Daily News from New York, New York • 79

10c inn 1 1 "fc nimi wwwn'i i iiiiTiwiiiiirirfrriOTn: 1 1 mnu.ij i DAILY NEWS, -TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1961 -lit! it" fetis- i rr i JV i 1 1 1 y. 4. VI I vl SU i Robert Fulton's steamboat, the Clermont (foto left), still sails at the Fulton St. IRT station. Foto right shows a sloop, but it's also an old-time ferry, gliding over the waves at South Ferry Station.

-ta in i ii ii saic in sjypwap 4re Peep Mmi dovn to a vatervay. u-onder A ml or sn ts from now. Srt at: An i 'Km in Sac York City or bit of flit crt r-diggiiig nie-t rojiolis. Cast: Tiro rein ohii.t$. They excitedly eire xi mininff a oxaic jiist uncovered on a nail section of one of the dark, dreary c( cms beneath ground nhich are called subway stations.

First Archeoloiist Fascinating! It fftous an early type Jtonxtr trees, and a ArcJieologist It appears to be ceramic tiles. It's quite different bas-relief sculpture showing a up a few months ago. What cultured people subway hare been enjoying art like they traveled about. Indeed, jes. And the subway have been remarkably "M'OW the time machine Avhizzes us back to the present.

Your reporter is in-terviewing some of the cultured people in the remarkably beautiful sub- way system The first man approached is searching through the discarded newspapers in a trash barrel at the Canal St. BMT station. "Excuse me, sir." your reporter asks, "what do you think of the mosaics here in the subwav "The what?" "The mosaics, sir. Here on the wall see this idyllic scene of an old homestead, with the path to the canal? What do you think of it?" i 1 I 1 By DON MOLINELLI path leading and bas-relief sculptures and is glad to talk about anything that has to do with New York's subway system, for he's the world's No. 1 subway fan.

WH4 HAPPEN WITH THE IND? Formerly a trolley motorman, I Horn has put 10 years in the subways and as much time after working hours just exploring tunnels and tracks beneath the i city. The unofficial Transit Authority historian, he has two books about subways and elevated lines to his credit and is at work on a third. He owns an enormous collection of poetry, music and literature all dealing with the underground railway. "I've been studying the mosaics and sculptures for more than 16 years," Horn says. "They are found in more than SO stations.

Most of the mosaics are in the IRT system. The bas-reliefs which were pre molded are mostly in the BMT. The newest system the 1XD has no art work." Was their purpose merely decorative? NOW HERE'S ART WITH A MISSION "No." Horn says. "Each picture attempted to show the subway rider where he was. They were intended especially for peop who couldn't read English.

The IRT was started in lt'00. "At that time there was still a strong tide of immigration washing the city. So, at the Fulton St. IRT station a bas-relief of the steamboat Clermont appears. Robert Fulton was an international figure.

AVhen a traveler saw his invention he was supposed to know- he was at the thoroughfare named after Fulton. "And when he saw the mosaic the old bell-stack locomotive, he knew he was at the tailroad terminal: Grand Central Station on the IRT line." I'-hat it means Second made from from the bearer we dug First riders must this ichile Second sustem must I I Anotber ferryboat but easier to recognize at Cortlandt where Canal St. and Broadway meet now." Horn says he now is researching the mosaic on the 14th St. station of the BMT Broadway Line. "It shows what seems to be an old roadhouse or inn," he says.

"Old-timers think it is the place where George Washington stopped when he came to New York for his inaugural. But so far I haven't been able to pin it down." In tracing the background of subway art, Horn spent long hours checking musty records of the Transit Authority but with little success. THE ARTISTS ARE A MYSTERY. TOO "It was said that August Belmont, financier and one-time chairman of the board of the IRT, originated the idea of pictures to identify the location," Horn says, "but you can't prove it by the records. "Most of the papers of the early 1900s were thrown out long ago.

