The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-09-19
SAN FRANCISCO TRAMWAYS.

Now that our citizens are really going
to have street tramways, and enjoy the
luxury of riding in them from Diamond
Head to Moanalua hills, the following
sketch of San Francisco cable cars and
tramways, written by ali Fastener visit
ing that city, will be read with interest:
San Francisco, like Rome, is city set
on hills. Instead of seven, however,
there seem to be about seventy times
seven. AS you approach the city TOR the
first time, coming across the bay from
Oakland on one of the fine ferry boats OF
the Pacific Railroad system, or in from
the Golden Gate on the deck of steamer,
the roofs and buildings appear to stretch
back from the water IN fluctuations.
Above everything rises Telegraph Hill
like an Acropolis. When you get set
tied, and sally out from your hotel to
take cable-car ride, you find that your
first impression is right One-the city
is undulatory. There are places in
which there is apparent danger of the
sad accident that, according to an
Omaha paper, recently occurred in Kan
sas CITY, where a Mr.. j. Smith fell off
his back yard onto the roof of his house,
and was severely injured. 1t is not an
exaggeration to say that at one OF the
hills of the Powell Street cable line, dur
ing nv first ride, l instinctively grasped
the edge of the seat, and held on, to keep
from sliding down the car. Are you
familiar with Boston? and do you re-
member the Pinckney Street Hill, as it
rises from Charles Street to Louisburg
Square? San Francisco is full of just
such hills as that.
These very hills OF San Francisco have
DEVELOPED what is undoubtedly the best
system of surface transfer in the country
the cable roads. The commodiOuS
cars run up hill and down and on the
level with equal ease and at an average
speed of about eight miles an hour.
There are, [ believe, ten or twelve lines
of cable cars by means OF which, and In
connection with the railroads, one may
quickly and easily travel to any part of
the city. The climate is such that open
cars are run all the year round. The
smoothness with which the cars travel,
the ease with which at comparatively
high rate of speed they are stopped,
started, slowed down, and manipulated
in crowded streets, and the absence of
faded, steaming, struggling horses, is a
source of delight to the Fastener who
has been a dependent for transportation
on a Broadway or Cambridge horse
railroad. The cable cars are so large,
having nearly the capacity of two ordi-
nary horse-cars, and are run so fire.
quently, that there is very little over
crowding For some statistics, if Stats
tics are not ruled out of bit of gossip
like this, let US take one line-the Geary
Street road, for instance. 1t is about
two and a half miles long. The wire
rope cable is little over one inch in
diameter, and there are 81, 100 feet of
| it. It takes sixty horse power to drive
cars and all. The life of the cable is
about 43O days. Curiously enough, it is
| said that the cable system works better
over several sharp hills than on a level.
On the hills the cars balance one
another, somewhat as two Well-buckets
do running on pulley-wheel. A COM
plete system of transfers enables one to
go almost anywhere for five cents. The
| other morning rode on two separate
horse-car lines and cable-car line all
for one tive-cent fare, receiving transfer
checks from one to the other. It seems
surprising, at least to one ignorant of the
mechanical and engineering difficulties
in the way, that New York has not
| adopted the cable system. Possibly the
greatest problem is how to engineer
franchise through the Board of Alder
men.