Part 3, Chapter 22 Summary and Analysis

"The Man in the Window" brings the question of Roebling's health and physical absence from the project to a vote of confidence by the politically motivated Board of Trustees. Animosity among the trustees rises, when plans are changed to accommodate Pullman cars and freight trains on the bridge. No one can say who authorizes this, and Stranahan turns uncharacteristically adamant. Mayor Grace of New York admits to discussing a linkup with the New York Central Railroad for a decade and wonders why Brooklyn should not appreciate what this can mean to them. The argument ends abruptly as time comes to meet Emily for the first stroll across the bridge. The change would not matter much had it not come so close to the end of the expensive project.

In October of 1881, Roebling asks to add 1,000 tons of steel to...