St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-17
THE ELECTRIC Lines.
The City Railway Company
Hampered in Completing
Electric Lines.
Manufacturers Fail to Supply
Material According to ;
Contract.
Nevertheless a Strong Effort
Is Being Made to Complete
All the Lines.
It Is Expected ALI But One
Will Be Completed by
November 1.

The st. Paul City Railway company
has had much trouble in getting mate
rialfor its new electric lines in Mime.
neapolis and st. Paul. Not single con-
tract made with dealers in electrical
supplies has been filled on time. This
sort Of thing has been decidedly annoy
ing, though Col. Barr feels confident
that all the lines, save one, can be put
in working order by the time called for
in the st. Paul ordinance. The most yex-
atious delay has been experienced in OBJ
tanning the engines and other machin-
cry for the power houses in both cities.
These are being made by Milwaukee
firm. They promised to have the Min
neapolis engine ready by the middle Of
July. 1t has but just been received.
The st. Paul engine was to have been
done shortly after the other one was
shipped. 1t is still in process of con-
struction, and of course any operating
of the lines by electricity is entirely out
in working shape. The work on the
power house is progressing satiSfacto-
rily, and it
VIII BE Ready
for the engines before they are here.
The principal part of the work still to
be done on it is on the foundations for
the engines. These of course, have to
be built very strongly and accurately to
support the strain of SO large rapidly
moving mass of steel as the engines.
They are built of huge brick-shaped
blocks of granite about six feet in their
largest dimension. These are placed
over a large pyramidal concrete base
lying under the entire foundation.
The work on the tracks and wires will
be finished before the power house is.
Most of the underground wires have
been laid, which is the most consider
able part of the work. The poles for
the overhead wires throughout the city
could be raised and the wires strung
within week if necessary.
The ordinance passed by the common
council last September calls for six
teen lines of street railway to be operat-
ed by cable, electric. pneumatic or gas
power. OF these sixteen lines seven
are to be in operation by the first of
next November. The first of these is
the interurban line on University ave-
nue.. The tracks and underground
wires for this are all laid, except for
about one block where the city is
putting in sewer. A connecting line
with this. running from the corner of
University avenue and Rice street,
along Rice street and Como avenue to
Front street, is finished. except for the
overhead wires. The completion of the
West Seventh street line is necessary
as far as Pleasant avenue as soon as the
LIST OF November. Everything but
The Overhead Wires
on this will be done within week.
The continuation of this line to Fort
Smelling bridge must be finished by
Nov. /, 1891. The Mississippi street
line is ready for the overhead wires,
except for about a quarter of a
mile on which work is now going on.
The tracks and underground wires for
the Concord street and South Robert
street lines will be all ready in few
days. Gangs of men are now at work
on them, and except for few blocks
along the bluffs the work is done. The
Dakota avenue line and it's extension
along Ohio street, George street and
Smith avenue to Annapolis street is
finished. except five blocks on George
street. These are the lines which the
ordinance requires shall be in operation
NOV. L. lS9O.
If the power is ready the provisions
of the ordinance can be easily carried
out. The ordinance calls for one line
on Sept. 1. This line cannot be ready
at that time. 1t is the line from Uni
versity avenue along Lexington avenue,
Minnehaha street and Smelling avenue
to Langford avenue. An extension of
this on Langford avenue to county
road in st. Anthony Park is called for
by July of next year.
The penalty attached to a failure to
have the lines in operation on time is a
forfeiture of all the privileges con-
ferred by the ordinance. If the let
ter of the law should be carried out, the
street ear company would be in very
bad pickle. 1t is not probable, how
ever, that it will be enforced if the COM
pany uses reasonable diligence. and eS-
pecially if Thomas Lowry has chance
to pour his dulcet tones into the ears of
the common council.