San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-01-07
VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS.

Editor Daily LIGHT.
DEAR SIR-In rs much as San An
tonic is increasing in populat i'm and
spending q large amount of money
for street improvements, syndicates
are being formed who have purchased
large tracts of lands in the suburbs
and are laying off town lots and parks
and beautifyiDg the same. Hence we
NAV expect the movement OF the city
population towards the suburbs in
an increasing ratio each year.
To accommodate this suburban pop
ulation it will be necessary to have
railroads and cars. The next thing to
determine, what kind of a motor. to
haul the same. Horse or mule powe.t
is too tedious tor long distances; in
fact, the day of the mule as motor is
past in San Antonio.
Now the question for our city coun-
ell to determine before granting
a franchise for street railroad, is
the next best motor to take the place
of the mule, and give satisfaction,
without damage to streets or danger
to life and property.
There are various machines in use
now as street car motors; some are
worked by steam dummys, or in
other words a locomotive 'incased
in a coach or car. Others are opera
ted by compressed air, or by amonia,
and other chemicals; also steam,
motors condensing and using the
steam over again, or arranged for
charging with fresh steam; also coiled
spring. Motors and many other lngen-
ious contrivances have been invented
and announced as the coming motor,
about to revolutionize railroads and
then have been abandoned as failures.
Thus far only two adaptions of me-
chanical power for street railroads
have any claim to be considered rivals
of steam motors; namely, electric and
cable system. The latest and most
popular substitute for direct steam is
electricity. There are a great many
systems of electric railroads with over
head trollies and dangling wires or
with conduits for underground wires,
also storage batteries carried on the
motor. These roads have proved the
mechanical possibility of hauling
street cars up very steep grades and
around sharp curves at a good rate of
speed by electricity, but have at the
same time made evident the diff
culties of satisfactory economical
continuous operation. The storage
battery seems to have the most de-
sirable electric system, because 1T
avoids distractions in the streets
and dangerous naked wires, but
even when enough battery power Is
used to make the weight undesirable,
the power is limited except at the
risk of its speedy destruction. Ex-
cept in cases when water power is
utilized, electricity for street car pur-
poses must cost more than direct APP
plication of steam. The reasons for
this are the excessive cost of main
tainance and interest on the perma-
nent plant, also the immense waste
inseparable from every conversion of
power into electricity and back again
into power, because whatever else
electricity may be it is not power but
only transmission of power. Finan-
cial reasons are in my opinion decisive
against electricity but in addition
is the more important matter of
danger to life and property.
Many of our streets are already en-
numbered with net work of wires
for telegraph, telephone, and electric
lighting, the naked wire used for
electric motor system, may, at any
moment by mere contact with any
other wire or conductor. direct cur
rent fatal to life, and destruction, to
property on account of frequent
groundings and other misbaps pecu-
liar to electricity, is liable to
stoppage at any time without notice
When such eminent electricians as
Thos. Edison and Geo. Westinghouse
differ as TO its utility and control, it
had better be left alone until they
solve the problem.
THE CABLE SYSTEM.
The cable road is the only system
which in some cases has proven pre-
ferable to steam motors. That is
when the distance is not too long and
on grades too heavy for any other
kind of motor; also in cases of a rush,
of travel can be accommodated by at
taching more cars to the grip. But 1t
is very costly and when anything
gets wrong with the cable it stops the
travel along the whole line. The
cable road is good thing but too ex-