saw the possibility and dangers of smoke and recommended blowers for meeting such an emergency and further, on page 200, a still wiser recommendation was made that a separate power cable and emergency service should be provided for driving these blowers should the main power circuit be put out of commission.
Prof. Sopers' Conclusions
Coming now to the report of Prof. Soper, and without referring to hypertechnical details, the whole might be summed up in his "Digest of Results" in the following which appears on page 214 of the report: "For the main part the air analyzed has been that at an elevation of 18 inches to 2 feet above the pavement. This height was decided on as the most convenient and suitable after comparative tests of the air at different elevations. But few samples were taken of the air of the cars, since this was the desire of your Chief Engineer" meaning George S. Rice. This might fairly be said to be the mouse which the mountain brought forth! For, in the name of common sense, it may be asked why a few specific points, at a few specific stations, should be selected at a height of 18 inches or 2 feet above the floor, at which to determine whether the subway was or was not properly ventilated; and, why in the name of engineering and science, were but a few samples taken of the air of the cars; and why was it the Chief Engineer's desire that more should not be taken? One may ask the Rapid Transit Commission and its experts whether the public travel "on the stations" or "in the cars?" Granting that the public do use the stations, it is but for a very small percentage of the time spent within the subway, hence it is fundamental that the determination of ventilation, or lack of ventilation should be reached by an analysis of the air within the cars almost to the exclusion of the air at any other point. Accompanying these very voluminous reports will be found drawings Nos. 1 and 2 showing plans of the ventilation of the subway between the Battery and 96th St., also charts Nos. 3 and 4 showing the temperature variations within the subway; also plans of Brooklyn Bridge cooling plant. Care has been taken to bring out the essence of this report since that is the foundation from which any investigation should start. That it was not considered of small importance is seen in the fact that it was followed in 1908 by the publication, through John Wiley, of a book entitled "Air and Ventilation in Subways" by George A. Soper. Ph. D.. Member of American Society of Civil Engineers, Member American Chemical Society, Member of Society of American Bacteriologists, Member of the American Public Health Association.
Supplementary Changes
It will be noted that at the time of the submission of these reports, which were published on or about Jan. 1st, 1907, the subway had been
