 Tribune |
New York, Saturday, May 3, 1873
The Brooklyn Bridge
ITS PROPOSED ABANDONMENT DENUONCED
| Tribune |
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Saturday May 3, 1873 INTENSE EXCITEMENT OVER THE TRIBUNE EXPOSURES - NEWLY DISCOVERED FRAUDS ANNOUNCED - $13 PER SQUARE YARD TO HAVE BEEN PAID FOR WORK THAT COST ONLY $20 The exposure in yesterday's Tribune of the suspected design of Mr. Kingsley, Judge McCue, and other members of the Brooklyn Bridge Ring to throw the enterprise into confusion and thus delay the completion of a work from the management of which the publicity given to their schemes has driven them, created the most intense excitement in Brooklyn, and was the subject of general conversation in financial circles of New York. Both the local papers of Brooklyn had leaders upon the subject, defending the Ring; but as it is well known in that city that the Ring are the proprietors of one of these journals, and that the offices of the Bridge Company are rented from the other paper at $25,000 a year where they are worth only about $5,000, their opinions are not highly estimated. It was generally conceded that the abandonment of the enterprise by the Ring was in consequence of the exposure of their designs to absorb $3,000,000 (not $300,000 as printed yesterday) in the disguise of payments to the Superintendent; and the exposures of the Tribune clearly indicated that they intended to do so in such a manner as to complicate and confuse the business of the Company and delay the work. As proof of such a design, it was stated that the Company had given Mr. Kingsley leave to go to Florida and Mr. Roebling leave of absence for six months during the best working season of the year. Much indignation was expressed on both sides of the river at the apparent perfidy of the Ring in this matter; new facts were elicited relative to the past operations of the Company, with greater ease than ever before known, the citizens of Brooklyn familiar with the facts having heretofore been reticent upon the subject. OPINIONS OF CITIZENS The increasing dimension of the towers of the East River Bridge had begun to impress people with the idea that the work of furthering the enterprise would not be hampered or retarded by the action of any persons directly of indirectly interested in the project. It was, therefore, with great surprise that property owners read in yesterday's Tribune that an effort was making by the directors of the bridge to abandon the enterprise by securing the return of their subscriptions and give the matter into the control of the two cities in a confused condition. The directors who had voted for the measure, through their organs expressed their indignation at the conduct of The Tribune, and by the use of scurrilous epithets endeavored to cast ridicule upon the exposures. The persons, however, who had investigated the matter, including the members of the committee of Fifty, felt convinced of the truth of the statements, and the following account given yesterday to a Tribune reporter Savings Bank, of the discoveries made in their investigation affords an insight into the interior workings of the Bridge Commission before the investigation began. Mr. Backhouse said: The article in this morning's Tribune is correct in every particular, and the only fault that can be found by E.T. Backhouse, President of the Kings County, with it is that it failed to tell the full measure of the frauds. The directors made haste to reduce Superintendent Kingsley's compensation from the original terms made with him - namely 15 per cent of the amount expended on the Towers to high-water mark - to 5 per cent; but an examination of the books of the Company by the Committee revealed that he had already received $50,000 more that the 5 per cent would have entitled him to. He had received $175,000 instead of $125,000, which was 5 per cent upon the amount expended. The difference was refunded to the treasury when it was discovered to exist; but the question has been raised why he should have received even $125,000. Tonight's edition of The Brooklyn Union claims that, "in consideration of the risks Mr. Kingsley had personally taken in the inception of the enterprise, of the money advanced by him, and the great services he rendered the company at the most critical period of its existence, the directors voted Mr. Kingsley 15 per cent of the cost to high-water mark of the towers, "but that when it was demonstrated that the towers never cost more than was anticipated, the remuneration was reduced to five per cent. Now, what service has Mr. Kingsley performed that the other directors have failed in - in the way of advancing their money, or in any other direction; and if he is entitled to a commission, they are likewise so entitled. The superintendency was merely nominal and ornamental, so far as it incurred responsibility, and the work in the matter of contracts that he took upon himself was only for his amolument, and entered into with the connivance of the other directors. In fact, they surrendered themselves to him. Now, what does the investigation show took place afterwards. Mr. Roebling, Chief Engineer of the