decrease the number of accidents which are so prevalent on the | | various railroad tracks in the city. The only project that appears to meet the requirements of the case is to | fonee {n the track in a somewhat similar manner to that which prevails in Jersey City. The principal objectors 10 } to this plan seem to be the property owners along the | j line, who think that their property’ will be | | depreciated in value shoukt such a plan be | adopted, On the other hand, the great majority | | of people who have thought on the subject, deny this | and maintain that property will be increased tn value in | consequence of the additional safety that will be given, At the last meeting of the Common Couneil a series of ordinances, was introduced by-Ald | Speetal Committ i | of gates and fen along the diffyrent lines within the | city, to be completed by the tirst of November, itis understood that the railroad companies are quite | willing to perform the work. | THE LIGHT ‘man Hudson, of the ING TRAIN. TIME EVEN FOR THIS GENERATION | (From the Deer Lodge (Montana) New Northwest, | Suly 30.) ‘The Naw York Hynany now reaches Salt Lake City | in four days and eighteen hours after publication, That's | time for even this day and generation, WHAT A SINGLE NEWSPAPER CAN DO, {From the New Albany (Ind.) Ledger-Standard.] The New York Heratp, which has led all its competi- tors in enterprise for years, and which years and years ‘0 was noted among newspaper men as the wonder | of the age, hus lost’ nothing — sin The Herano seems determined that whatever Y | complished by brain, tm! team and lightning shall be | keep it in the vanguard of newspapertom, It now | runs Sunday trains, ying the morning edition, from | the eity to Niagara Falls, whirling along at the rate of a vering the Sunday Heratp to the ance of the slow coaches of Uncle am. The HenaLp of Monday it contains a descrip. tion of one of th wonderful trips, and from it will be | learned what can be done by pluck and iron” will, Think of a lightning express train, u | and control of a single newspaper, dash | von, and thenee flying of to the la | mile a minute, ple hours 4n ad up the Hud | the schooner and bring her under the Faleou's bow. | my | affair, but yet it was very of the direction | es with aspeed un- | THE GLOUCESTER CENTENNIAL, -- a F A GREAT DEMONSTRATION—THE CITY FILLED WITH VISITORS--A GRAND MILITARY PROCES SION-—-A DINNER AND ELOQUENT SPEECHES AND HISTORICBL ADDRESS BY HON. JOHN J, BABSON. GroversTeK, Mass., August 1875. Although Massachusetts has had # surfeit of center nial anniversaries of the stirring times of the Revolution, they were not all exhausted until the celebration here in Gloucester to-day. First came the commemoration of the North Bridge affuir in Salem, followed in rapi¢ ' succession by the Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hill celebrations, and finally this staid but industrious and thriving town has had au enthusiastic demonstration im commemoration of an important and lively naval event whieh took place in her waters just a hundred yeare ago. The celebration, although hastily arranged, haa been by no means an insignifleant or modest one, and the occasion was made a general and pleasing holiday by all the inhabitants of Cape Ann. REMINISCENCES OF THE RVENT CRLEBRATRD. Just a century since—when Gloucester was then @ thriving town of five thousand or six thousand tnbab- itants—an attempt was made by Captain Lindsay and crew of the British ship-of-war Falcon to destroy the town, The Falcon was one of the ships which bad aided the British at the battle of Bunker Hil. Om August 5, 1775, she appeared in Ipswich Bay, where ap attempt was made to steal sheep from the farmers, bus Major Coftin and a few of his neighbors made such a noise with a few stray = mas. kets that the foragers thought there must be a whole company of troops and retreated. Lindsay continned to erate around the Cape and, on August 8, fell in with two schooners from the West Indies, bound to Salem. He captured one and chased the other inte Gloucester Harbor. The latter was run ashore between Pearce’s wharf and Five Pound Island. Lindsay followed her as far as he could, came to anchor and prepared to take possession of her. . THK RESISTANCE OF THE CITIZENS OP GLOUCESTER The citizens objected to this and commenced prepara. tions to give the British a warm reception, The people had no guns mounted and little ammunition; but they got two old swivels, and, hastily mounting them on car. riages, proceeded with these and all the old maskets that could be procured to protect the schooner. One ot the swivels was placed under the direction of Captain Joseph Foster and the other under that of Captain Brad- bury Sanders, both zealous patriots. Part of our mes repaired to the wharf and the rest to the hill on the op- posite side of Vinson’s Cove, By this time Lindsay had manned two barges with fifteen men each, armed with muskets and swivels, and sent them, under command of a lieutenant with six privates, in another bout to seize As s00n ag they reached the vessel some of the bargemen boarded her at the cabin windows, whereupon A SMART FIRE WAS OPENED UPON THEM by our people on the shore, which killed three of the chemy and wounded the lieutenant in the thigh, The latter returned to the ship, and Lindsay then sent im the other schooner and a cuttor he had to attend bim, well armed, with orders to the commanding ollicer to fire on the ‘damned rebels wherever he could find them. Atthe same time he commenced cannonading the town from the ship, and poured several broadsides into the most thickly settled part of the phice, “Now, boys,” said he, Swe will aim at the damned Presbyterian church!” “One shot more, my brave fel lows, and the house of God will fll before you!" ‘Yo complete the work of destruction which he had that commenced the infuriated captain then sent a boat, with some of his men, to land on Fort Point and at tempt to set the town in flames by kindling a fre among the fish-tlakes