"The rapid-transit commission having finally agreed upon routes and general plans of construction for the proposed lines, there is reason to expect that the metropolis will, at no distant day, be furnished with something like adequate facilities of communication. The plans agreed upon contemplate a double-track underground line from the Battery to the city hall, a four-track line under Broadway, and as near the surface as practicable, from the city hall to Fifty-ninth Street; thence under the Boulevard to One Hundred and Twenty-third Street."

"The general mode of operation shall be by electricity, or some other power not requiring combustion within the tunnels or on the viaducts, and the motors shall be capable of moving trains at a speed of not less than forty miles per hour for long distance, exclusive of stops. The sum of fifty million dollars may be expended in the completion of the work."