No mention of the art is made in any of the records which do exist. But buried in a pile of reports I did find an original drawing of the Astor Place beaver. Unfortunately it was unsigned. It's a shame, but the names of the artists who designed and executed the decorations will probably never be known." In his search Horn turned up the names of three companies which were responsible for "finishing" the subway stations. They were the Manhattan Glass Tile the Alfred Boote and the Gridley Faience Co.

None of them now is in business. HORN CALLS IT A TRAGIC LOSS "Another tragedy," says Horn, "is that with the remodeling of the stations going on, no attempt is being made to preserve the art. "It's being ripped down or covered up. Look at the Wall. St.

station on the IRT. It shows a reproduction of the old stockade which once stood in the area. But the station has been repaired and only one picture is left. If nothing is done to'save them, they'will ail be gone some day snon." The reporter had one last query for the busy subway expert: "What scene is represented at the Chambers St. BMT station?" "That's old Kings College," he said.

"It later became Columbia University, after moving up to 4Pth St. in 1800. Don't ask me how the picture was supposed to help a traveler find his way when the school was gone 40 years before the subway was built." We didn't. Tiles form locomotive at IRT'a Grand Central Station. Columbia University, which is located there." Some of the landmarks portrayed in the station art work are no longer in existence.

At the IRT South Ferry station is a reproduction of a ferry alright but it's a sloopj and it's been a mighty long time since they appeared there. The old state prison now called Sing Sing at Ossining used to be near the Christopher St. station. One still can see what it looked like in a mosaic on the station wall. And St.

John's Chapel spire continues to pierce the clouds at the Canal St. IRT station, but the chuch was demolished in 1918. The mosaic which took most of Horn's investigatory time is the one at the Canal St. BMT station and shows a house and what appears to be a small bridged stream. AND SO IT BECOMES A MYSTERY HOUSE "It was one of the first mosaics I tried to trace, beginning in 1047," Horn says.

"It wasn't difficult to figure out that the water was supposed to be the old canal once located near the spot, but the house intrigued me. Why had it been included? I felt sure it must have some significance, but for eight years I coudln't find out what it was." Then in 1955, Horn spied an old painting showing the same scene in the New York Historical Society. "It identified the homestead as 1-elonging to Aaron Burr who fctlifrYtT tViar witli A lnvamlur Hamilton. His house was located canal in BMT at Canal St. never noticed that thing be- iore.

via they just put it up Instead of fooling around with stuff like that why don't they rive us better lighting so it's easier to read?" He walks away muttering-. The reporter now travels to the Astor 1RT station where he conies across a woman carrying a shopping hag and leaning wearily against a pillar. IT'S A PUZZLER TO THIS RIDER "Pardon me. madam. May I ask your opinion of the picture on the wail?" The woman looks and grimaces.

"What is it, a "No, it's a heaver. the broad, flat "Veh. Well he's got something fit on but I don't. Why don't I. Beaver on Astor wall represents fur Place Astor IRT old.

they put more en these stations? I'm beat." Next stop is the Building at 370 St Brooklyn. Here, in orTice- of the New York Transit Authority, the writer begins making regress mi tracking dmvn information about art work in the subway system. to George Horn," he is told. "If anyone kr.u-As George will." Horn, a motorman for the IND line, does know about the mosaics Motorman George Horn No. 1 mxibivay fan What about the beaver? i "Well, the beaver is at the As- tor Place IRT station.

Astor Place was named after John Jacob Astor. And Astor made his i fortune out of furs mostly heaver." Your reporter blinked here but Horn -went on. "I admit the beaver is tough to figure out, but most of the others are easier. SANTA MARIA? TRY COLUMBUS CIRCLE "At Columbus Circle, for instance, is a picture of the Santa Maria. Columbus flagship.

The I KT Borough Tlall station in Brooklyn shows the tower of the Hall of Records, which is right up the stairs. And at 116th St. is a reproduction of the insignia of i Aaron Burr's borne borders old i -r-? I.