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Manhattan: 7th Avenue - 24th Street

An Unfortunate Incident in a Great Engineering Task (The scene is Seventh Ave., N.Y.C., at Twenty-fourth St., just after an explosion has caused the street to collapse for an entire block. It is particularly interesting as showing graphically how the metropolis is being honeycombed for its underground transportation system. In order not to interfere with the ordinary use of the streets during the three years necessary to complete the work, the tunneling method is used rather than open excavation work. For a long period after the earth has been dug up and before the steel & concrete work is completed, the surface of the street is merely boards propped up by wooden beams. An extra-heavy blast, with perhaps other contributing factors, caused the supports to collapse, and the whole street - with its occupants, including a crowded street car - dropped to the bottom. Seven persons were killed & scores seriously injured. There are forty-five miles of subway under construction in New York, one line being under the most important & congested thoroughfare, Broadway. Three days after the accident shown in this illustration, a second one - somewhat less serious - occurred on Broadway)

Photo from the New York Public Library - Milstein Collection