bridge, compelled upon oath to tell all he knew, reluctantly swore that a contract had been agreed upon between the directors of the bridge and Mr. Kingsley to the effect that the latter should have the contract of laying all the stone on the towers. The investigations of the Committee of Fifty prevented that consummation of the contract. The work so far has cost less than $20 a square yard. The difference between the actual cost and Kingsley's price on the two towers completed would have amounted to $2,900,000, which would, divided among the Ring, have given a very snug little amount to each member. The game of plunder is stopped. The gentlemen who were willing for the public good to wait until the completion of the bridge should pay them for their outlay, can find more profitable means of investment where publicity shall not reveal their manner of working. I believe in holding them to their agreements, retaining their money, paid with great flourish of trumpets for the public welfare, and watching them so closely in the future that they shall be compelled to do right or retire from the directorship. It was further learned that Judge McCue was the author of the bill forwarded by Controller Schroeder to Senator Murphy to be smuggled through the Legislature. Judge McCue is one of Kingsley's partners in the contracts for timber for the bridge. Indeed, it was said that it was a peculiarity of the Ring that it contracted only with itself. One member, who looked after the necessary legislation, was the counsel of the company. The Superintendent was the chief contractor, and paid his own bills. Since this could no longer be done without strict auditing, the disposition to return had been evinced. Among other New York gentlemen interested in the bridge whose opinion was given, was that of Abram S. Hewitt, one of the East River Bridge directors, and who has taken a long deep interest in the project. Mr. Hewitt made the following statement to a reporter of The Tribune: I have seen the statement in The Tribune relative to the Brooklyn Bridge, but do not think the influence is warranted by the facts, which are briefly as follows: When I became a director by request of Mr. Green, I found that the installments on what was known as the "Ring Stock" were in arrear. I introduced a resolution directing the counsel of the company to proceed to collect the overdue installments, or to forfeit the stock for non-payment. The counsel reported that the usual forfeiture clause had been omitted in the charter. A supplement was therefore drafted giving the power to forfeit stock for non-payment of installments, and enlarging the representation of the two cities in the Board of Direction, and providing for a proper auditing of the accounts. This supplement was promptly passed by the Senate, of which Mr. Murphy, President of the Company, is a member, but in the House the same invisible influence which always seems to care for private interests at the expense of public welfare has hitherto been sufficient to prevent action on the bill, and at the last meeting of the Board of Directors Senator Murphy reported that he doubted whether the bill could be passed without making some provision for relieving the private stockholders of a portion of their stock, or at least of paying interest thereon. I objected to the payment of interest on the private stock unless it was also paid on the city stock; but foreseeing that, sooner or later, the cities, who now own nine-tenths of the stock, would be forced, in the public interest, to purchase private stock at a cost of 133-1/3, as provided for in the charter, I suggested that it might be advantageous to allow the private stock to be consolidated when $50 per share had been paid in, provided the right should be conferred upon the two cities to take this consolidated stock at par, instead of a bonus of one-third for it, and provided further that no such consolidated stock w\should be issued unless the unpaid installments on all the stock should be first paid up. This suggestion was favorably received, and the effect or it will be, first, to secure the payment of the overdue installment with interest, which will be nearly sufficient in amount to refund any excess over 50 per cent which has been paid upon the private stock, especially as such excess is to bear no interest. Secondly, it will secure the entire ownership of the work to the two cities at the proper time without paying any bonus to the private stockholders who have, in my judgment, administered the business of the company with great ability and fidelity. The single mistake which has been made in fixing the compensation of the superintendent of the work has been corrected in time to prevent any actual loss, and I have no hesitation in saying that, on the whole, no public work if our day has been conducted with more economy and greater energy than this important enterprise, in the completion of which every resident of New York and Brooklyn has a direct interest. PRESENT CONDITION OF THE BRIDGE The great rapidity with which the work is executing, and its advance far beyond what was anticipated by the engineer, Mr. Roebling, and his