The New York Rapid-transit Subway

Proceedings.] DISCUSSION ON NEW YORK SUBWAY. 73 the abutment, and from the heart of the abutment, above water- Mr. Mott, level, some of that hoop-iron had been taken out, which he had laid on the table. It would be seen that it was absolutely destroyed, although it had been buried in a practically impervious mass— much less permeable than most concrete. The idea of the express line which the Author had constructed was undoubtedly admirable, and if the money could have been found, such a line would probably have been constructed on the Central London. Arrangements had always been made for sufficient space to be left for an express line underneath the Central London railway. The District railway actually had powers to build an express line from Hammersmith to the Mansion House, but for some reason—no doubt a good one— that scheme had been dropped, and a portion of the project had been carried out in the form of the Brompton and Piccadilly tube, which seemed to be a competing line with the District railway between Hammersmith and Kensington. Sir George S. Gibb was afraid he could not contribute much Sir G. Gibb, to the discussion of an engineering Paper by a distinguished engineer in a company of distinguished engineers, as he had no engineering knowledge. The Paper was the record of a great engineering achievement, which, he was glad to see, was also a commercial success. He could quite imagine any engineer who had to do with it revelling in the job; he was surrounded by that atmosphere which seemed to be so congenial to the engineer and to bring out his best qualities—surrounded and supported by an ample supply of cash! But the field for the enterprise was unique. First of all, it was necessary to consider the origin of the enterprise, which was based upon an urgent and overwhelming need for better and more means of conveyance in New York. The traffic was there, the people were moving and wanted to move, and he could not imagine a more fruitful source for enterprise of that sort than existed in New York. The subway could not be referred to as a triumph for private enterprise. On the contrary, although the field was so fruitful and so rich, although the Americans were certainly never deficient in commercial courage, nor wanting in sanguine tempera- ment, they had not come forward to make the subway. Indeed, it had been declared over and over again that there was no possibility of private people putting their money into the enterprise, and con- sequently it had had to be taken up by the Municipality; there was such a surging multitude of people requiring to be carried that the subway had had to be made. Of course, that pointed to very favourable conditions for such an enterprise. Naturally, one feature of the Paper to which attention was at once directed