Introduction: Two cities, one crisis -- PART I. THE VISIONARIES. A secret subway ; Where spirits, the devil and the dead Live ; A family for the ages ; History made in Richmond -- PART II. THE BLIZZARD AND THE BILLIONAIRES. The blizzard that changed everything ; New York City's Moses ; William Whitney's missed opportunity ; The engineer and the piano maker ; The rise and fall of Henry Whitney -- PART III. TRAGEDIES, TRIUMPHS. Bidding to build history ; "Meehanville" ; Boom! ; "First car off the earth!" ; The brains, the builder and the banker ; Playing with dynamite ; October 27, 1904.
Summary:
In the late nineteenth century, as cities grew more congested, the streets became clogged with plodding horse-drawn carts. When the great Blizzard of 1888 crippled the Northeast, a solution had to be found. Two brothers from a prominent family--Henry Melville Whitney of Boston and William Collins Whitney of New York--each pursued the dream of his city digging the first American subway, and the race was on. The competition played out in an era not unlike our own, one of economic upheaval, life-changing innovations, class warfare, bitter political tensions, and the question of America's place in the world. The story is peopled with the famous, like Boss Tweed, Grover Cleveland, and Thomas Edison, and the not-so-famous, like the countless "sandhogs" who shoveled, hoisted, and blasted into the earth, some losing their lives in the process. Doug Most chronicles the science of the subway, looks at the fears people overcame about traveling underground, and tells a story as exciting as any in the pages of U.S. history. This is a great American saga of two rival cities, their rich, powerful, and sometimes corrupt interests, and an invention that changed the lives of millions. --From publisher description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.