Photo from 1908

[Inactive]

I found an interesting very large tif photo on the Library of Congress site that I saved just now and thought some might enjoy this small crop from it showing two officers in front of the NY Times building. The Times building is the subject but the original image probably done on an 8x10 glass plate is so large that when viewed at full size the one officer can be clearly seen even though he is about 50 feet away from the photographer if not further. He is looking directly at the camera and the camera looks to have been set up on a tripod in the street.

A cable car- would be the Broadway line- can also be seen along with one of the fancy Victorian subway entrances in the background with it's domed roof and finials.

Note the officers' uniform and hat style!

Every man wore a hat as can be seen, the odd thing about these old street photos is they always seem so "alive" with a lot of activity and crowds of people, but when you realize it's from 1908 it sort of hits you that not one person or animal in the photo (or others like it) are alive, they all went on about their daily routines and lives after the photo was taken, lived out their days and are gone. Each one of them had a name, residence and a "story" yet every one of them is completely anonymous to the viewer. It's always interesting to ponder what each of the persons in the photo was doing, where they were heading, coming from etc etc.



How about these two guys up on top of the Woolworth building checking the masonry, no safety ropes, no scaffold, nothing! they just climbed up from a little further below:

[BTDT2]

Sculptor

Thanks for mentioning Library of Congress site, spent time viewing vintage photos and listening to 78 RPM’s from the past.

[ftttu]

I think I'm seeing Wolverine in the background of the image. At least one is still alive.

[BTDT2]

I think I'm seeing Wolverine in the background of the image. At least one is still alive.

Where in the background?

[retired]

That looks like Iowa with his hands on his hips.

[JasperST]

Snappy uniforms. I vote that they be brought back.

[ftttu]

That looks like Iowa with his hands on his hips.

That was Iowa after a few years on the job.

[BTDT2]

That was Iowa after a few years on the job.

Have Iowa respond to the Woolworth building.

[Dinosaur32]

Not a cable car......a NY Trolley Car

[Iowa #1603]

Have Iowa respond to the Woolworth building.

Ah--------------NO,

[Inactive]

LOL you guys are too much fun!
That officer with his hands on his hips looks like he was about to storm over to the photographer to move him out of the middle of the street, that stare is definitely a "get the ____ out of the street you fool!" stare!

Those uniforms do look very snappy, dressed to the nines and no one on the street had any trouble finding an officer.
Very cool sanitizer! I do as well, in fact I have had two browser tabs open the last 3 days to a couple of 78 rpm recordings I wanted to copy!

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/6203

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/5368

I don't as a rule like "bands" or band music, but I happen to really like the First Brigade Band, they have a few videos on youtube, they dress in a Civil War era clothing and both play on antique instruments and sing in parades.

The 1st Brigade Band is a portrayal of an actual Wisconsin band that marched with General William T. Sherman during the Civil War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTq4W24ndtE

[Inactive]

Not a cable car......a NY Trolley Car

I'll tell you a story behind that very line if it's the Broadway line as I think it is, I actually lived in the building that was the 1894 power station for the cable car line for lower Broadway.

This line actually was a cable car line because down in the sub basement which had a 30 foot or higher ceiling originally were four 1,000 HP steam engines, and 11 high pressure boilers. They drove steel cables under the street in a slot around the circuit using a 32 foot driving wheel that was 106 tons! All of the cable cars were pulled around their circuit by the constantly moving cable, I seem to remember the cable itself was 5 miles long and about 100 cars were on it.

I think up around 14th or 23rd street there was another loop and another power station and so forth.
The steam driven cable system proved to be a huge headache, constant breakdowns, cables fraying and getting caught up in the pulleys and stuff, and frayed cables getting caught on the grip of cars at times and the drivers would be unable to stop!
Usually what happened was a massive pileup of an unstoppable car being pulled along the track plowing into stopped wagons, pedestrians, horses and whatever happened to be on the tracks that couldn't move off in time.
The situation continued untill someone could telephone the power plant to tell them to shut the engines down.
Some time around 1900, after only 6 years of use they converted the whole thing to electric to run the cars with the wire in the slot under the street.
Some time between then and who knows, probably WWll, all of the equipment, engines, 8 of the 11 massive boilers, the dynamo (the building generated all it's electric on site with it) were removed and scrapped, thus destroying the only such cable car driving plant like it in the country. The SF Calif system was different from it in many ways, the Broadway system was unique and one-of-a kind.
The building itself was built by Stanford White and was called "The Cable Building," the company who had it built for their lines was the Metropolitan traction Co and there was/were some huge scandals with them along with shady dealings, they didn't last long and as I remember some of the heads were put in jail.

They had offices on the 8th floor I had a loft on the 7th floor, the 8th floor restrooms were lined with white marble on the walls, stall dividers and sink tops, brass and oak everywhere, awnings above their windows, fantastic views and even a wrought-iron balcony (since removed) the boss could step out on, they knew how to spend the money!