on the beach; but this purpose was fras- trated by a body of our people, who went round to the spot and made prisoners of all the men. During all this time the party at the waterside was performing wonders, and their bravery was at length’ rewarded by a complete victory. They got possession of both schooners, the cutter and barges, and with them took thirty-five men, THR CASUALTIES, In this fight two Gloucester men were lost; Benjamia Rowe wus instantly killed and Peter Darkey mortally wounded and died shortly after. During the engage ment shots struck several houses, and one which | struck the Unitarian meeting house ‘is still preserved. ‘To-day it hangs in the centre of the same old chureb. BELL RINGING AND SALUTES. The celebration, as before intimated, was @ modest enthusiastic and enjoyable, There was the inevitable ringing of bells and salutes at morning, noon and Wight, and all the available banners and bunting for miles and miles around were appropti- ated for the temporary decoration of Gloucester. Early in the morning ‘the citizens from the sur- rounding towns commenced to pour in ew masse, and as for the Gloucesterites, none of them secmed to have any other business but to com. memorate that Falcon gunboat affair of 4 hundred years ago. One of the conspicuous features of the day was a civic and military procession, which, for this place, was simply an enormous aifair, ‘Tt comprised the various militia and Grand Army organizations, the fire com- panies and various secret societies, the whole forming @ rilliant and enlivening scene. THE “NINE HUNDRED AND NINRTY-NINES.’? In the ranks was a new seeret organization, denomi- nated the “Nine Hundred and Ninety-nines,"’ which, although it comprises several federal oftice-holders, ts understood tobe one of the sections of the Danks and Lamar ring against Grant and Wilson, After the pro- cession had gone through the principal streets of Gloucester it wended its way to Cape Poud Grove, where formal exercises and other festivifies took place, ence of Windy orators and prosy speak: ,and gence the dinfer and general rollicking of the day was highly enjoyed by vody. ‘The Rev, Richard Eddy made a happy speech at the close of the dinner, Mr. Jot Babson also gave a brief address, ‘There was the customary amount of traditional patriot ism in everything that was said, and, of course, such sentiments were heartily applauded. ‘This evening the festivities were brought to a close by dancing. A SKETCH OF GLOUCESTER. Gloucester 1s noted the world over for its fishing in- dustries, and latterly it has attained considerable ,of @ reputation as a summer resort, It was incorporated inte a town May 22, 1639, and into a city in 1873. There are five postal villages in_ the city proper. Bay View is a fashionable watering place on the northwestern shore. In the vicinity of Anisquam there are some immense boulders and rolling stones which attract the attention of the curious. One of these immense rocks, weighing over 300 tons, at Squam Common, is so evenly poised that a child can move it with its finger. At West Gloucester the scenery is very wild and ro- mantic; at Thompson's Mountain, 205° feet high, the spectator has a most magnificent occan view, extending, in a clear day, across Massachusetts Bay, a’ distance of more than forty miles, to Provincetown, East Glouces- ter is becoming more and more a fashionable summer resort. mcester has eighty-four farms, 2,162 dwell- ing houses and 5,000 legul voters, The city is very beautitul, having tine views of the harbor from Gover- nor’s Hill, only a short walk from the Atlantic House, There are three good hotels, the Atlantic, Webster House and Pavillon; a very fine City Hall, a free Public Library, the gift of Samael E. Sawyer, and twenty-six schoolhouses. Gloucester furnished 1,500 men for the army and navy during the late war and about 100 of them were lost. ITALIAN MARKSMANSHIP. Joseph Proovizer and Joseph Bologne, both Italiana, have for some time past kept a barber shop at No, 172 Greenwich street. Yesterday they determined to dis solve partnership. In dividing up the property they quarrelled about the possession of a hone, Prooviger finally drew a revolver and shot Bologne in the left side, inilicting a painful but not not dangerous wound, MENTAL EXERCISE FOR THE POLICE, An officer of the Fourth Precinet found a man lying insensible on the sidewalk at the corner of Oliver and Ouk streets, at ten o'clock last evening, He had a frightful vash on the right side of his head, from which blood flowed profusely. Some bystanders said he wag drunk and had fallen against the curbstone, while otherg suid he had been strack with a club by one of a crowd of roughs who hang about the corner, He was sent te | the Park Hospital. A POLICEMAN RUN OVER. Officer McBride, of the Eighteenth precinct, was rum over by @ runaway horse at the corner of Sixteenth street and avenue A last evening. Ho was very sert ously injured, A SING SING CANDIDATE. Lawrence Kane was arrested last evening for having stolen $400 from Lotta Madison, of No, 183 East Thir- teenth street. Two hundred and eighty dollars was found ou his person, He was locked up at the Central Oftive, UNLIKE CSAR'S WIFE. John MeCormac, James McGuire, Henry Murphy, Frank Richards and Timothy Regan were arrested o# the Third avenue cars last evening upon suspicion of being thieves, They were locked up at the Central Office FIGHT FOR A FERRY. The war between the Vanderbilt and the Garner Staten Island Ferry Companies seems likely to lead ta legal troubles, whose discussion will be flerce and settle- ment long delayed, The Vanderbilt Company having closed the entrance to Martin's slip at Stapleton om Saturday, began other offensive operations yesterday morning. Men were put at work in driving piles Jue rivalled, just to satisfy @ public demand for a solitary motropolitan journal, south of the New York Yacht Club house, | It ie ‘s tended to extend the Stapleton piers of the Vi J Company 260 feet further out inte the bay,