Wichita eagle., 1889-01-27
w1cHIrA,s ELECTRIC LINES.
WIO1IIAO bIIECIhIO LIN I'D.
She has one Good one and Others Contempaat
ed. Giving Older Cities the Benefit
OF Her Experience.

| The additional equipage for the extern
| sion of the Riverside Electric Motor lines
system to a point five AID one-half miles
| from Douglas avenue and Market street
up into Alamo, has nearly all been placed
in position, and by the end of the week,
the three cars at present equipped with
| the motors, will be run over that length
| of line giving a twenty minute service.
| Only two of the cars are now in use on the
! line and these give thirty minute service
on the length of line 1.-TWO and three
fourths miles, now operated.
When the new plant complete is finished
| including much larger generator, than
| the one now in use, there will be six cars
in constant use and the service over the
entire FIVE and half miles, will be ten
| minute one.
There has perhaps, never been any one
thing established in Wichita, which has
been more of a success or attracted atten-
! ton and more favorable comment outside
of this city than her elegant electric street
| railway system. Not day passes, that
some parties from different sections of the
country and usually from the larger cities,
do not ride over the line for the purpose of
| learning as much as possible concerning
the cost, expense, practicability and gen.
eral success of the system in use here,
which Is the Thomson-Houston. Only
last Thursday very prominent Chicago
capitalist, who is largely interested in
street railways, and the proposed elevated
| line in that city, came here for the purpose
of satisfying himself concerning the truth
fulness of reports he had heard concerning
! the splendid operation of Wichita's cleo
trio railway, He was not only highly
pleased but satisfied with the electric rail-
way and the city which boasts of the same.
Yesterday representative of the same
system was here, giving estimates and
preparing to make propositions to the
Wichita & Suburban (the Paramount
motor lines) to put in electricity on their
nine miles of tracks in the city, which it
is claimed, will reduce the operating ex-
penses for the same number of cars, to
sixty per cent of the present cost
with mules on part of the line
and steam motors on the other portions.
besides, more than the frequency of the
service making it a twenty minute SER
vice. The intention eventually is to give a
ten minute service all over the system
and to run from Douglas avenue to either
the Burton car works or Paramount in
| twenty and possibly fifteen minutes. The
present distance on the Riverside Electric
line, two and three-quarters miles, with
five corners, three side tracks, one railroad
crossing and three street car crossings to
make, together with the usual stops for
passengers, has been run easily in eleven
minutes. or at the rate Of fifteen miles per
hour, schedule time. The Paramount peo-
some days.
The other lines of the city, of which
there are all told some eighty or more
miles Of all kinds, have been doing a large
amount of thinking about substituting
electricity for their mules and steam
motors. and will probably ere long come to
a conclusion.