, 1879-07-20
RAPID TRANSIT.
what the South Side Sueet.Rail-
way Is Doing.
II. Ability to Meet the Present and
Future Demands Of the Public. \
palfef Afforded by New Lines,
New Cars, Etc.
Time Gan Only Be Shortened by Finding
q Substitute for Horsss.

F.. .r.norter Tor TIE TRIBUNE called upon Mr..
= r. Holmes, Superintendent Of the South
ch,c,po Horse Railway Company, and engaged
49, GENTLEMAN in conversation regarding The
.,-escnt and prospective carrying capacity Of the
,,,.s under his control, and the possibility oi
..,,sarting a greater volume Of business By
.nort.nlnr up the time OF transit and increas-
;no the number OF cars, and thus obVlattng the
necessttY for rapid transit railway.
ano You MEET THE PRESENT DEMANDS
~ the Doon1ation Of South Chicago, so far II
~t-eet-car travel IL concerned, Mr. Holmes!"
sWe think Nc do There are no complaints,
at1east-'' .:...........
.And is the number OF passengers increas-
tng." ...
1T certainly is. Every year dnds US opening
m new sections OF the city; laying tracks N
5,stricts which .re being populated"
.And does this help your great through lines
ssuy,' :"
.of course It docs. There's Wentworth aye-
nne. for instance. The new line thereon has re-
ueyed State street materially, just as tue Wabash
ayeuue line, when opened, had beneficial effect
mon State street. Then, also, ne are putting
IN, Or nave put in, many new switches on lndi-
ann avenue The result Is that We can run q
greater number OF cars than NO formerly did on
that tboroughfare. This relieves adjacent lines,
-Ssate street and Cottage Grove avenue"
"Vhen Is your greatest passenger traffic In
winter or summert"
"In summer, Of course. People then ride
more for pleasure than at other seasons.''
"Haye you any method OF
MEErrHd TEE INCREASED DEMANDS .
Of the riding :pub,ic:'
..Yes, ne put On moro cars In summer NO
have about fifty extra cars running, and in vim
TER thirty-6ve. Ne put extra ones on in the
morning and At eyenmg. The rush, you Know,
I. about o'clock .. N. From to it Is great,
but the largest number come at 6, when the
stores, and factories, and other business places
empty out their cmpoycs."
siCan you carry al thesa people readily as
presents''
ayes; We have no trouble whatever.s
Are their demands increasingly"
"Somewhat.n
"Do you think the horse-ear lines Of the
South Side can, meet the requirements Of the
people Tor some years to comet"
"Yes, sir. We're there double the population
there NOW is nc could carry them all very easily
with our present available capacity"
aAs FOE SHORTENING THE TINE OF TRAN1r9n
"Wecan't hope to do this. at least With horses.
We have the speed up to the highest notch, at
least where it is safe to woTE these animals
Our average rate Is about mile In ten to eleven
minutes We're we to go faster re would kill
our animals. This We cannot afford to do; nor
can any line"
ais there no prospect Of
SUBSTITUTE FOR HonsH-powER?~
1--WE hope something may be found There
have been many experiments, but IS yet Doth-
Ing satisfactory. We will hail any invention Of
ar rad MIR hal viii hnr1
cars.n
"Could you then shorten your ttme?"
"fes, to some extent; but not e7en then
very much above the present point, Tor, with
Keep the teams off the stree, and there 1wopld :.
then be the same necessity Of frequent stopping.
Still the public might learn the necessity Of
keeping tue streeta comparatively free"
"Cou1d you not carry more people By
LAYING TWO ADDITIONAL TRACKs
tthus making tour) as far south as Tweuty-sec-
ond street, and running HRy and through ears?"
mo; this would not be practicable. You
see, it would not be possible to operate two ad-
diuonal tracks, for that would take up al the
available space Of the thoroughiare. There
must be some place for wagons to stand, and.
number, horses and vehicles would be con-
stantly in the way Of the cars. This would be
great Interference Then, suppose We did get
double track, aud had way and through cars.
we NAk tAAAe . 4lttIS UE[Lef llWe, owing TO
the 4act that We would have no stoppaCes to
make between certain points with the through
rralns but it would be next to an impossibilitv
IT. get people to take the different cars"
"Uo you aivars run your cars At the same
speed, whether loaded or emptyf"
Yves, ne have to do this in order to keen
them out OF the way Of one another.1
80 it makes no difference in time whether
you have full cars or not-whother it Is hood or
the busy part Ut the days"
II M %1,.
put on notc cara- Tie time is always the |
same''
Had you perfect mechanical contriyauca
1or operating the cars, do sou think you could !
shorten the time of transit much?"
j., YES, MATER1ALLY.
South Of TWenty-second street Ne could make
ten miles where we now make six. and north OF J
that point eight miles where We now make six.
This Is because north OF Twenty-second street
there are SO many more teams in the Nay. South |
the road is comparatively clear.'' ]
= What is your running time now, Mr.
From Randolph street to Thirty-ninth
street. on the State street route, is four and |
one-rlird miles; time, forty-four minutes. To |
1hirty-tourth stTeet, same route, three aud five !
s1th miles; time, rnirty.eix minutes By the |
Cottage Grove ilne to Twent5-hftn street, is ]
1To and one-hali miles; time, thirty minutes;
10 Thirty ninth street, five miles; time, furty-
eight minutes. By the Indiana ayenue line to |
lnirty-hrst street IS three miles; time, thirty
hre minutes; to Thirty-ninth street, three and
ooe-hah miles; time, forty-1Ve minutes To the
terminus Of the Archer avenue line is threa and
ohc-thrd miles; time forty-tnree minutes. BIZ ]
we stocS-fa ards line, FROM Thirty-foursh street
20 me Stoc&-fards, is Two and one-b2N miles;
Ine, thirty minutes BIZ the Halsted street lneto
tnll1y y-uinth street, one and three-fourths mites;
Tune, twenty-two minutes BIZ the Indians avenue
nus ano Ihtrty-ninth street to F1ity-fis street,
@uu taenee east to South Park. is one and one
~ 9o1ln miles: time, seventeen minutes. It will
oe seen oy this TINT The running time. exclusive
~ iaslne time is about as follows:
,.. AiaWes
c+s per sAife. !
state street TO Thirty ninth. go. 1000
Ttt- e " Anltty-fourtR ............... 500
Sot49e grove avenue to Twepty-tfth street 1o:iO
lounge Grove avenue t. Thirty ninth xtrcet o:3t;
tn9iaha &Vcuue 10 Unity -6rKt street, II .:s6 |
mama avenue to Thifty-ninth street...12:51
stock Yards, from hirty-fourtn strr-, 13:nS
aasted street buoge to Thirty ninth street 1-,.1
Indiana ayeune and Thirty ninth 1tree1 ~
Fnty-trst. thence to South Pa1S.....1a.es
*THEsE ARE ABOUT THE 1yERAaE RATES oE
It which tho cars of the South Side are rim II
oust be understood that where on some nor !
lons Of the liues which are greatly crowded |
xIh cars the speed is not very great owing to !
he facs that the cars must take their place and
seep it until the Switching points are reachea;
h,s is made tip when open sections are reached
I'D there are mt 6o many jnnetiEonufs II, 1I,s ]