The New York Rapid-transit Subway

Proceedings.] DISCUSSION ON NEW YORK SUBWAY. 57 was no Transit Board and no general body to take into consideration Sir John a Wolfe Barry. the local wants and the larger wants of London. Until a body or that kind was constituted, with whatever powers it might please Parliament to endow it, he felt sure they would go muddling on in London in the way they had done for so many years, finding obstacles erected against improvements which should never have been erected, the widening of streets and through routes neglected, and the whole matter continuing without any intelligence or fore- sight and in that happy-go-lucky way which seemed to be the pride of Englishmen, but was certainly not admired by any other nation in the world. Sir William White, K.C.B., Past-President, remarked that Sir William his excuse for taking part in the discussion was to be found in the fact that when The Institution visited New York in the autumn of 1904, during his Presidency, those members who had the pleasure of joining in the visit had the opportunity, thanks to the courtesy of the Author, of visiting the Rapid-Transit Sub- way at a very interesting stage of its construction. He saw present several of the members who composed the party, many of whom were much more competent than he was to speak of tlie engineering details of the work; but on their behalf, and on behalf of The Institution, he desired publicly to thank the Author, and those who joined with him in acting as the hosts of the members while they were in New York, for the great kindness shown to them throughout the visit, which they would never forget. They had had tlie opportunity of seeing not merely a large section of the completed work, which was being prepared for practical use within a very few weeks of their visit, but also of going into portions of the work still in process of construction, and there seeing the difficulties which had to be met, and the boldness and resource with which they were being overcome. Those of the party who went down Broadway one Saturday morning would, he thought, never forget what they saw. In that great thoroughfare, crowded with surface traffic, the Works were proceeding only a few feet below the street-level. It was a fearsome sight—gas-pipes, water-pipes, and other things hung up, as it were, to a temporary structure, over which tramcars, heavy wagons, and multitudes of people, were passing freely. He well remembered many engineers of experience in tunnelling work who were of the party being deeply impressed with the nature of the work that was, being undertaken, and the rapidity with which it was being pushed forward. They emerged finally into Broadway through a man-hole in the sidewalk, much to the surprise of the passers-by, because the party was a numerous one. Passing