Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-01-27
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

this road as proposed by the bill now penu'ns
in Congress. The allegation Is, that !. "ouiu
be supremacy ridiculous to build ROAD On inc
avenue with a guage of four feet, because 1t
would rive us such contracted cars that every
person riding in them would be uncomfortable;
that in the city of New York the railways have
a gusge of FIVE feet two inches, and anything
else would be considered perfect absurdity,
&C., &c. Now, the guage Of the New York
roads Is four feet eight and half inches, so
the difference is simply eight and half inches.
The width Of track, however, has nothing to do
with the sire Of the car. II thought expedient,
q car may be made as wide for the one track
as for the other. Neither has the size Of the
car anything whatever to do with the comforts
Of the passenger in this case. That depends
entirely upon the room appropriated for each
passenger, and not upon the capacity Of the
car to carry more or less. 0ut of this particu
lar feature of the bill are developed accommo
dations far superior to any enjoyed on the New
York roads, or that could be enjoyed here by
cars Of the same character. The great objec-
ton to the New York cars is that they are too
wide and too cumbersome. They occupy too
much room in the street. They require two
horses, side by side, and the foothold Of the
horses is insecure in consequence of their travel
ing half the time upon the rails So far rs the
occupation of room in the street is concerned,
that is not a question Of SO much Importance
in Pennsylvania avenue as in the narrower
streets of New York.
But there are other arguments in favor Of q
smaller and lighter carriage, that apply equally
-. - L.
"riS a els, "-on each side. The actual width,
therefore, required for a car, ia just so much as
will give convenient passage between the two
lines Of settees. Any more than that width does
not in the least enhance the comfort of the pas
senger; but, on the contrary, very much tends to
his discomfort. The New York two horse cars
have more width than is necessary to give the
requisite space through the centre. The extra
room which directors seem to think so neces
sary to the comfort of the passenger, ia gener-
ally full of standing passengers-and it is not
an uncommon thing to see fifty persons riding
in q car, the actual sitting capacity of which
does not exceed twenty-four. Let such objsc-
tors ride in Sixth or Eighth avenue car, from
Chambers street, about o'clock p. ~, and
they will become satisfied that the extra foot
Of width is anything but an element resulting
in comfort to the passenger. Those who stand
up tread upon the feet Of those sitting and
entering or going out of n car so loaded, is a
process which is by no means calculated to i'm
prove ones toilet. This has become a positive
nuisance, and at times, ladies are completely
debsrred from riding on that account. The
people Of the city of New York do not look
upon any other width of track than their own,
as perfect absurdity. On tho contrary, if
the whole system of roads in that city were to
be destroyed tomorrow and rebuilt, narrower
track and lighter and smaller vehicle would
be adopted.
1t is admitted there that the accommodations
are altogether better in the small car. Quite
a number are in use on the Sixth avenue road,
and are looked upon with great favor. As.
however, reduction Of the standing capacity
OF the cars in general use would seriously cur
tail the receipts Of each car, and force the man
ayers to place more cars on the track, and run
oftener to accommodate their travel, they very
naturally retain all the width they are allowed.
The effect of reducing the width of car is
therefore simply to reduce its capacity 10 hold
standing passengers, and to force the managers
to run cars at shorter intervals; and thus their
convenience to the public is immensely in
creased. To accommodate a given amount of
travel, Tor instance, with cars carrying thirty
two passengers each, a car running every six
minutes might be sufficient; while to accommo-
date the same travel with cars carrying only
sixteen passengers each, it would be necessary
to run one every three minutes.
1T NAV safely he left IN tba C.n... A.
which OF the above plans would give the great
est accommodation to the public The more
frequently they run, the greater is the conye-
nience. To dsvelope these advantages, to the
fullest extent, the cars should be made ,iob,
and of such capacity as that one horse can draw
them. They can be run more rapidly than
the larger cars. Carrying a less number of
passengers their stops will be fewer The car
can De stopped and started quicker. Thew are
less likely to come in collision with other vebi-
Giles. Their transit will DO more regular from
these causes
These are the principal advantages or such a
suage OF track as is proposed by the pending
Dill. But one which, above all others, ought
to be appreciated by the citizens of the Dis
trct, is the fact that it precludes the idea that
the avenue can ever be made thorou ghfare
for locomotives, or be Numbered up with I'M
slightly burden cars. The character OF the
road is thus fixed as one designed e.ccLusipeIv
for the local passenger transit of the District,
and for no other purpose.
TIE TARIFF.-It seems to be understand
that Mr.. Phelps, of Missouri, will very shortly
report bill to increase the revenue, &C., in
which the duty on iron and spices will be fixed
at 80 per centum, and on liquors at so per
centum, &C., so as to increase the revenue
from customs to the extent of 5000, 900. The
bill is also expected to embrace authority to
reissue treasury notes or to make a new loan
to the extent of so, OOO, 900. 1t seems to be
further understood that the Secretary of the
Treasury thinks that such legislation will fur
nish the requisite means to supply the de-
hciency in the revenue, now causing so much
uneasiness in governmental circles. As we
have not seen the proposed new law, we are