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BLOCKS ON Till- LINE. IIOBLFM* THE STREET RAILWAY COM PANIES HAVE TO MEET. vonon traffic m thk HOUHS-'-HOW KAINT WKATnEH 1^ r .. nuvrcc in tiik "Kf^" ■■ CAUSE? DEUAT. HS m an *ho waits in the drenchinp rain for -" -it « an., IPlliiiili in^r that a «>^^^«, wno afrrcssin? influence on the sp.nts m v J cheerful under ordmary c^^tance,. open irtaeo Z wo. tor dinner, the theatre or other^ g£gjg aents. cr to fill social «W»«^" °\£ ! "nut counte-tlait I- the time when the sur- , S °*™ ptop shcrt - Then y ras ; ! i.«™ an opportunity to test their powers ot ntro! a,c ral!r,ad employe to Bhow how kval the,- can bo to their employers by refusmg UrmaUon v to tie rausp of delay. Those are tie evasions when jossengers vow :ha: they irffl "never, never, patronize the surface line jrajn" and they usually keep the pledpe until | i- rains a?a:n. and then, to save the little walk i to the elevated station, they take the surface j ars asair- When tbe car becomes stalled once , more they wonder if a surface car ever makes j • trip without an accident. DBUTS INFREQUENT. SATS VREELANP -If the complaining pass^nper rode with us every <>v,-ninp." Sdd EL H. Vret-land. the presi dent of the Metropolitan road, "he would know that the delays of which he complains are not the rale but thS ir.frequ.-nt exception, and if the block* MJipp^n en rainy niphts it is only natural. The trade is preater than most people know at orfimaiy tim«. M « hen ir rains dannp tHe evpni^'rusfa hour it is simply enormous. People who in fair weather walk to the nearest ele vated etarJon cr walk home rush for the surface cars when it rams, and pet to tht^ir homes by near. of transfers It takes lonper to pet on ■ad off the cars because of umbrtllas and wraps ,Uia! ntiFt l-e mancpt-J. Then ;iit* pavements j ire in bad condition, and horses slip and block tie w.a3'. Oa the asphalt stret-ls teams avoid tie smooth part, and pet between the tracks, ' where there i= block pavement, and frequently I ta otetinat*" driver makrs many cars run slowly. '"Then •.:■• transfer stations are crowded, and dip- ; jyoEinf of wiitinp passt nptrs also creates delay. i rslckidir.p a ion cf coal or a few boxes cr the breakdown of a har.d cart may cause fifty cars to be stalled and hundreds of passengers to i j-ste-r about th^ poor methods of the surface «ae." r I SHOWING HOURLY TRAFFIC OS THE FOURTH-AYE. DIVISION OF THE METROPOLITAN STREET RAILWAY COMPANY; For Monday, April 10, 1890. Cash fares, $0,C70 7ii; transfers, i>9,7&ti* KEW-YOEK: TRIBUNE ILLTTSTRATED SUPPLEMENT. In the rush hours, from fan to 10 a. m. and from 5:30 to G:3O p. m.. the cars run so closely together that they must keep moving rapidly to prevent a block. On the Fourth-aye. line they run twenty seconds apart south of Eighty-sixth st.; in Hroadway, south of Twenty-third-st., the interval? are about fifteen seconds, and on the Siith-ave. line the cars are thirty seconds apart. At other times of the day the "headway- is greater, but the number of cars in use is about the same, though they are distributed differ ently. On the Sixth-aye. and Amsterdam-aye. i in . there are 200 cars; the Madison-aye. line has about :.'-."• cars, and the cable system, which includes Broadway. Columbus-aye. and Lexing ton-ave., has 450 cars. A BUSY CORNER. There is probably no better place in New-York to see what a block on the surface road means, and how easily many cars may i*> brought to | a standstill than at the Twenty-third-st. cross ing of Fourth-aye. Every thirty-five seconds a i Twenty-third-st. crosstown car crosses the track: every forty-five seconds a Twenty-third st. car bound from the Thirty-fourths;, ferry crosses: the Lexington-avc. cars cross ■■.. track every thirty seconds, and every ninety seconds a "pr" horsecar" crosses. At the same time Hadfsoi cars come along from both direc tions at the rate of three a miaute, and if any thing happens to obstruct the crossing for live minute- seventy cars are brought to a stand still, and traffic cannot be brought to its normal condition in less than fifteen or twenty minutes. Some figures showing the amount of business done by the surface roads were shown to illus trate the difficulties against which the cars must battle. "For tne six months ending December 31." said Mr. Vreeland. "the surface cars of New York carried 77.7;'..*».M4 passengers, an Increase of about 11,000,000 over the business for the same months In 1888; and you can well under stand that with a business of such proportion-, ■•■ do our best to give the best service possible. In the time mentioned we carried on the Fourth ave. line. 7,499,530; on the Fifty-ninth-st. line. 5.193.82G Eighth-aye., 7.467,404; Broadway! 