The Greatest Highway in the World Part 1

The Greatest Highway in the World.

by Anonymous.

FOREWORD

In furtherance of giving the utmost service to the public, the New York Central Lines asked the editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica to prepare this booklet descriptive of and vivifying the historical development of what has been termed "The Greatest Highway in the World."

It is presented to you in the hope that it may prove a pleasant companion on a journey over our Lines. The information will afford a new appreciation of the historical significance and industrial importance of the cities, towns and country which the New York Central Lines serve.

The New York Central Lines enter twelve states and serve territory containing 51,530,784 inhabitants or 50.3 per cent of the nation's population. This rich and busy territory produces 64 per cent of the country's manufactured products and mines a similar proportion of its coal.

This system does approximately 10 per cent of the railroad transportation business of the United States, although its main-track mileage is only 6 per cent. In other words the business it handles exceeds that of the average railroad, mile for mile, by nearly 100 per cent. The New York Central carries 52 per cent of all through pa.s.sengers between New York and Chicago, the remaining 48 per cent being divided among five other lines. The freight traffic of the New York Central Lines in 1920 was greater than that carried by all the railroads of France and England combined.

The scenes that stretch before the eyes of pa.s.sengers on these Lines are rich with historic interest. Few persons know that the second settlement in the United States was at Albany and that it antedated Plymouth by several years. Probably fewer persons know that the first United States flag was carried in battle at Fort Stanwix, now the city of Rome, N.Y.

We hope that the reader will discover in the following pages more than one historic shrine which he will wish to visit.

It has been said that the history of a country's civilization is the history of its highways. Certainly the development of a great system such as the New York Central is an important element in the progress and prosperity of the country which it serves. This railroad is, in fact, a public inst.i.tution, and it will prosper to the extent that it gives _service_ to the public.

The New York Central Lines have the initial advantage that they follow the great natural routes along which the first trails were blazed by the red men, and are almost free from grades, sharp curves and other hindrances to comfortable and efficient transportation. Thus the road owes its superiority primarily to the fact that it lends itself to a maximum degree of efficiency.

But _service_ as it is conceived by the New York Central, involves many aspects. One is the careful provision for the comfort and convenience of pa.s.sengers; another is adequate and efficient facilities for serving the interests of s.h.i.+ppers. In other words, New York Central _service_ means not only fast and luxurious pa.s.senger trains, but also the rapid handling of freight. To give such service requires the highest cla.s.s of equipment--the best rails, the finest cars, the most powerful locomotives, etc.--but it also requires an operating force of loyal, highly trained employees. In both respects the New York Central Lines excel.

The inspiring record of the system's growth through public approval and patronage is fundamentally a tribute to the _service_ rendered, constantly advanced and developed in pace with public requirements. The accompanying booklet is in one sense an expression of past achievement, but it is also an earnest of greater accomplishment to come.

NEW YORK TO ALBANY

NEW YORK, Pop. 5,261,151. Grand Central Terminal. (Train 51 leaves 8:31a; No. 3, 8:46a; No. 41, 1:01p; No. 25, 2:46p; No. 19, 5:31p.

Eastbound: train 6 arrives 9:22a; No. 26, 9:40a; No. 16, 4:00p; No. 22, 5:25p.)[1]

[1. Throughout this handbook the time is given at which trains are scheduled to leave or pa.s.s through the cities or towns mentioned.

From New York to Chicago, Train No. 51 is the Empire State Express; No. 3, the Chicago Express; No. 41, The Number Forty-one; No. 25, the Twentieth Century, and No. 19, the Lake Sh.o.r.e Limited. In the reverse route, from Chicago to New York, No. 6 is the Fifth Avenue Special; No. 26 is the Twentieth Century; No. 16, the New York and New England Special, and No.

22, the Lake Sh.o.r.e Limited. The time given is Eastern Standard Time at all points east of Toledo, and Central Standard Time, which is one hour slower, at Toledo and all points west. (When Daylight Saving Time is adopted during the summer it is one hour faster than _Standard_ time, but all time given in this booklet is Standard time.) The time between 12.01 o'clock midnight and 12.00 o'clock noon is indicated by light face type; between 12.01 o'clock noon and 12.00 o'clock midnight by dark face type. The use of an asterisk (*) indicates places recommended as especially worth visiting. Population figures are those of the 1920 U.S.

Census.]

Fifty years ago when Commodore Vanderbilt began the first Grand Central Station--depot, they called it, in the language of the day--he made one error of judgment. His choice of a site proved to be magnificently right, though he selected a spot that was practically open country, then technically known as 42nd St. The story goes--it is a typically American story--that his friends laughed at him, remarking that a person might as well walk to Boston or Albany as go away up to 42nd St. to take a train for those cities. But the people did come, and they admired the commodore's new station, which is perhaps not surprising, since the commodore had set himself to build the greatest terminal in the world.

