Excerpt from Great Speech of Hon. William M. Evarts on Rapid TransitAmong the recent projects for rapid transit in New York is that of Mr. R. H. Gilbert for an elevated railway, on the plan so tastefully represented in the accompanying engraving.The plan is to place along the street, at distances of from fifty to one hundred feet, compo'und gothic iron arches, which. Shall span the street from curb to curb, at such an elevation as shall not interfere with the ordinary uses of the street. On these arches, a double line of atmospheric tubes, eight or nine feet in diameter are to be secured. The arches are strongly connected with each other by means of a vertical, latticed or trussed girder running between the tubular ways, which are to be firmly joined to it on either side by ties of suitable con struction. Through the tubes, supported as described, cars carrying passengers are to be propelled by atmospheric power. There is also provision in the same set of arches for two or more sets of tubes for the transportation of mail and packages. The stations will be situated at distances of about one mile apart along the line, and will be provided with pneumatic elevators to raise passengers to and from the place of transit with perfect safety, thus obviating the necessity of going up and down stairs for transit.The movement of the cars or trains along the line, as well as their arrival and departure from stations, is made known at all points by a telegraphic device, which is automatically ope rated by the dars in passing.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.