Read the preface and chapter 1: A Kind of Aladdin's Cave from Matthew Algeo's book: New York's Secret Subway: The Underground Genius of Alfred Beach and the Origins of Mass Transit
https://islandpress.org/books/new-yorks-secret-subway#desc
"[An] engrossing chronicle... an immersive view of 1860s New York as a hotbed of innovation and corruption."
Publishers Weekly
"Alfred Ely Beach's pneumatic subway was a dead-end in the history of subway technology, but it is a delightful and revealing episode in American history, and Matthew Algeo's deeply researched book lucidly sets Beach and his project in context. The secret, unauthorized tunnel was both a feat of cutting-edge engineering and a poke in the eye of New York's brazenly corrupt political establishment. In telling Beach's story, Algeo leads us on a colorful tour of the political and religious tensions of late nineteenth century New York. At the core is the tale of one remarkable visionary who, before the age of specialization, excelled simultaneously as
