New-York Tribune from New York, New York • 30

MUCH DISCUSSED RIVERSIDE DRIVE VIADUCT. AT 96TH STREET, IS NOW APPROACHING COMPLETION. sgse LOOKING ALONG Till: EAST SIDE OK Till; VIADUCT. NIXHTY-SIXTH-ST. VIADUCT WORK ON THIS RIVERSIDE DRIVE IMPROVEMENT NEARLY COMPLETED.

The work on the Riverside Drive viaduct at Kinety-sixth-st has reached a state which affords a iii- id- a of its merits as a piece of landscape architecture This much discussed lii provement, costly, perhaps, beyond its usefulness, ad. is greatly to the attractiveness of Riverside Park. The work is far more elaborate than those residing in the vicinity had any idea uld be whi it was begun. The viaduct Its- If Is nnly a small of the granite masonry which has erected within space a block. The high retaining walls along the sub- Vay, with their picturesque buttresses and the numerous terraces of stone steps leading from th- road down the river, or rather to the railroad tracks, which pretty effectually rut the public off from the river, probably have cost the city more than the viaduct itself.

Then there is a park tool storage house granite the south side of Ninety-sixth-st. ad- Joining the railroad and a rest house similar exterior design and construction directly opposite. These buildings have been finished, and the ground about them is being graded and sodded. When the asphalt walks, now partly Jaid, are completed, as they will In a few weeks, and the semi-circular shelters at each end of tho viaduct next the drive are finished, re can be no question that the portion of the park thus embellished will be one of the auty spots of the city. At present, however, there is a sort of traffic through the subway that is far from suited to the surroundings.

The debris from the blast- Ing and digging In the rapid transit tunnel under the lioulevard is being carted to the river front through Ninety-sixth-st. and dumped cm scowa moored there. A steady procession teams is constantly passing under the viaduct In both diiections, and the cloud of dust they raise from the uneven road and that resulting from the dumping operations keep the ornatnental stonework of the viaduct thickly coated with a reddish brown dust not attractive to the eye. Instead of washing off the dust effectually, an ordinary shower Simply streaks the walls with mud, and they will probably bear the Mains thus created for years. Every breeze that creeps up the Steep bluff is laden with dust, and it is whirled across the drive and forced into every nook and cranny of the houses In the neighborhood, to the great discomfort of the occupants.

The aspect of the improvement is most pleas- Ins from the park walks and the river. Except arch of the viaduct, the abutments and railings of which rise above it, and the shelters, which are to mark the limits of the Improved area, little can be seen from the lower Boors of the buildings that front on the drive. One must go down the hill and look up to appreciate fully what has been achieved by the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars of the city's money. To this extent at least the structure is not merely local in character. Kverybody has a right to go where its attractions can best be seen.

The chief advantage from the work is the reduction in the steepness of the grade of Riverside Drive and the convenience caused by having the local trallic cross the drive below the surface. NEW-YORK TRIBUNE ELLUSTRATEO PARTNER OF J. P. MORGAN SUCCESS WHICH HAS MAKKKP THE CAREER OF GEORGE W. AN OFFICE HOY TWENTTFTVE TEARS AGO.

In the published articles on the subject of the formation of the Steel Trust, the Louisville and Nashville transaction, the steamship combination and many other gigantic enterprises which have interested the financial world In the last few months the name of George W. Perkins, of the banking firm of J. P. Morgan figures conspicuously. It is only natural that people in all parts Of the country should ask, "Who is this banker, Perkins?" Many of these will be surprised to know that he has been In the banking business less than a year, and that he is one Of the infants of Wall Street.

George 'vV- Perkins is not one of those prominent financiers who made money In drygoods, With the pedler's pack, in railroads- or factory operations, and then "went into Wall Street" to round Oil a business carter. He did not aspire to the glories which t.i the great manipulators of stocks and securities, and had no ambition in the direction of leadership in the army of bulls and bears. He did not invade the financial district and lay siege to established strongholds, but while working in his chosen calling Wall Street THE SHELTER AT THE NORTH END OF Till-: VIADUCT. came to him. It came to him in the person of J.

I'lerpont Morgan, who had watched the career of the young man, who by his energy, knowledge of men and affairs and his thoroughness had won his way In a large business concern from office boy to a place of highest responsibility. He was second vice-president of the New-York Life Insurance Company tf-n he was invited to become a member of the firm of J. P. Morgan but despite the great opportunities and the high standing it: financial world which naturally attach to sad an alliance the offer was declined. Mr Perkins preferred to remain in the company in which he had served as office boy twenty-five years before.

As bookkeeper, cashier, solicitor and director of agencies in various places he had become an important part of the company, and when John A. McCbH became president, in he the- office of third vice-president created in order that Mr. I'erkins. who was Uks stationed at Chicago in a responsible plan; might become a number of his staff. As third vice-president he worked as industriously as he did at Cleveland.

Denver or Chicago in lower places. ami attracted no attention in the financial world until 1867, when he negotiated a Russian loan of too, the first foreign loan ever negotiated in this country. When the restrictive measures adopted by the licriiian Government jeopardized the American insurance business in the Oernian Kmpire a THE VIADUCT VIEWED FROM THE RIVER FRONT. controversy arose which ended disastrcusly to the American interests. American companies with large German clientage were forced to give up the lucrative foreign business unless negotiations could be reopened.

In the emergency Mr. Perkins was selected to go to Europe. His mission was successful. It resulted in the visit to the United States of a distinguished commission, which reported in favor of the company to re-enter and do business in Germany. This was a diplomatic as well as a business triumph which brought the young vice-president into the public eye, and when later he financed the German loan Mr.

Morgan thought he saw in him sound Wall Street timber. The German incident brought Mr. Perkins to the notice of President McKinley, and a close and warm friendship between the Chief Executive and the young underwriter expert was the result. When Mr. heard of Mr.

Morgan's plan to make Mr. Perkins a member of his firm, he did not approve of the plan, but said to mutual friends that he hoped Mr. Perkins would remain where he was, because he feared that going down to Wall Street would take the humanity out of him and make him what so many men have become "on the Street. hard and tireless grinders. He had the highest regard for Mr.

McKinley's opinion, but feeling himself safe against the effects of Wall Street, when Mr. Morgan repeated his offer six ninths later he accepted, with the understanding that he should not sever his connection with the New-York Life Insurance Company. vhiI he is by his own might a power "on the Street. he finds time to attend to his a3 second vice-president and chairman of the finance committee of the insurance company. and spends some time in his old office every workday.

This man. with an international reputation as an underwriter and financier, la only forty years old. and the great work which he has accomplished and the strain which is a part of a life of great activity have left no marks upon him. He is six feet tall. ha 3 brown hair and eyes, and is best described as a good looking man.

He is genial in his manner, and. without posing as a knowing man or a pedant, impresses one even in commonplace conversation as a man who sees beyond the surface and has the faculty also of imparting to others matters which he desires to make clear. His energy and his devotion to a cause were demonstrated by his action in connection wita the movement for the preservation of tte Palisades. Governor Roosevelt appointed him chair-.