corps of assistants, warrant the belief that in less than five years the bridge will be in successful operation, if the proposed action of the Ring does not leave the management totally disorganized. Since the work was resumed on the towers last fall, eight courses, of stone have been laid on the Brooklyn tower, which is now over 156 feet above the surface of the earth, or the exact height of Niagara Falls. Seven courses of stone have been laid on the New York side, and the tower will be carried this year considerably above the level of the roadway. The Brooklyn tower is now at the height of an ordinary four-story house above the roadway. When the tower shall have been completed, as expected this year, the top will be nearly twice the height of the tower on the Equitable Building. Looking from the present height, ferry boats appear about the size of turtles swimming upon the surface of the water, and persons seem as small as toy images. The view from the top of the tower is extensive, and includes in its range the Highlands of Neversink, Prospect Park, Greenwood, Astoria, Mount Washington in New Jersey, and many other places of interest. Experience has enabled the workmen to place the stones in position with great celerity. When it is considered that each of the stones weighs from four to six tons, and that on last Friday 55 of them were placed in position, it is seen what extraordinary progress is making. The stones are elevated to the top of the masonry by an engine situated in the enclosure which contains the tower, while they are placed in position by an engine at the top of the tower which operates upon a derrick whose arms move in a circle and are arranged also to carry the stones in a lateral direction, so that if within reach of the derrick the stones may be placed in any position desired. A few days ago a stone weighing six tons was taken from the tramway car at the foot of the tower and in three minutes’ time was placed in its position at the top of the work LENGTH OF THE BRIDGE At a point about the height of French’s Hotel above the top of the present work, arches will be begun so as to make two covered openings above the roadways. Seventy feet above the springing of the arch the top of the tower will be reached, where at 268 feet above high watermark, or 18 feet above Trinity Church steeple, the four cables which support the whole roadway and travel of the bridge will pass over and bending toward the river until midway the bridge, where they will be within eight feet of the roadway, and then rise to the top of the opposite tower whence they will descend in a curve to the anchorages. It will thus be seen that the cables will extend from anchorage to anchorage, and that the bridge will not only be suspended from tower to tower but on either side of the towers to the anchorages. From the anchorages to the entrances of the roadway the bridge will consist of arches made to accommodate the travel on the streets, directed by viaduct. The stone cornice at the top of the towers, when completed will be 49-1/2 feet wide and 135 feet long - the area of the ground floor of the Academy of Music - so that the summit of the towers will afford a comfortable outlook for about 4,000 persons at a time. Near the top of the cornices and upon the masonry there will be placed an immense iron plate, on which there will rest a “saddle”, or another iron plate with a level bottom and rollers underneath. Over the top of the “saddle”, which will be oval, the cables will run with similar curves to the anchorages on the one side and midway on the bridge on the other. The arrangement is for the purpose of preventing any side strain from coming upon the towers, so that any load which would tend by its position on either side of the tow4ers to exert a strain upon the masonry, will be compensated for by the movement of the “saddle”. The equality of weight in the cables will be so regulated that depending in similar curves from either side of the tower not a particle of side strain will ever be brought to bear upon the towers which will have to sustain only perpendicular dead weight. It will therefore be seen it is essentially necessary that the anchorage or place where the ends of the cables are fastened should be of such solidity as to defy any strain that could possibly be brought to bear upon it. The building of such a structure is therefore a work of great magnitude. THE ANCHORAGES In this city the anchorages will be situated in James St. between Front and Water Sts. In Brooklyn it will be situated at York St., near Mercein and Prospect St. Work has already been begun in the latter city, and is progressing with great rapidity. The ground upon which the masonry of the anchorage will be built is 125 feet long and 137 feet deep. The masonry, when finished, will be 70 feet from the surface of the earth. The ground is excavated to the depth of 25 feet; and in order to prevent the caving-in of the soil and the undermining of the adjoining buildings, timber frame-work has been placed within the opening. Two longitudinal rows of piles being so placed as to make seven transverse divisions of from 13 to 25 feet each. Heavy