The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-05-30

~, 20 the highest confidence, alike from the professional
"a personal character Of the writer who is well known
10 myself ne'po''uiiy' ,, Sov
qbs modern strect railway" now perfected and
,od in our large cities, must not be coniounded IN any
- ,,tb tho ordinary railways used with locomotives
va are unlike in eexry respect either regards the
tn of rail the subsructurc under the rail-, the road
"a the cans, the motive power
The rails now used In the streets are OF the section
xn IA the groovcd pattern. The broad part OF the
~ 4, The portion upon which the wheel runs while
Ill iange upon the tire OF the wheel fitting loosely in
M groove guides the carriage and confines 1t to fixed
49, The pavemens laid close to either side of the
li a and upon an exact surface with them. Nothing
iscts sboye the surface Of tho pavement, and the
he structure forms simply mall yrooo in the pave
nt by which the carriages confined These grooves
~ laid upon sub-sis Of wood imbedded in the earth,
md these sub-sis connected together by cross ties
derneath at intervals of Ave OF six feet. All this
,o sulstructure Is completely covered by the gravel
and payng and nothing is sec, before stated but the
lmule iron groove ThiS Is shallow, and farng upon
I. aides and 10 small In its dimensions not to offer
he slightest obstacle TO vehicles travelling either loEg
udiuay with II, crosswise, or oblique. hundred
ter obstacles arc met with in travelling single square
mon the present pavement Of Pennsylvania avenue
The marked difference between this and an ordinary
nuway for locomotives will he readily seen.
10 those not With the details of tho construc
,o Of street raiiwu idea in very naturally associ
Md with embanknas above the level Of the carriage
,,s or with excavations below, with clumsy seepen
M across the tracks and with rails OF the ordinary
nsttern projecting several inches above them. Nothing
f the kind il intended, would anything of the kind
be tolerated for moment.
The grooyed rails laid described produce the follow
inc results and it cannot be denied that these results
advantages of great Importance
lst They render the draught easy that one horse
can draw twice many passengers as two horses can
draw in the omnibuses-
3D. The carriages run SO smoothly that they are far
moro comfortable and pleasant for the passengers.
3D. The easy draught permits small wheels to be used,
and the carriages much lower about twenty inches
rom the paycmcnt rendering the ingress and egress far
aSer
4th The payemcnts are relieved from immense wear
and tear and constant annual expense is thus saved to
the government.
5h The cars make less noise than omnibuscs
9Th. They create no dust
It'll They reduce the rates Of fare.
9Th They can faster than omnibuses with safe
~ to pedestrians and ordinary vehicles
9th They are safer because they can be stopped
quicker and because passing pedestrian driver of
,e knows always where to turn out the route of the
car being fixed and well known.
These are facts which universally admitted where
street railways used and they cannot be controversial
Such being the advantages produced by the use OF
simple iron groove in the pavement what the dsad-
nages which set forth by the opposers of street
alwaysi Why, merely that the cars AFRO too cumber-
In urging the question of the utility of street railways
is necessary to admit deny this assertion. The
e the has nothing to do with the principle Of the
railway That Is question Of detail, and small
nav be used as well large The width of street and
the amount of miscellaneous travel upon it would be the
clement by which to determine whether cars of given
ie were not likely to take mp too much room,
aud thus incommode other travel A given number Of
passengers must have given number Of seats. An
libus will carry twelve twenty -four is diff
nlt to why the should occupy room in the
treet than two omnib,ses.
The fact il, that it docs occupy so much room The
widest street cars in seven feet The wheels
mdcrne#th and covered by the body. The width OF an
mnbur measuring outside Of the hubs of the Wheels
over eight feet Reduce all these matters to figures and
The hllacy OF such assertions is ut To carry
passengers IL feet long is used, and if 10 feet
added for the space occupied by the horses have
u feet as total To carry the same number of
pssengers in omnibuses would require two, each 10
M long, aud If add 10 feet for each team Of horses,
re nave 40 feet as the total The occupies
let in width, making total Of about 1870 feet The
omnibus occupies nearly 81 feet in width making total
4 $40 feet, or rs per cent. more room than the
equires The argument falls to the ground the instant
acts and figures applied.
II cannot be denied that in very street the
CONSTANT passing of might ncommode other travel
would the constant passing Of omnibuses. The width
pennsy1van avenue however, is such that the qucs-
ion Of space has no bearing whatever
There are however, arguments to be used in favor OF
ahttr tnAn uBeu IN the stfcetS Ol new Iork
md other cities but they are of an entirely different
atme from those referred to.
The population Of Washington il sparse, as
pared with that upon the line Of New York roads, and
he number Of passengers to BE- carried would of course
far less. The public is not properly accommodated
ss means Of conveyance Is furnished at short intervals
The traffic upon tho New York roads il 30 great that
ying thirty forty passengers be throughout
The day at intervals of about two minutes Cars of this
dze could not probably be filled in Washington oftener
than once in ten minutes.
nn every five minutes and for this reason would be
auch greater public convenience than those of larger
ize, The small car can also be drawn by horse;
'he the large requires two. These the argyll
aents in favor Of small cars and they ALL negative
they are which can be used against the cars In ordi
larry use.
1t is proposed to lay down in Pennsylvania avenue
lacks Of four feet in width with space of four feet be-
seen them. 1t proposed to light one-horse cars
six feet In width, Of ornamental and graceful FORM
ach having capacity for about twenty passengers,
nd to run them often the public necessities may
equire every three to five minutes during the day
nd evening, and every 20 to 30 minutes during the
light
The whole movement in the avenue will be simply
me of light and graceful public carriages each drawn by
ne horse and confined to the centre of the street. within
space of IA feet And 1t be asserted for moment
hat the miscellaneous business Of the city would be in
ommoded by public convenience Of such character
any extent comparable with the clumsy and noisy
anibuses which permitted to travel in every
ERECTION
Every improvement in the means OF intercourse be-
seen distant points renders tho city attractive ia
ates the transaction of business both public and pri
ate, and enhances the value of property.
10 those familiar with the operation and effects Of the