"The Broadway Mystery" (1870)

The New York Times · January 8, 1870

Some Account of the Pneumatic Railway--Explanation from the Superintendent

Mr. Joseph Dixon, the Secretary and Superintendent of the Beach Pneumatic Transit Company, whose underground operations on Broadway, near the City Hall Park, have excited the curiosity of many, sends us a communication, in which, after telling us something about the application for a charter for the Company, he says:

"This bill was approved June 1, 1868, when we immediately began to prosecute the work. The bill contained a clause requiring us to commence our tubes at the Post Office. We accordingly applied to the Postmaster, and also to the Postmaster-General, for permission to connect our tubes with the Post Office, but we were refused on the ground of want of authority. We then applied to the owners of various buildings near the Post Office, but could obtain no premises at any price; in the mean time we had gone to great expense in preparing the machinery necessary for our work. We finally leased the premises corner Warren-street and Broadway, and in 1869 obtained an amendment to our charter, by which we were permitted to build the experimental line from Warren-street down Broadway to Cedar-street. Governor Hoffman signed this bill May 3, 1869. We at once set to work, determined to build the line without a flourish of trumpets, leaving the Press and public to decide by an inspection of our work as to its merits. Our original intention was to construct the entire line of tunnel from Warren to Cedar-street, before opening it for inspection, but we have concluded to yield to the strong desire manifested by the Press for an earlier examination. We have, therefore, stopped work on the tunnel and are now fitting up the blowing machinery, engines, boilers, waiting rooms, &c., with a view of inviting public inspection. In reference to the ridiculous stories that have been circulated about our men being sworn to secrecy, and the doors being closed to all persons, there is no truth in them. Our work has been carried out under the constant supervision of the officers of the Croton Aqueduct Department, where all our plans are matters of public record. It has been alleged that the surface of the pavement on Broadway has settled slightly in consequence of the building of our tunnel. If it appears that we have so disturbed the pavement, it will become our duty to make the needful repairs at our own expense, that being one of the stipulations expressed in our charter. As to danger from caving, the Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct Department has reported officially to the Mayor that the street is perfectly safe, and that our works are constructed in a substantial manner of iron plates and brick masonry. Our tunnel commences at the southwest corner of Broadway and Warren-street, curving out to the centre of Broadway, and continuing down to a little below Murray-street. It has an interior diameter of eight feet, but when finished will have a dividing wall in the centre so as to form a double line of tubes, each a little less than fifty-four inches of interior diameter, as provided by law. The top of the tunnel comes within twelve feet of the pavement, so that the walls of adjoining buildings can in no way be affected. We should have preferred to keep silent until our work could speak for us; as it is, we beg the Press and public to have a little patience, and in three or four weeks at furthest we will cheerfully afford them an opportunity of inspecting our premises and forming their own judgment as to its merits."