Telegram-herald., 1890-10-19
1T is CONSUMMATED
Fhe Cable Company Owls the En-
tire Street Railway system.
COHRlCTS SICSED By BOTH PlRTIES
The N-W MRnAEeaae0t win Net TAke
Fas>e>si~n for SeV~rsi bass Yet
Mai ~ IA a. tl4s faassitle RI
feels uf Ilse IAanSs

The big scoop OF the TELE0RAN Hrs
AID 0u tie street railway purchase has
been Acknowledged with much reiuc-
tance 70 he true. The deed Is done.
the purchase Is made aud AL the goods
and cbaitels Of Ihe street Railway oi
Grand Ra0ds NIL be transferred Ia the
Grand Rapids Street and Cable hallway
Company before November J. The
WHOLE transaction has been Kept dark
aah il WAS the Intention bf tue parties
10 keep % 80 until possession Wss taken
by tie new owners. A. yet the price
paid il kept a secret, bat i is believed
10 be not iaI from 100000.
When the old company purchased the
puny independent lines IN 1883, il paid
a big price Tor them considering what
there was IA sight. The lines all ran IN
their own peculiar ways, a very cheap
lot OF tracks, few detected old horses
and limited supply OF cheap, riekety
cars were ali the respective owners bad.
The new management combined them
INTO one system, and since that time
hssnearly or quite doubled the mileage
OF lines, besides doubling thc tracks on
every principal thoroughtare. Ii has
put il service the finest cars and horses
10 be found ~ the world today, and has
built splendid barns, made a popular
pleasure resort AT Reeds Lake aud has
gwen yood service. Ii would seem
that S750,0 900 would be cheap for the
plant as II now stands.
The grand mistake the management
made was IN refusing 10 run line MP
the hill. The independent stand taken
by the company III this particular led
the hill residents TO look elsew here for
street car accommodation. sam Ilb-
bets and his much desplsed cable road
was a laughing stock for time, bat
with new management backed 10y un-
told wealth, II grew and thrved ~ a
way that made the old company weary.
Crowded hard 10y competitor and para
lellcd on every hand by fast competing
lines, the old company resolved 10 keep
pace with It's competitor 10y putting m a
fast electric service, RS il was evident
that horse power could not compete
with cable power.
Two alternatives confronted the old
company; one was 10 put IN an electric
system at great expense, the other was
10 buy out It's competitor OF sell. The
cable people had too good a thing 70
give up, so deal was talked of between
the parties. The figures were gwen,
and the Cable Company made a loan of
90, 500 900 ostensibly "tor Improvement:
and extensions of lines"
Now the whole transaction is as clear
as mud, and Grand Rapids street rail
way service is again in the hands OF a
single corporation. Ii is the opinion ol
some who pretend TO know something
about the company's intentions, that
/ the electric line Will be built and oper-
atcd by the newcompany and that trans
] fers viii lie gwen on any and all line:
, III the city.
Just what will become of the Reed
| Lake Electric road IS question, but 4
! will without doubt be eventually alb
! sorhed INTO the genera system.
The first street railroad in this CITY
was built 10y Geo. w. Frost, of Detroit
and others, and extended from the H..
/ G.. II. q NJ. depot through Canal TO tho
head Of Monroe-st. The fare was II
cents for q single ride. In 1873 VIM
| Vinegar and others built the Division
St line from the head of MOnrnc-st. e
! the tar grounds. In 1875 Jerry Boyn
| ton and others built the Reeds Lax,
line, running from East-st. through
/ Wcalthy-ave., Bagrave. North Division
and Lyon 20 Bridge, thence across th'
/ river and out br,dgc-st. 10 Lincoln park
This company also built. the dummy
/ iinp to the lake operating Il by muii
power. In 1873 the West Side line wa
incorporated and line built from
Webster-st. IN Scrihner. Court. Allci
and Front-sts., and across Pcarl-st
bridge.