Here's a good newspaper description of what happened with the cables all too frequently:

The Times Trenton NJ
Thursday July 6, 1893

CABLE CAR RUN AMUCK

There Was a Lively Scene on Crowded Broadway For a Time.

New York June 6.
One of the Broadway cable cars became unmanageable near the city hall park and started on a rampage toward the Battery. The gripman was unable to release the grip, and under the circumstances the brake became useless. In front of the Post office the runaway cur crashed into the rear platform of a horse car ahead.
The driver of the horse car reined his horses to one side just in time to save them from being run down. Both horses were thrown to the street and the traces were torn away. With the partly demolished horse car ahead, the still unmanageable cable car continued on its mad course. The gripman struggled and strove with all his might to release the grip, failing in which he shouted warnings to everybody in sight. His bell rang at a double rate.

The passengers in both cars- became terribly alarmed, and made a rush for the door, but the conductor obstructed their way and prevented any- body from leaving. Near St. Paul's churchyard, on Broadway, there was a blockade of horses and wagons, and a number of trucks were standing on the track. The runaway cars dashed into the first one. The wheels of the vehicle were torn off and the horses thrown down, while the driver was hurled against the wall of the churchyard. He escaped with light injuries. Still the cars rushed on plowing through trucks and knocking down horses. The drivers usually had warnings and escaped, but owing to the blockade they were unable to save their horses and wagons.

When the cars had cut a passage through the blockade, seven horses were stretched upon the ground and five wagons smashed. When it was seen that nothing could stop the runaway car. somebody rushed to the nearest telephone and notified the Houston street powerhouse. The cable was stopped immediately, and the cars came, to a standstill below Trinity church. The traffic on Broadway was suspended for awhile

.

A photo of the 32 foot driving wheel, you can make out two men standing nearby, I believe the man in the white shirt was the plant engineer, the guy in the black hat was probably a reporter doing the story.
There were trolly lines in NYC too, those ran on electric power, but the Broadway line actually did have a driven cable under the streets as this 32 foot wheel shows!

[Dinosaur32]

Learn something new everyday.......only familiar with the trolleys that ran from Queens into Manhattan.

[So Fla Cop]

That was Iowa after a few years on the job.

That is not fair. We all know that cameras were not invented when Iowa started.

[So Fla Cop]

I'll tell you a story behind that very line if it's the Broadway line as I think it is, I actually lived in the building that was the 1894 power station for the cable car line for lower Broadway.

This line actually was a cable car line because down in the sub basement which had a 30 foot or higher ceiling originally were four 1,000 HP steam engines, and 11 high pressure boilers. They drove steel cables under the street in a slot around the circuit using a 32 foot driving wheel that was 106 tons! All of the cable cars were pulled around their circuit by the constantly moving cable, I seem to remember the cable itself was 5 miles long and about 100 cars were on it.

I think up around 14th or 23rd street there was another loop and another power station and so forth.
The steam driven cable system proved to be a huge headache, constant breakdowns, cables fraying and getting caught up in the pulleys and stuff, and frayed cables getting caught on the grip of cars at times and the drivers would be unable to stop!
Usually what happened was a massive pileup of an unstoppable car being pulled along the track plowing into stopped wagons, pedestrians, horses and whatever happened to be on the tracks that couldn't move off in time.
The situation continued untill someone could telephone the power plant to tell them to shut the engines down.
Some time around 1900, after only 6 years of use they converted the whole thing to electric to run the cars with the wire in the slot under the street.
Some time between then and who knows, probably WWll, all of the equipment, engines, 8 of the 11 massive boilers, the dynamo (the building generated all it's electric on site with it) were removed and scrapped, thus destroying the only such cable car driving plant like it in the country. The SF Calif system was different from it in many ways, the Broadway system was unique and one-of-a kind.
The building itself was built by Stanford White and was called "The Cable Building," the company who had it built for their lines was the Metropolitan traction Co and there was/were some huge scandals with them along with shady dealings, they didn't last long and as I remember some of the heads were put in jail.

They had offices on the 8th floor I had a loft on the 7th floor, the 8th floor restrooms were lined with white marble on the walls, stall dividers and sink tops, brass and oak everywhere, awnings above their windows, fantastic views and even a wrought-iron balcony (since removed) the boss could step out on, they knew how to spend the money!

Here's a good newspaper description of what happened with the cables all too frequently:

.

A photo of the 32 foot driving wheel, you can make out two men standing nearby, I believe the man in the white shirt was the plant engineer, the guy in the black hat was probably a reporter doing the story.
There were trolly lines in NYC too, those ran on electric power, but the Broadway line actually did have a driven cable under the streets as this 32 foot wheel shows!

Wow. I never knew that. I grew up around there.