Many Americans considered the new "depot" as only second to the capitol at Was.h.i.+ngton, and it served as an excellent show place when visitors came to town. Europe might have its cathedrals, but it had no Grand Central Station!

The commodore's one mistake lay in thinking that his fine new station would last a century. Within ten years an addition had to be built; in 1898 it had to be entirely remodeled and enlarged, and fifteen years later it was entirely demolished to make way for the present building which would be adequate for handling the city's ever-increasing millions.

There seems to be little doubt that the city of N.Y. and its environs has become within the last decade larger even than London.

The population of greater London (including all the separate administrative ent.i.ties within the Metropolitan Police District) is estimated at 7,435,379. Jersey City, Hoboken, and the other N.J.

cities on the west, as well as Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, New Roch.e.l.le, etc., on the north, although politically detached, are included in the "city" of N.Y. in the larger sense, their political detachment being in a certain sense accidental. Including these, the population of N.Y. area corresponding to the Metropolitan London area is 7,583,607. The population of N.Y. City proper is 5,261,151. The London area comparable with this, viz., the part of London governed by the London County Council has a population of 5,028,974.

Comparing the areas of the two--N.Y.C. with 327 sq. miles and London with 692 sq. miles, it is hard to understand how the respective populations should approximate each other so nearly until it is remembered that New York grows perpendicularly instead of horizontally, that it usurps more air rather than more land. In some of the downtown business streets, such as Wall or Rector, the buildings tower so high above the narrow thoroughfare that they form a kind of deep canyon along which the wind is drawn as through a tunnel.

In the colonial period Philadelphia was the most important city, commercially, politically and socially, while just before the War of Independence, Boston, with a population of 20,000 was the most flouris.h.i.+ng town in all the colonies. During the Revolutionary War, N.Y.C. had fallen to a population of 10,000 and in 1790 it had barely gained a position of leaders.h.i.+p with 33,131, but by 1840 N.Y.C. had grown to be a city of 313,000 while Philadelphia had 95,000 and Boston 93,000.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Commodore Vanderbilt

Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) at the age of 16 bought a sailboat in which he carried farm produce and pa.s.sengers between Staten Island, where he lived, and N.Y. He was soon doing so profitable a business that in 1817, realizing the superiority of steam over sailing vessels, he was able to sell his sloops and schooners, and became the captain of a steam ferry between N.Y.

and New Brunswick. His projects grew enormously. He inaugurated steams.h.i.+p lines between N.Y. and San Francisco, N.Y. and Havre, and other places. In 1857-1862 he sold his steams.h.i.+ps and turned his attention more and more to the development of railways, with the result that before his death he had built up and was a majority share owner in the N.Y. Central & Hudson River, the Lake Sh.o.r.e and Michigan Southern, the Harlem, and the Michigan Central & Canada Southern railways, and had holdings in many others. He died at N.Y. in 1877.]

Today one of the most remarkable features of New York is the Grand Central Terminal. The exterior finish is granite and Indiana lime-stone; the style somewhat Doric, modified by the French Renaissance. Over the entrance to the main building is a great arch surmounted by a statuary group wherein Mercury, symbolizing the glory of commerce, is supported by Minerva and Hercules who represent mental and moral force.

Within, the main concourse of the station proper is an immense room with a floor s.p.a.ce of 37,625 sq. ft. where the New York City Hall might be set and yet leave room to spare. It is covered with a vaulted ceiling 125 ft. high, painted a soft cloudy blue and starred over with the constellations of heaven. Great dome-shaped windows, three each at the east and west ends, furnish light.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Main Concourse, Grand Central Terminal]

The entire site of the Grand Central Terminal comprises 30 blocks and 80 acres which above the surface are covered with a great variety of buildings, making almost a city in itself. Moreover, there is direct subway entrance to three large hotels, capable of housing as many as 10,000 persons, and to all these conveniences is added that of comfortable temperature throughout the terminal, no matter how cold the weather.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map of New York City, 1775

This survey, made in the winter of 1775, shows the city proper as it existed during the Revolutionary War. Places indicated by the lettering are described under the original as follows: A, Fort George. B, Batteries [at the two points of the island]. C, Military Hospital [south of Pearl St.]. D, Secretary's Office [near Fort George]. E, [Not Shown]. F, Soldiers' Barracks [at extreme right]. G, s.h.i.+p Yards [lower right hand corner]. H, City Hall [Broad and Wall streets, site of present Sub-Treasury building]. I, Exchange. J, K, Jail and Workhouse [both situated on the "intended square or common," now City Hall Square]. L, College [Church and Murray streets; this was King's College, now Columbia University]. M, Trinity Church [the present Trinity was built on 1839-46, though it stands on the site of the old church built in 1696]. N, St. George's Chapel. O, St. Paul's Chapel [built in 1756, the oldest edifice still standing in N.Y.C.]. P to Z, various churches.]

