The Portland daily press., 1884-01-18
History Of Street Cars.

sIn 1851, ,"saId John Stephenson, the vet
eran builder of horse-cars, to New York
Tribune reporter, "I designed and built the
first tram-car of the first railway for street
service in this country abroad. This car
consisted OF three separated compartments.
each compartment holding 10 persons and
being entered by separate doors, on the sides
from guard-rai. Seats were provided on
top of the car for 80 more persons. The car
was very much like the English railway
coach, though 1t was set considerably lower.
1t was hauled by team of horses, the con-
ductor remaining outside ON tbs rail-, rain or
shine. The company for which IL was built
was called the New York and Harlem road.
running from Prince street on the BoWery
along the line of the Bowery to Fourteenth
street, thence along the line Of the present
Fourth avenue to Yorkyllle and Harlem.
Fourth avenue at that time had not been
opened, but the line had been surveyed In
1910. The fare paid varied with the distance,
being sixpence or 81 cents from Prince street
to Fourteenth street, ,sixpence more to apoint
where Forty second street new runs across
Fourth avenue, sixpence more to Yorkville,
paid In the silver of the old Spanish currency
then prevalent. In time the through fare
was reduced TO Is pence, and then to ~.
But the road did not succeed. In 1887, after
six yerAs Of construction, II tempoTari gave
way to the steam cars. In 1S45, however It
resumed working under its charter which
had been given up, and which, by the way,
Is the charter under which the present
Fourth-avenue horse-car line is operated.
SIN that 1QAE "a ua ara rarnad.
eled nearly to their present style, the great
feature being the adoption Of end plantforms
and entrances. No other horse-car line was
built till 1852, when at about the same time
charters were granted for the Second, Third,
Sixth and Eighth avenue lines. Outside Of
New York it this country, Boston first adop-
ted the system in 1856, Philadelphia follow
ing in 1857, after which 1t spread over the
country. New Orleans, in 1861, was the
first to adopt the small car, or, as 1t is called
the bob-tai car. ASd l should like to say
just here that out of the 42S horse-car lines
now existing in the United States, 279 use
the small cars only, the remaining 1z0
having the conductor cars.
I'VE come now to the introduction OF tho
idea abroad. In 1860 George Francis Train
started line, for which l constructed the
cars in Birkenhead, opposite Liverpool, in
England. Popular feeling was against the
idea, however, and the line proved = poor
affair. believe it didn't declare dividend
in 20 years. So intense was the popular
prejudice in England 1t the time that the
starting Of horse-car in London caused q
riot and the rails were torn up. Nor could
an act of Parliament be obtained until as
late az 1870 for the construction Of other
roads. Now, lines are operated In the
American style in most of the principal citiea
in Great Britain-our cars, by their combi-
nation of lightnes, durability and comfort,
having won the day against English manu-
facturers. In 1865 South America took up
street railway enterprises on large scale
Brazil, Venzuela, Chill, Peru, Uruguay,
Ecuador, Costa Rica and the Argentine re-
public all adopting them. And 1t may be
stated in general that our shipments to-day
are to the remote corners of the globe, TO
New-Zealand, Australia, Java, India, Japan,
the Cape of Good Hope and Port Elizabeth
in South Africa, as well as to Canada,
France, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, Holland,
Germany, Russia, Sweden, Norway and
England. The English cars, for which We
have large orders, differ from American cars
in having winding stairs at each end by
which to reach the seats on top of the car.
The fares, too, in an English car are SO
much mile as Is the case with most Of the
European lines. There are three other COM
panies constructing horse-cars in this coun-
try, at Troy, st. Louis and Philadelphia. As
an institution the system is peculiarly Amer
lean, both in point of original conception
and Its development"