lines of bracing extend between the piles making 21 rectangular divisions. It will be seen, therefore, that clear spaces for work are afforded, 25 by 40 feet long, and 13 by 37 feet deep. Six derricks will soon be placed in positions to carry the stones to every part of the ground. In passing over the towers one of the cables extends over each end, and the other two over the middle, so that the anchor plates with which the cables will be connected by a chain will be correspondingly placed on either side of the rear of the anchorage, and in the middle. The anchor-plates are immense pieces of iron 2-1/2 feet deep oblong, 17-1/2 feet diameter in one direction and 16 feet diameter in the other. When placed upon the masonry they will resemble a great spider lying upon his back with 16 legs extending in every direction. The legs are made with flanges flaring so as to be firmly held by the masonry which will surround it. The plates are connected with the cables by two immense flat iron chains. The chains are each composed of ten links, each ling being about 15 feet long, except the upper one to which the cable will be attached. This will be 20 feet long. Each link is made up of nine flat bars, the lower bars being seven inches wide and three inches thick, and the upper ones nine inches wide and three inches thick. These bars weigh about half a ton each, making the weight of each link four and a half tons. The links are joined by heavy turned pins which pass through eyes placed in their extremities. Each chain will weigh about 50 tons, and the two chains which hold one end of each cable will contain about 100 tons of iron, so that in the Brooklyn anchorage alone the weight of the chains which connect the cables with the anchorage plates will be 400 tons. The whole support of the bridge depends finally on the anchorage, and the power of the anchorage consists in its weight of resistance to outside power; but weight acts only in a vertical direction; therefore the anchor plates which are the final ends of the cable chains, are placed at the near and lowest end of the pile of masonry, with their upper surfaces horizontal. The plates have 18 openings through their centers made to receive the nine bars which form the links of each of the twp chains, and which are fastened by pins placed in the under side. Of course the first set of links passing through the op0enings in the plates will be placed vertically, but from this point the chains begin to curve until they reach the point where the cables unite with them horizontally and 80 feet above the surface, thus describing the quadrant of a circle. That portion of the anchorage will consist of three walls running longitudinally and supporting the chains. A wall will be erected on each side and a double wall in the center. After the chains have been placed in position upon the walls, masonry will be added; the walls will be carried up and arched at the top to form the road-bed of the viaduct, 89 feet above tide. The chains and plates will be forever hidden from view after they have been placed, and the final appearance of the anchorage when completed will be an immense piece of masonry, in appearance something like the Forty-second St. Reservoir, except that in front there will extend two arches 50 feet in height, and small low arches built in the solid masonry for the road to provide for the passage of the Brooklyn side of the proposed underground railway and the four cables which will project from the face of the anchorage. Each of the four cables at the place where a union is formed with the chains will be composed of 19 strands, which will meet the chain 25 feet from the face of the masonry. Each strand will be passed around a shoe, which is joined to a pair of bars. These bars unite the chains and the cables. THE VIADUCTS After the anchorage is finished the viaduct in New York will cross Cherry St., pass diagonally across Franklin Square, pass Cliff St. at the intersection of Frankfort St., cross Vanderwater and Rose Sts., cross William and North Williams Sts. Near the point of their junction, and strike the middle of the Daily News building, emerging into Chatham St. All the buildings along the line of both viaducts will be removed, as it is deemed unsafe to allow anything to remain which might be set on fire and whose flames would jeopardize the safety of the bridge. The viaduct on the Brooklyn side will cross York St. at a height of about 50 feet from the street, cross Prospect St., where a slight curve will be made toward Fulton St., so as to enter Sands St. at right angles. The considerable portion of the square at Sands, Prospect, Washington, and Fulton Sts. Will be used as buildings for the engines and offices of the Bridge Company. On the New York side a large edifice will probably be built on the present site of French’s Hotel, or in the Park, which will be used as a Union depot by the horse-car companies whose terminus us at present below the new Post-Office. THE ROADWAY Each division of the roadway of the bridge will contain two carriage-ways and one railroad track, while the passage for foot passengers will be in the center and elevated