The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-11-18
dheGtteQiaetrcer:
sueet Cars by steam.

tffOu ShRehS
The prevalence Of tho horse disease
rsnSed Two Of our city car companies tC
."bs,itute steam dummies" for horses
Silh results that, II not completely salts
lsclOryA At present, yet promise an import
"nt revolution In city locomotion In the
In,nre The South Side Company at
,scb.d four or five heavily.laden cars to a
dummy" and made the trips between
Randolph street and Twenty.Second street
in about hall IN hour, as often Rs the two
dummies" at their disposal could make
them, The rate Of motion Is considera.
bIy faster than that made by horses, but
subject 10 some drawback owing TO the
frequency with which the dummy" gets
"A ihe track. The North Side Company
We believe, made its trips from Graceland
10 the Clark street bridge with two dunn
mics. Few persons can witness these
trains Of passengers gliding smoothly and
rather rapidly through our streets, at an
evident great saving OF cost TO the com.
pluies, and OF wear and tear ol
sniln4i life, without feeling that, soon
er or later, this temporary mode
Of locomotion will be made uni
vepally preferable, and will be perma.
pent We concede that there are me-
chsnlCal and equine difficulties to over
come. The dummy" engines now In
use have not weight enough TO hold the
track as firmly as they need TO, and the
track Is not well adapted to their wheels,
Moreover, the horses who have become
educated TO the locomotive, with its noise,
sud smoke and putting, apparently see
sufficient resemblance IN the railway en-.
Vine to themselves to understand It. But
they do not yet comprehend the dummy.
The very effort which has been made 10
conceal the source Of motion aud to con
sumo the steam and smoke render the In.
veatiOn all the more mysterious TO its
equine brother, whom 1t supercedes.
Whether horses would not become accus.
toned to the dummy In time, II they
should see ii us often as the locomotive,
may be doubted by some, but the weight
Of verlInarlan counsels Is against II.
All these difficulties, however, are those
Of detail. They can be overcome IL il is
once established that passenger cars can
be drawn through cities more economic
silly, safely, swiftly, Cheaply and con.
ve1lently by steam than by horse power
Of the economy OF the use OF steam there
can be no doubt. The dummy requires
no caEding down; 1t leeds itself while on
It's journey; 1t involves no expense when
not at work; II almost never wears out;
when broken itcan be menled; II Is never
sick, and 1t can be fed on coal, which is
Infinitely cheaper than hay, oats, bran
mash and condition powders The dun.
my takes It's five or six cars at q time, &C.
cOrding 10 the demand, and, getting them
quickly out Of the way, relieves the streets,
where the drawing OF an equal number Of
cars by horses would block them up
It was objected to the street cars, on
their introduction, that they would block
up AAd Obstruct the streets, whereas the
result proved that, by conveying more
passengers in less space, they relieved
them. So 1t Is now objeeted to the dunn.
my system that II obstructs the streets;
but, In fact, whatever system Of transit
conveys the greatest number Of passen.
gen most rapidly and at least expense, at.
lords greatest rellet to oil our thorough
fares. As to constructing a dummy that
will hold the track, or track that will
bold the dummy, we cannot think Of these
details as very difficult among q people
who daily ride behind locomotives at the
rate Of mile in a minute and half with.
out q thought ot getting off the track.
The only serious objection Is the ten
deacy ol the dummy to scare the horses,
and this, We doubt not, will be found to
disappear as the horses get over their
scare. With proper tracks and dummies,
We believe q rate Of motion two or three
times as great as our present horse car
rate would bO feasible, thousands ot horses
would be saved TO other and humaner
uses, and the cost Of fares would in time
be diminished one. halt, first to the ecompa.
nies, but ultimately to the public.