The Sun from New York, New York • Page 52

TIIK SUN. SUNDAY. MAY U. Park Avenue Viaduct to End Traffic Snarl Fifth Avenue Congestion Will Be Re-lieved by Improvements at the Grand Central and at 34th Street llEBBM" I1 "UP IHit uifrf i. (i, anBHIIsaW'TlBnlBJiMMaiEare KMKVINU vcliiculnr congestion in Fifth nvenue mid oilier nortii anil south streets will do its hit In win Hi war.

At least, Borough President Dow-ling has succeeded In persuading Ihe. Feit-ernl authorities (lint tin- fabrication sfccl lor (lie improvement of Park nvenue is a war need. Contracts for the improvement Imve been lrl nnd work is actually under way. Tim improvement consists in llic re-niovnl of transit bnrricrs nt Thirty-fourth street, where the mmlwny skirts around (o (lie west ccnuse of the, entrance of tlie New York City Railways Company tunnel, and nl Forty-second street, where I'nrk nvenue is interrupted liy tlio Grand Central Terminnl. The first trouble in to be corrected by the construction of nnothcr rnmp with a roadway at the easterly side pf the.

tunnel. At Forty-second street a viaduct in to carry the trnfllo over thin teeming thoroughfare to the elevated roadway that nkirtn the terminnl. Will Ba CompUted Neat May. The viaduct will Ih completed by May IMP, and the contractor has promised to havo tlio work lietween Thirty -second and Thirty-fourth streets done by tlio end of the year. While this will give a theoretically uninterrupted run for vehicles from the beginning of Fourth avenue to tho end of I'nrk avenue, Borough President Dowling has already foreseen situation which Will tend to slow up traffic nnd prevent the rapid movement that is desired.

He bns already developed plans to euro this situation, but their consummation involves negotiations with the New York Central Itailrond nnd nn appropriation for the purchase from that corporation of an overhead easement in Depcw place, which skirts the easterly side of the Grand Central Terminal. The plans now being curried out contemplate that all traffic through Fark avenue shall go nround the terminal on the westerly side, where there is nn elevated roadway in Vnndcrhilt nvenue, immediately adjoining the railroad building. This will involve sharp right angle turn nt the comer of the building at Vsuidcrbilt avenue nnd Forty-second street. All tralhV will of necessity have to slow down nt this point nnd the danger of accidents by collisions between northbound nnd southbound vehicles will lie great. Proposed scheme for traffic outlet at Grand Central Station.

The city already owns the roadway, shown here, leading around the left of the station and is negotiating for the roadway leading to the right. The viaduct will cross Forty-second street. President Dowling haa opened negotiations to have restored to the city the right to luw the elevated roadway of Depcw place, for northbound traffic in order that the elevated roadway in Vondcrbilt avenue may be restricted to southbound vehicles. The ownership of Depcw place between Forty-second and Forty-fifth streets since 1000 has rested in the New York Central, which paid the city consideration of nearly 9900,000 for it. More than one-half waa in cash and the remainder in land north of the terminal that is now a part of Park avenne.

Street Owaod by Railroad. The railroad closed the street, which wns then on a level with ndjoining thoroughfares, and build an elevated railway which is used aa a private way for bag-gngn trucks and mail wagons in connection with the railroad business. As the corupnny has planned its buildings on either aide of Depcw place, including the Hotel Commodore, with the idea of maintaining the private highway, any arrangement to be made with the New York Central will have to bo one that will not interfere with this use. Ijtwycrs havo said that the city, having once condemned the land for a street and then parted with it, cannot again acquire it through condemnation proceedings, so it must be a matter of private negotiations with tho railroad corporation. It lins been suggested to the company that the city build its roadway on an elevated structure above the present roadway and join the existing grade at Park avenue and Forty-sixth street In this connection Economy Has Compensations for Father daughters arc always Idling bought all we could possibly afford in me," said Mr.

Fatherly, "that I must wenr better clothe; that it isn't nice for their father to go nround shabbily dressed. Their ideaB are very critical. "1 have suits I think nre perfectly fit lo wear nnywhero hut nboul which they don't agree with me at all. There may be clothes that are not exactly in style nnd may be a little worn but seem to me perfectly all right. "Wearing one of these suits I may meet my daughters in the street, to be greeted with becoming filial courtesy, though I can't help noting a severe glint in their eyes ns they pass me by, nnd I know then what is coming to me when I get home.

they any to rao then, 'don't you ever wear those clothes in the street ngainl' This with a large and heavy accent on the ever, nnd 1 know Hint it is a ruling that must be observed. "The fact is that my daughters, good ns they both nro to liotli their parents, nre, 1 sometimes think, nliuost a little harsh to me in this matter of my clothes; they insist even on ruling what I shall wear at home; they say I must not, must not, wenr shnliby old clothes about the house, they are that particular. And truly I do try to follow their behests, but ah I I think I can now sec ahead little let up, a little less of rigidity in the enforcement of these rulings. "On account of tho Liberty bonds I "We all havo Liberty bonds, each nnd every member of my family, and wc hart fact, when I look at my not over colossal bank account I wonder how in 8am Hill wo are going to meet those payments when they fall due. Hat I know we shall meet them somehow, though very well I know that in order to meet them we shall lie forced, simply forced, to economize.

"And that's where my relief comes in. We sha'n't any of us be able lo buy so many new things this summer, and I shall be permitted to wear out some of my old clothes. "I have on at the present moment a suit that I like very much. It is a little out of style, but it is of excellent material, in perfectly good condition and I have just had it pressed and put in perfect order. It is a large, easy, comfortable suit and to my notion perfectly fit to wenr anywhere.