above the roadways. The vehicles will keep to the right in passing through each division, and the cars from New York to Brooklyn will pass along the track placed in the southern division, while those crossing from Brooklyn to New York will use the track in the other thoroughfare. The Brooklyn anchorage will be finished to the street level during the year, and next year the Brooklyn tower in its entirety and the anchorage will be completed, the tower on the New York side will be finished to the top of the arches, and the anchorage finished to street level. In 1875, the New York anchorage and tower will be completed, and in 1876 work will be well advanced on the two viaducts. In 1877 the cable will begin to be laid with its pendants, which will support the roadway, and it is confidently asserted that in 1878, five years hence, the bridge will be opened for travel. THE LAYING OF THE CABLE The work of laying the cable will be necessarily slow, as work will have to be suspended on windy days and when the temperature is extremely hot or cold. The wires can only be extended at the same uniform degree of temperature, and will probably be hung before sunrise and after sunset. It is discovered that the difference in the length of the cables as contracted by extreme Winter cold and expanded by extreme Summer heat, will be three feet two inches between the two towers, and in order to have uniformity in the contraction and expansion of the cables, each wire composing them must be laid at a uniform temperature. This will necessarily make work slow. The cables will consist of wires united by rings, but no coiled or wound. Each cable will consist of 6,000 wires which will weigh about 700 tons. Each tower will weigh 65,000 tons, while the weight each will be called upon to sustain will not be more than 5,000 tons. The heaviest load from travel that will be borne by the center span will be 1,200 tons. The cables will support six times that amount of weight. The first connection made between the two towers will consist of a footpath over which workmen can pass and work upon the wires. This will consist of two heavy cables, the ends of which will be towed by a tugboat to the opposite tower, where it will be hoisted to the top by steam power. They will then be tightened as greatly as they will bear, and pieces of planking placed across them by the workmen as they advance. A central guide-wire along which to operate in the construction of the cables will then be extended from one tower to the other and to it will be placed, and moved from one side of the river to the other by means of a rope attached to the basket and operated by a steam engine. As the basket moves from tower to tower, the workmen unite a wire, the end of which they hold, and which is unrolled from a windlass at the top of the tower, to the wore already laid, and thus begin the making of the cable. This process repeated day after day, finally results in the construction of the cables of the desired thickness. The next step of attaching the pendants which are to support the roadway and its travel are comparatively easy; and last of all comes the laying of the flooring and railway tracks, by numerous wires from the four main cables. CASTING BRIDGE PLATES The second plate for securing the chains of the Brooklyn Bridge was yesterday cast at the South Brooklyn Steam Engine Works. The mold, which was four weeks in formation, as built in the following manner: A circular excavation, 25 feet in diameter and three feet deep was first made, at the bottom of which an iron plate was inserted. Upon this a course of brick, eight inches thick, was laid in a mortar of fire sand and fire clay. The upper surface was then leveled off and baked with charcoal. This surface served as the base of the mold, which was of loam secured by brick-work and iron girders, and was built in sections. The enormous amount of 45 tons of iron was used for the plate and girders of the mold. The plate itself will be oval, measuring 17 feet 6 inches by 16 feet, will have a thickness at the ribs of three feet, will weigh 47,000 pounds when cleaned, and will cost $3,200. About 60,000 pounds of iron were put in the cupels yesterday and exposed to the intense heat of the furnaces for two hours. The metal in a molten condition was then put into a closed reservoir connected by a trough with the opening of the mold. At 20 minutes to 5 in the afternoon the reservoir was opened, at the same time that a very large ladelful of the molten metal was poured into an opening at the opposite side of the mold. Thus two streams of the mass rushed simultaneously into the mold, filling it in short space of two and one-half minutes. The gases arising from the metal were discharged by means of vent-holes. The greatest precautions has been taken to guard against the presence of moisture in the molds, these having beev heated continuously fro several days previous to the casting. The mold will be broken in about a week and the casting, which will then be cool, will be cleaned and taken to its destination at the anchorage on the site of the old James St. Market. |
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