Jan. 16, 1874: The Globe mocks a correspondent who has proposed an underground rapid transit system for the city. The idea is “a web of iron along whose radiating strands the citizens shall glide back and forth with the speed of the wind and the comfort of the fireside. Doubtless in all these underground tunnels, he would have supplies of sunshine and air, and it would be a luxury to travel from home to office. We hope he has influence with the good fairy that can give us this splendid system.’’ (The subway tunnel, the nation’s first, would open in 1897)