St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-10
SUSPENDED IN MID AIR.
A Trial Trip on the Elevated Electric
Railway.
IT WORKED TO A CHARM.
Prominent Men From HE Twin Cities
Took in the Excursion TO South
st. Paul.

Souln Ot. raul was invaded yesterday
afternoon by party of representative
men of the Twin Cities, intent upon wit
Messing the practical working of new
system of elevated railroad with elecz
trfcity as the motive power.
In the motor cars which conveyed the
lnquiSitlve to South Park were Corpora
ton Attorney w. P. Murray, Hon. All
bert Scheffer, Capt. Peter Berkey, Maj.
Thomas B. Sullivan, U. S. A.; Aid.
Cullen, Sanborn, Minea and Conley, of
st. Paul; Judge Baker, Treasurer Refs,
L. A. Abbott, City Engineer Rundlett,
A. 5. Talmadge, T. G. Smith and VIII
lam Thompson, all of ST. Paul. Mime
apolis was represented by Mayor Ames,
Aid. Cioutier, Stoft, Gleason, j. l..
Johnson, Burrows. Kerr, Hanscom,
Erwin, Gilman. Gibson. Stoneman and
Cooley, c. r. Hill, Titus Mareck, City
Engineer Rinker. Matthew Walsh, G.
M. Foote, A. }. Mullen, E. <. Humph-
Tey, 5. A. March, Charles Cornman,
e. A. Stevens and A. l.. Stewart;
kee, was also aboard the train.
Arriving at South Park, the party dis
embarked, and, after climbing the bluff
for several hundred feet, they found
peculiarly-shaped car, round at the bot
tom, and suspended in mid-air from a
trestlework, awaiting inspection. 1t
was not long before Mayor Lawrence,
of South st. Paul, who, by the way, is
one of the ruling spirits in the new en-
terpriSe. gave the word for the motor to
move, and the car, loaded with human
freight to its utmost capacity. started
up grade of 20 per cent to the mile,
and made tho frin tho 1nnnth Of
track with ease, and with scarcely Jar
or vibration.
1t ran much easier than horse or
cable car does. and there was
NO SIGN OF DIRT
and scarcely any noise overhead ere
ated by the motor.
All who made the trip were highly
pleased at the smoothness with which
1t was accomplished, and voted the cleo
trio railway success from the start.
10 be sure, there were evidences every
where that the structure which held the
rail- was only temporary one, but it
was stated by the promoters of the en-
terprlSe that the railway in running
order for legitimate traffic showed a
moderate-siZed iron post, supported by
light and properly constructed lateral
bracing, holding light truss span, thus
doing away with heavy guard timbers
and all croSS-tieS and Sleepers.
Each car with its motor or power is
suspended on single track on a single
line OF truss work, the cars being ele-
waited fourteen feet, or, if necessary,
sixteen feet from the ground, thus al
der them without difficulty.
An idea of the invention may be gath
cred from the fact that in its operation
the behOlder is strongly reminded of
the manner in which cash is transferred,
from the counter of a dry gsodS or other
business house to the cashiers desk in
the small wire baskets, and without any
more noise than that system makes. :
in the trial made yesterday nothing
was attempted on fiat surface, but all
the work performed was up a grade,
heavier than that encountered on any,
railroad in the United States, not eX- !
cepting the Baltimore & Ohio's transit,
across the AlleghenieS, and the sharp
est curves imaginable were taken as
easily as though they had been a
stralghtaway course. J
As an example of the minimum to
which danger of accident on this Style
of elevated road has been reduced, Just
prior to the starting of the car on one of
the trips the rails were separated, and
as soon as the current of electricity was
broken the vehicle came to an instanta- :
neOuS stop.
No one who witnessed yesterdays ex-
perlmentS had any doubt as to the FEAST
bility or practicability Of the new in
vention. And besides. all the annoy
ances OF steam engine, such as flying
sparks, clnders, smoke, gases and
greasy droppings into the streets and
the heads of pedestrians, are done away
with.
Motors are placed directly on the
shafts of the driving wheels over the
cars, which
ARE RUN sINGLY
OH true rail, without swinging motion,
humping or jumping, the trucks run
ming on rails placed on insulated timber
and absence of solid road-bed combin-
ing to produce a silent motion. After
all present had been afforded an oppor-
tunlty of riding and experiencing the
novelty of the new mode of tranSporta-
ton for themselves, the eXcursionists
were invited to partake of luncheon
at the South Park hotel, and an enjoy
able time was the result.
Speeches were made by MeSSrS. Schef-
fer, AmeS, Assistant Passenger Agent
w. II. Dixon. of the Chicago, MilWau-
kee 81 st. Paul: Lawrence, Bushnell,
Gilman and A. Z. Clarke, the burden of
which was that the experiment wit
messed had been III every way satisfac-
tory, and that all needed now to insure
greater prosperity to the Twin Cities
was the granting of the franchise to
build the new road. Ample capital has
been pledged to put up the tracks and
fully equip the road without a cent of
expense to any one in either of the
Twin Cities, the projectors craving only
the privilege of going TO work.
The material to be used in the con-
struction of the truSSes and track will
be the finest quality of iron and Besse-
mer steel, the latter being the greatest
factor in the new scheme, thus insuring
durability and substantially.