Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-24
STREET CARS.
A Revolution in Street Railways Of
which the Public is Not Aware.
The Comparative Cost of Horse Cars and Elee-
tric MOtors-The Horse to Be Sup
planted by Electricity.
snecinl corresnondence Of the Gazette.

on street railways throughout the coun-
try. They have already won the en-
dorsement of many railroad men in many
cities and towns, who have been watch
ing rather anxiously their development
and carefully studying their utility.
This comparatively new motive power
for use on street cars is the subject of
more general interest at present than
heretofore, and it has been so far per-
fected as to warrant its introduction in
place OF horses This has inaugurated a
revolution, of which the public is not
aware, in street railway traffic in every
section Of the country. Men who have
given careful attention to the subject say
that the reasons for this great change are
that the running expense of electric
motors is less per day than the cost Of
keeping horses. This will be apparent
to any one unfamiliar with street
railway operations, for electric
motors require neither hay, oats,
harness, shoes nor men to curry
them, but only the food furnished by
dynamo. This food, after the station
where the electric power is generated is
established, can be supplied at a small
daily expense compared with the cost of
feeding horses. And one electric motor,
a tireless little piece of mechanism, can
wear out any number of horses. This
explains the advantage Of electric over
horse power. The public has been wait
ing for years for some motive power
that is practicable on street cars and
that will afford more rapid transit than
horse cars. In cities where there is no
-
parent for rapid transit is being urgent
" demanded by those who have to
depend on slow horse cars as a means of
travelling. Cable power does not afford
this rapid transit. Electric motors that
can be safely run at from eight to twelve
miles an hour in outlying districts where
so many people reside do, and they,
therefore, ''fill long felt want, - as in
Boston, for Illustration.
l was down there the other day and in
cidentally examined the system recently
introduced, and which was and is the
''talk of the town - The West End
street railway controls all the horse car
lines Tamifying from the city in every di-
rection. This is conceded to be the most
extensive street railway in the world. 1t
has 250 miles of track, about 1000 cars
and over 5000 horses. had a talk with
Mr.. Henry M Whitney, the enterprising
president Of the West End company,
about the application of motors on that
road. He explained that he had spent a
good deal Of time in trying to find q
feasible System-cheapeT and faster than
horSe-po Yer-for use on the various lines
of the great corporation of which he is
the head.
1.-The West End )mpany - said Presi-
VErl
PRODUCING n cable 81 stem In accordance
with the act of the legislature, we ac-
Quired the right to put il in the cities of
Boston and Cambridge, and we were pro-
ceeding as rapidly as it was possible in
the development OF the plans and making
active preparation for the work. Previ-
Gus to that time I had called to my atten-
ton certain experiments which were be-
ing tried with electric roads in different
parts of the country. l regarded them,
/ am free to say, rs OF no special value to
US, as part and parcel merely Of the stOT-
age battery system and destined
TO failure. But some two or three
months ago Judge Baldwin, who had re-
Gently visited the city of Richmond, took
the trouble 10 come 20 our Office and urge
US to 90 there before we introduced the
cable system and inspect the system OF
the Sprague electric motor company &c
New York that has been in operation on
the Union passenger railway in that city
for over year \ friend of mine spent
week in Richmond looking over the
system. He reported that it was supe-
rior to horse cars and if established here
elevated roads would seem unnecessary.
We were then perfecting our plans for a
cable. But before deciding definitely
I 70
our counsel and three other Boston men.
What we found there was perfectly sur
prising and amazing to all of us. There
in the city of Richmond, city OF 80 900
inhabitants, was q road twelve miles
long, over grades and around curves, the
like of which does not exist in the whole
system of 250 miles of the West END
street railway company.
1T is success III all respects. 1 DO
not undertake 10 say that there is no
further development TO be expected in
the electric motor. l am perfectly well
aware that there is. But that road is
running to-day: and It is CARRYING the
people Of Richmond as they have never
been carried before. 1 came back and
reported to our board of directors what
had seen. So impressed was l with the
belief that it could be made practicable
system III Boston, very much better than
the cable system, that told the board Of
directors that l felt we ought not to go
any further with the cable plan until
some further investigation should be
made of the electric roads.
/ think nine Of our board agree with
me that the electric system is practical
one for use on the West End system.
know perfectly well that in the future
the electric motor viii be as different
from the electric motor OF to-day as the
locomotive of fifty years aSo was differ
ent from the locomotive of to-day. Bat
as fifty years ago the Introduction of the
locomotive marked 4 new departure in
transportation lar in advance of the old
numbering stage n, which was then
IN use. SO I believe that the cleo
trio motor has reached that stage
OF perfection which makes it pTacti-
cable and superior in all respects to
horses for quick transportation. The adj
vantage Of this system over the cable is
that with the conduit through the
crowded part Of the city and overhead
wires on suburban lines it can all be one
system and the speed over the whole line
may be as rapid as the condition of the
streets viii permit. In narrow and