now part of the New York, New
Haven, and Hartford Railroad system, by means of the Long Island
Railroad, and a tunnel under the East River, which in later years, as
the result of further consideration of the situation, has been covered
by the proposed New York Connecting Railroad with a bridge across the
East River and over Ward's and Randall's Islands.

As a result of these investigations, the late George D. Roberts, who was
then President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, authorized an
expenditure of about $25,000 for soundings to determine the nature of
the strata for tunneling under water. These soundings were carefully
made by Mr. Richards with a diamond drill, bringing up the actual core
of all rock found in crossing the waters of New York Bay from the west
to the east side and extending from the Narrows to the Jersey City
Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

After these investigations had been made, early in 1892, Mr. Roberts
expressed himself as being favorable to the undertaking, with the
definite limitation that the tunnels must be for small cars doing local
suburban business, and for the transfer of Pennsylvania Railroad
passengers to and from New York, Brooklyn, and Jersey City, and not in
any way to be tunnels for standard steam equipment, the expense for
terminals and the prohibited use of coal for fuel in such tunnels not
warranting any broader consideration. Under such instructions, the
interests of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for effecting a physical
entrance into New York City in that year were turned over to Samuel Rea,
M. Am. Soc. C. E., then Assistant to the President of that Company, who
has been identified with the investigations, and the progress and
construction of this work since that time, Mr. Cassatt also working in
conjunction with him on the plans then and since considered by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Management.

On October 5th, 1892, Mr. Rea, under special direction of President
Roberts, made an extended investigation of the various routes which had
then been projected for extending the system into New York City by rail
or transport, and reported to Mr. Roberts that, in his opinion, because
of the limitation of the tunnel scheme to rapid transit trains and the
consequent transfer of passengers and traffic carried in passenger
trains, and because of the drawbacks caused by the use of steam
locomotives in full-sized tunnels, and the objection to cable traction
or any system