Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-03
A German Elevated Road.

A correspondent of the San Fran.
cisco Chronicle writes that the city Of
Berlin, Germany, has Just opened an
elevated railroad around the city that
does away with all the objections of
the New York roads. The CORE.
~spondent, after referring to the obfec-
tionsble features of the New York
roads, says:
"The Berlin elevated -'Staatbalin,'
they cali it's an entirely different
sort affair. In the frat place, 1t does
not spoil any more streets than Is alb.
aolutely necessary. It cuts ACROSS lots,
30 30 speak, going wherever 1t sees fit
and taking the shortest way CT getting
there, and, as 1t belongs to the gov
erLmsut, it does not hesitate to buy
and remove buildings which stand In
tho way. The result Is 1t does not
thrust itself almost into the front win.
dors of the people along the streets,
but goes stealing along through their
bsckysrds and crossing streets on
G eat iron bridges, thus allowing foot
passengers a chance to live without
being 10 constant terror of their lives
every time they happen to pass near
II; nor is it noisy and dirty, like Its
New York relative. Its roar Ia much
suodued and musical, and, what ia
much better, Is not broken by any
sharp rafting, but is continuous, like
hum of a huge bee, and 1t ''hoids
over" the New York contrivspce In
the matter Of stations as much as pos
sible. Instead of the common oper
sheds and cherries waiting rooms IL
which the New Yorker waits for hi
train, the Berliner has immense iror
and glass stations, into which tn,
trains run to take up their waitin.
passengers, 80 that when on,
steps into a Berlin elevated station
he uIconsclously congratulates himsel
with The fact that he Is dealing with
frat.class railway and not with
horse car line or a backwoods road
Maybe, though, the New Workers d,
not need such superior depot accom-
modations, because their trains run g.
often. If they do not 1t is lucky TO
them. For even if the company feel
itself called upon to build large sta
lions, there Is hardly room in Ne,
York along the line of the 81" TO
such improvements a. those of Der
lin. Nor does the dlssimilarity be
i, tween the systems stop here. Til
shaky, homely, disfguring, inconveu
lent, and seemingly dangerous seal
folding upon which the happy Ne,
Workers are whirled from one en-
of their city to the other would not b
allowed in Berlin. In It's stead W
? find q solid, substantial structure G
brick, stone, and concrete some TWEEN
ty feet In height AMI as many broad
supporting upon Its great arches, not
single narrow.gauge track, but tw
tracks of the standard European gauge
Q together with all the varied and com
phcated signal apparatus, which, pu,
8 cling though 1t may be to a novice, 1
an indispensable attachment to a.
European roads. Indeed, so mssslv
Is the structure that one cannot forr
an Idea of Its size and magnitude witt
3 out seeing 1t where 1t lifts itself aboy
J. the level of the open country and ira,
ing 1t with the eye as 1t gradually for.
shortens itself Ia the distance. In tn
few streets which this road occupies
/, holds full and %undisputed swa,
I Beneath Its arches no teams, no horse
cars, and nc people can pass. II
. arches fill the entire street, with th
g exception of a narrow passageway O
each side, to which the business {
, the street Is confined. Nor does
seem that this monopolizlng work
any hardship, for the streets which
has selected for its site are not prom
nent business streets nor those de
Q voted to residences, And the peopl
8 do not seem to be FESTIVE because the
are deprived Of the New York plea
ures of having their clothes spoiled b
drops of grease or dirty water, or {
having cinders--soms Of them hot
3 slip down the backs Of the necks frol
the passing train.
!, The road Is open and well psrror
o lied, especially on Sundays. Ii pass,
In close proximity to all the populs
places of resort In the vicinity of Be
lin, and Is, therefore, crowded to 4
utmost capacity from morning II
night on all holidays. Perhaps 1t
n not so great a public conveyance
rs the New York ST." but 1t is most ce
.