treet, occupying a lot so by 100
feet. It was four stories high, with a fire-wall dividing it into
two equal parts. One of these parts was converted for the uses of the
station proper, and the other was used as a tube-shop by the underground
construction department, as well as for repair-shops, storage, etc.
Those were the days when no one built a new edifice for station
purposes; that would have been deemed a fantastic extravagance. One
early station in New York for arc lighting was an old soap-works whose
well-soaked floors did not need much additional grease to render them
choice fuel for the inevitable flames. In this Pearl Street instance,
the building, erected originally for commercial uses, was quite
incapable of sustaining the weight of the heavy dynamos and
steam-engines to be installed on the second floor; so the old flooring
was torn out and a new one of heavy girders supported by stiff columns
was substituted. This heavy construction, more familiar nowadays, and
not unlike the supporting metal structure of the Manhattan Elevated
road, was erected independent of the enclosing walls, and occupied the
full width of 257 Pearl Street, and about three-quarters of its depth.
This change in the internal arrangements did not at all affect the ugly
external appearance, which did little to suggest the stately and
ornate stations since put up by the New York Edison Company, the latest
occupying whole city blocks.

Of this episode Edison gives the following account: "While planning
for my first New York station--Pearl Street--of course, I had no real
estate, and from lack of experience had very little knowledge of its
cost in New York; so I assumed a rather large, liberal amount of it to
plan my station on. It occurred to me one day that before I went too far
with my plans I had better find out what real estate was worth. In my
original plan I had 200 by 200 feet. I thought that by going down on a
slum street near the water-front I would get some pretty cheap property.
So I picked out the worst dilapidated street there was, and found I
could only get two buildings, each 25 feet front, one 100 feet deep and
the other 85 feet deep. I thought about $10,000 each would cover it;
but when I got the price I found that they wanted $75,000 for one and
$80,000 for the other. Then I was compelled to change my plans and
go upward in the air where real estate was cheap. I cleared out the
building entirely to the walls and built my st