"With all these things to recommend it this is a sail that for street wenr my daughters havo tabooed, but now I know Hint I shall be permitted to wear this suit out. "I dwell with pride upon the fact Hunt it was our daughters who were most urgent that wc should subscribe nil wo could, and they arc more than ready to do their share of the economizing, in which tliey nre quite liko their mother. And tho economizing; doesn't bother me. "But hrsido the satisfaction wc all find in doing (ho bent we can 1 find in our self-denial, for myself personally, some further slight compensation. "Kcally I liko old clothes best" President Dowling has in mind cnrryiiur the elevated roadway in Vanderbilt avenue oat and over to Forty -sixth street.

This would relieve the congestion in Forty-flflh street, which lies immediately to the north of the terminal. Because of tho embargo on the fabrication of steel for other than war purpose it looked as though the Park avenue improvement would have to be held up indefinitely. But President Dowling went to Washington, and after conferences with officials there and Charles M. Schwab of the Bethlehem Steel Company it was announced thst the steel for the work would be put on the basis of wsr contracts. So far the steel has been coming regularly in accordance with this agreement.

The width of the viaduct, which is to swing from the centra of the Park avenue roadway at Forty-first street and extend to the roadway in front of the Grand Central Terminal, is thirty-six feet. The Utter roadway is forty feet in width, while the elevated roadway st the westerly side of the terminal is thirty-six feet. The Depcw place roadway is thirty-three feet between Forty-second street snd Forty-fourth street, snd fifty-three feet north of that point. To laprovo tho Portal. Tho portal of the New York City Railways tunnel is now at Fortieth street snd from that point to Forty-second street the surface cars run in an open cat, which is protected by walls thst extend above the level of tho street.

These walls are lo bo taken down and the cut filled to a level with the present surface of the street. This will enable Forty-first street, which is now blockaded by the walls, to be carried straight across Park avenue. The portal of the tunnel is to be brought up to the southerly side of Forty-first street. In order to get the ears into the tunnel at this point the tracks are being raised from Forty-second street, snd at Forty-first street will bo six feet above their present level. Beyond thst point they will drop sharply in order to get into the tunnel.

Of steel, encased in concrete, the viaduct to extend across Forty-second street is to be in harmony architecturally with tho Grand Central Terminal. The work nt this point is to cost sbout $700,000. The improvement ia Park avenue between Thirty-second snd Thirty-fourth streets involves a change of grade which will enable Thirty-third street to be carried across Park avenue at grade. The grado will lie raised about nine feet on the easterly side of the street, which will leave the northerly end of tho New York City Railways car barns below grade The tunnel portal at Thirty-fourth street will be remodelled and the stairway that now carries pedestrian traffic up to the level of Thirty-fourth street on the easterly side of Park avenue licsido the Seventy-first Regiment Armory will be eliminated. The new roadway or rnmp that will carry northbound traifin around tho easterly side of the tunnel portal' will be thirty-four feet in width for vehicular traffic and twenty-two feet in width for pedestrian traffic.

The westerly roadway will have about the same dimcnsiins. The open cut approaching the tunnel portal will be twenty-one feet in width and will have no sidewalks. The northbound sub way exit nt Thirty-third street will be moved nearer the present entrance. Passengers using it will have to climb about nine feet more than now. Because of the elimination of traffic delays st Thirty-fourth street snd Forty-second street it is estimated that Park avenne when the improvements are completed should accommodate a volume of traffic as great ss Fifth avenne snd "Madison avenue combined.

Thus it is evident to what an extent it will relieve Fifth avenue, which is one of the city's most congested srtcries. The Wheels of Time HAT we really need," said the middle aged man, "is some way of slowing up the wheels of time. "As every man who has begun to get on in life knows, the older we grow the faster time seems to fly. Ia oar youth even single days seem to be endless; but when we get to be about so old the years go so fast thst they seem to spin around like pinwheel. "There was once aa advertiser with a patent medicine to sell who started off his advertisement by describing himself as a retired physician whose sands of life had nearly run out A well meaning friend in the Far West wrote to him saying thst if he would mix a little molaaaes with tho sands they wouldn't run oat so fast "Of coarse there was an idea in that; but the minute you come to think it over seriously you see thst there is really nothing to it.

To make the wheels of time turn slower you'd have to have something more than molasses. I hsve thought thst perhaps we might invent some sort of brake, a very powerful brake, for this purpose, but I guess there's really nothing in this idea either. "Lacking a means of making tho wheels of time turn slower, so that wa would seem to have more time, I have thought thst perhaps somebody may yet devise a way of renewing our lease of life. If we could get an indefinite renewal of our life lease we wouldn't care how fast the wheels turned, because we'd have endless years for them to turn in. "The man who could devise a workable plan of this sort would get rich beyond any sort of dreams whatever; that is, if ho could prolong his own life ss well ss sell life rcnowal leases to others; for I fancy that, hard as this world may be in some respects, the great majority of us would like to continue living in it a long, long time, and would give all we had for that privilege.

"For myself, I can say that I like the world very well, and I would like to stay on in it interminably. If there is anybody now working on this life Jcaso renewal device I hope he will get it running before the sands of my old fashioned life shall have run out completely; and if when be opens up for business he will let mn know Where to find him I shall go to him; and, if I have the price, take out as a first cilsaion a renewal for about a.