The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-01-28
THE HORSE RAILROAD.
Hearing Upon the Petitions to open
the Tracks.
Passage of an Order Granting the
Privilege.

The Board was called to order by Alder
man Noyes, the chairman. Alderman Saw.
yer was absent. The chairman stated that
he had been requested by the Mayor to cal
the meeting to order, and that Mayor Deer.
ing would be present in a short time The
call for the meeting was then read.
Alderman Denison introduced the follrw-
ing petitions which were ordered on file, on
motion of Alderman Gallagher:
To the Honorable Board of Moyor and .4lder-
men of the City Of Portland:
The undersigned respectfully represent that
they are patrons of the Portland Street Railroad
during the winter, and that they would be greatly
ineonvenienced by The use Of sleigh cars.
Signed by A. H. Files and 80 others. including
a large number of ladies.
To the Honorable Board of MAJOR and aldermen
of the City of Portland:
We, the undersigned, desire that the tracks OF
and their cars on wheels during the winter pc
heving it to be for the interest and convenience VI
the public generally and especially LOT rs;,rnsd
Signed by r. H. Turner and 90 others.
We, the undersigned, doing business on Con,
gress street, do hereby petition the Mayo. anu
| their cars on wheels, believing that u VIII en-
nance our business and give to W per cent OF our
population means OF communication W vavi sec
ton of the city, which, if not grained, would pc
| cut off
1 Signed bY A. ID. brown ana II OJnerS.
No remonstrance being filed, Mr. VIM. r.
Wood. in behalf of the Railroad Company,
stated that the company had been Emporium
ed during the past two years by its patrons
to keep its tracks open. If the people de-
sire the company to keep its tracks open this
can be done with safety. The company has
a large heavy pillow, which lowers the snow,
and leyeler which removes the aceumula-
tions to the sides of the street, from where it
| can be removed by teams. This has been
| done ON Preble street. and the street is safe
| If the company is granted the privilege of
keeping their tracks clear until the streets
are unsafe, they will cheerfully go back to
runners when this occurs, although not be-
| lieving that such a contingency will arise.
| Portland street. where the pillow and leveler
| have been used, is in good condition. The
company will remove the snow thrown to
the sides of the street by the leveler. MI.
Wood stated that the use of the pillow had
been denied the company by the Street Com
missioner, and considerable discussion en-
sued ON this point, Mr.. Wood admitting that
the company might have acted under some
| misapprehension.
| alutIl0du UdlldSIltI dSkbu WHY Lie bIdChS
were covered after the meeting was called.
| Alderman Russell-Because there are more
| than six inches Of snow.
Alderman Gallagher-That's not the ans
| wer.
| Alderman Prince-At the meeting Friday
night, the understanding was that if no
| snow fell before this meeting the tracks
| should be keptopen.
| Alderman Gallagher-It seems strange to
| have the Board called for a hearing, and
/ haxr t1an fro0 hafn fhn nd
| had chance to weigh the evidence
Alderman Noyes-Would it be possible to
| cut the snow down now?
Mr.: Wood-I think it could be done.
Alderman Noyes-You would have to use
| the picks, | suppose?
Mr.. Wood-We might; but with ten horses
and the pillow we have got we can do most
anything.
Mr.. Wood then stated that the change from
wheels to runners caused a falling off of 40
per cent of the average number using the
cars. He said that the pecuniary result to
the company would be about the same if the
tracks were covered or open, as the expense
OF keeping them open would balance any in
| crease of receipts obtained thereby.
Mr.. Edward A. Newman, treasurer of the
| company, read figures to show the falling off
| In the number of passengers carried weekly
| at the time of changing from wheels to run
nerS. There was a loss of 5,141.
Hon. c. F. Libby, attorney for the compa-
| ny, called attention to the fact that these fig
| ures included the Deering line, where there
had been no falling off.
Mr.. Josiah Burleigh said that he had not
| seen any petition or remonstrance but if he
had he should have signed the latter Mon
day, on Congress street, the snow was from
two feet to two feet and one half above the
track and it was impossible for teams to pass
there without going into the track. In Mid
die street, which is very morrow, it is almost
impossible to cross the track, and only day
or two agoa sleigh broke down while at
tempting to do SO. If the track is left open
merchants on Middle street will lose their
as it will be impossible for people from the
country to go there with their teams Mr..
Burleigh did not see why people should OBJ
ject to riding in sleigh cars. He said that
on Middle street twenty-five persons passed
In sleighs to one in the cars. II the hearing
could be adjourned, Mr.. Burleigh would get
a remonstrance signed which would reach
from Market Square to India sreet.
Mr.. J. f. Libby objected to the railroad
company being granted any more privileges
than they have at the present time. Mr..
Libby said that he represented the hackmen.
The horse car company has 1876 horses, while
as near as can be learned there are 2750
other horses in the city. Every horse own
er has as much right in the streets as the
horse car company. The streets have been
in a dangerous condition with the tracks I'M
covered. Mr.. Libby had been twice upset
on Congress street. On Preble and Portland
streets it is very dangerous to cross the
tracks The cradles are not as dangerous as
the tracks.
Mr.. c. R. Harrington said that last winter
he was annoyed beyond endurance by the
condition of Middle street. He stood the
great piles of snow in front of his store as
long as he could and finally shoveled it back
into the tracks and would do so again under
similar circumstances Middle street was in
a dangerous condition last week and it is
detrimental to the interests of the business
carried on there to keep the tracks clear
Mr.. Geo. r. Davis had had something to do
with the petitions and found few unwilling
to sign the petition on Congress street. He
had experienced no difficulty in driving
through the streets in their present condi-
ton. Leaving the tracks open will prevent
trotting on Congress street, which has been
a nuisance in the past.
Mr.. j. II. Coffin, who lives ON Congress
street and uses the horse cars, thought that
the interests of the patrons of the road
should be considered. He had not noticed
the extreme depth of snow at the side Of the
street mentioned by other gentlemen and
had experienced no trouble in driving over
the road in a sleigh. The tracks are a
nuisance any way and cause more accidents
in summer than in winter, but he should not
vote against the continuance of the track on
this account Mr.. Coffin thought that all
should be willing to concede something to
the special efforts made by the company to
afford a good service. Mr.. Coffin would
possible.
Mr.. c. F. Libby referred to what had been
said, and mentioned the fact that what had
been done in the past should not be taken as
a standard for Judging what the company
propose to do. If the board finds the COM
pany can not carry out their plans, that ends
the matter. If they can do it, then large
portion of the public will be accommodated.
OF course the streets will not be as con-
venient as with the track covered; the Ques-
ton is, is there sufficient demand to try
the experiment? Comparatively few streets
will be affected by the change. This is not
matter of gain to the company. They are
trying to better the service and ask the privi-
lege of making this experiment. If the plan
is found impracticable, the horse car COM
pany will again adopt runners Mr.. Libby
did not think that the change would keep
countrymen away but that it would benefit
retail trade. He said that the Congress
street extension of the railroad was regarded
as an important improvement by General
Manager Tucker of the Maine Central, who
would have been present at the hearing but
for enforced absence from the city. In an
swer to a question by Alderman Noyes, Mr..
Libby said that the company would have to
stand behind the city for damages caused by
its tracks.
Mr. Harrington asked if the snow would
I1.,,.