As distinctively "New York" as the sky-sc.r.a.pers, are the hotels and apartment houses. Of the latter, there are more than in any other city in the world, and the number of persons who are giving up their houses and adopting this manner of life is steadily increasing. The first thing, in fact, that impresses a visitor on his arrival is the seemingly endless amount of buildings adopted for transients. A few of the largest hotels have s.p.a.ce for several thousand persons at one time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: New Amsterdam (Now New York City) in 1671

The point of land in the foreground is now known as the Battery.

The large building inside the stockade is a church. In the middle foreground is a gallows. The hills in the background form the approach to the present Morningside Heights.]

The old station in 1903-'12 was torn down, brick by brick, while at the same time the new building was being erected--and all without disturbing the traffic or hindering the 75,000 to 125,000 people that pa.s.sed through the station each day. This was an extraordinary engineering feat, for not only were 3,000,000 yards of earth and rock taken out to provide for the underground development, but hundreds of tons of dynamite were used for blasting. Among the improvements introduced in the new station are ramps instead of stairways, the division of out-going from in-going traffic and the elimination of the cold trainshed. The subst.i.tution of electricity for steam as a motive power in the metropolitan area made possible the reclamation of Park Avenue and the cross streets from 45th St. to 46th St.--about 20 blocks in all--by depressing and covering the tracks.

At 56th St. the tracks begin to rise from the long tunnel and pa.s.s through the tenement district of the upper East Side. The side streets seem filled with nothing but children and vegetable carts, while along the pavements shrill women with shawls over their heads are bargaining for food with street-vendors. As the railroad tracks rise higher still, we run on the level with the upper-story windows out of which the tenants lean and gossip with one another.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Jumel Mansion, New York City]

4 M. HARLEM STATION (125th St.). (Train 51 pa.s.ses 8:41a; No 3, 8:57a; No. 41, 1:12p; No. 25, 2:56p; No. 19, 5:41p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 9:11a; No. 26 9:29a; No. 16, 3:49p; No. 22, 5:25p.)

Old Harlem was "Nieuw Haerlem," a settlement established in 1658 by Gov.

Peter Stuyvesant in the northeastern part of Manhattan Island. It existed for 200 years but is now lost under modern Harlem, which centers about 125th St. In this neighborhood to the west occurred the battle of Harlem Heights--a lively skirmish fought Sept. 16, 1776, opposite the west front of the present Columbia University, and resulting in a victory for the forces of Gen. Was.h.i.+ngton, who up to that time had suffered a number of reverses on Long Island and elsewhere. The battle was directed by Was.h.i.+ngton from the Jumel mansion*, 160th St. and Amsterdam Ave., the most famous house, historically, on the island of Manhattan. It is still standing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Peter Stuyvesant and the Cobbler

Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch Governor of N.Y. from 1647 to 1664 and a valiant member of the Reformed Church, had an intense prejudice against all other sects. At Flus.h.i.+ng a Baptist cobbler, William Wickendam, ventured to preach "and even went with the people into the river and dipped them." He was fined 12,500 guilders ($5,000) and ordered to be banished. As he was a poor man the debt was remitted, but he was obliged to leave the province.]

The house was built in 1763 by Roger Morris for his bride, Mary Philipse of Yonkers, for whose hand, it is said, Was.h.i.+ngton had been an unsuccessful suitor. The house was subsequently owned by John Jacob Astor and then pa.s.sed into the hands of Stephen Jumel, a French merchant, who, with his wife Eliza, added new fame to the old house. They entertained here Lafayette, Louis Napoleon, Joseph Bonaparte and Jerome Bonaparte. Aaron Burr (1756-1836) in his old age, appeared at the mansion with a clergyman, and married Mme. Jumel, then a widow. She divorced him shortly afterward, and he died in poverty on Staten Island, 1836.

Alexander Hamilton whom Burr killed in the famous duel at Weehawken, N.J. (July 11, 1804) owned a country place in the neighborhood, "Hamilton Grange," which now stands at 140th St.

and Convent Ave.

Leaving Manhattan, that extraordinary island which Peter Minuit, director-general of New Netherlands, bought in 1626 from the Indians for sixty guilders' worth of goods (about $24), we cross the Harlem River to the Borough of the Bronx, named for Jonas Bronck, the first white settler, who made his home in 1639 near the Bronx Kills (where the Harlem River flows into Long Island Sound).

The original price paid for the Bronx--or a large share of it--was "2 gunns, 2 kettles, 2 coats, 2 s.h.i.+rts, 2 adzes, 1 barrel of cider, and 6 bitts of money." The a.s.sessed value of Manhattan today is $5,116,000,000 and that of the Bronx $732,000,000 (realty).