1,030^12, and Lexington-ave M 5,557,812 Every line is closely observed, reports are made show ing how many 'car miles' are covered on each line, how many passengers are carried and how many transfer and how many cash fares are col lected. A close record is also kept as to the fluctuation of traffic during the day. and these reports are the basis upon which we make our time schedules." Traffic sheets which are made from these re ports she i at what times in xhf day or night the travel is the greatest, and a reproduction ■ f the* sheets is i herewith to show the fluctuation. Tho heavy lines Indicate travel on cash fares, the dotted lines denote '"transfer" truffi- . It will be seen that *hi:e in the hea\j-s: h. ur, on the Fourth-ay. division, between 7 and 8 O'clock in the morning, the number of passengers is only 6,750 the heavy evening- hour- bet weer .". and C. .', ;... k— reaches 104250. The people onu from their homes to the business district at ali hours from (I until l<t. but the great majority pr.es h^me between 7< and G o'clock, and tram., jumps from 6,000 to 4^LJbIJL^ EPJS NEW 800 X S HOW ENGLAND SAVED EUROPE The Story of the Great War, 1793-1815 By W. H. FITCHETT. To be in 4 vols. (vote. 1, 2 and 3 now ready). Each vol. illustrated. 12mo, $2.00 VoL I. rt F c OM the Low Vol. ".-Nelson and th; Vol. 11l .—The War nt the Countries to Egypt. Struggle for the Sea. Peninsula. " DRD R - ,?Ti Cf J ," ll y > m - "T" P ljnanJ P oilUofview "r° MBINES both naval and pathetic toward ability ' c .1. 1 j- .- ■ v *~* wherever he finds it, and hi. : ° f the Wcrk dlstin U!ill military history, and is entertaining style should give '* <at once from all easting written with extraordinary fire him a wide circle of readers." histories of the period." and animation." — Tlu Nation. —Review of Reviexs. —Boston Transcript. "T HE Cl k is « °rt h y of the author of Deeds That Won th- Empire' and • Firfiti for the s ,rl« «f J - i- ■ C lett ,g, g ' yes us in chronological order and with a few connecting finks a ser.e, of pictures naval and m.l.t.iry. By this means the p .it pageant of the war passes before 10 eyes ss m ? . niovi 1K r , ano , rJm - 1 - This man not be the history required by the student an 1 Hie politician, but it is exactly th? sort of history desiteJ by the in.llion."— The Spectator. Historical Tales from Shakespeare By A. T. QUILLER-COUCH. 12mo, $1.50 CORIOLANUS KING JOHN KING HENRY IV JULIUS CESAR KING RICHARD 11. KING HENRY V. K ' N ' G HENRY VL ]V1 X (JUILI.ER-COUCH has put into plain, simple narrative form the stories in the historical plays ol Skakespeare, with the idea ot representing these vivid pictures so tint youn-* readers may be attracted to them. In carrying out this plan he has kept to the story but nude it a story cl men s motives ■■■■ : feelinsjs .is well as of actual events. The book doe; (or the historical plays what Lamb's " Tales from Shakespeare" does for the comedies and tragedies FOUR SUCCESSFUL "BOOKS. In Connection With THE DE WILLOUGHBY CLAIM By FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT 3Jt7t Thousand. 12mo, $1.50 *«IT is typically an American -novel, which, in A its subtle, tragic performance, lays a tre mendous hold up the reader's sympathies. . . . The striking originality of the plot, the intenrely dramatic climaxes and the low, sweet thrills <if happiness which an in such direct con trast, pive- the book a woininess ami a fascina tinr. that are hard tj shake off.' — Boston Herald. FISHERMAN'S LUCK By HENRY VAN DYKE zoth Thousand. Illustrated by prominent artists. Crown Bvo, S- 00 "j|K van DTKE has broncht from the -*-' brooks and the woods a fresh and gen uine note into our literature— a note in which one h'-un* the fall Of water, the stir of leaves, anil the sound of men movinp and speaking. These twelve chapters have a delivrhtftil breczi ness of spirit anU a sincere literary charm." —The Outlook. 10,000 in one hour, and then back again to (;.<Khi in the n.-xt hour, "In order to appreclatt fully what it means' ti operate the surface roads In New-Tork." said Mr. Vreeland, "and tc keep thinps moving, one should know what we are expected to do. There are in the United States abuut lM.«mi> RED ROCK By THOMAS NELSON PAGE 74th Thousand. Illustrated by Clinedinst. 12mo, $1.50 " > V\ THEX one has fini; -" he<l 't. Hp finds in his " » mind a living community of art inc. breathing, and vital men anil women, anil that is savins that 'Red Hock' is the work of a man of genuine artistic power. It Is a contribution t.> our literature because it is real; because it deals with a very dramatic period in American history."— The Outlook. WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN By ERNEST SETON-THOMPSON 41st Thousand. Profusely illustrated by the author. Sq Kvo, £2.00 '■ '■XV'lL.r' Animals I Have Known." Is unique ♦ * In that, th:>'i?»i tirs«i puMiMifl in No ven^l>er, !X'- t jt is njw having its largest >;tKs. The Mai! and Express says: "In depicting ani mal life and character, Mr. TTnmpmin has prob ably no p,-er in this country, and this delightful volume show* us that his pen is as mighty as his marvellous brush." miles of steam railroads, and on these roads there were carried last year about 514,963,000 passengers. The Metropolitan Street Railway has about 254 miles of tracks, and carried on these about 255,835,000 passengers, nearly one half the number carried on the 184.OX) miles of steam railroads." 13