Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-24
A New Union Station.

Visitors to the city are won't to complain that
the neighborhood of the Union Depot is melan-
choly and out of tune with the handsome
streets they find on penetrating the heart of the
city. Even we who live here are not inclined
to point to the territory named with any over
whelming amount of pride. There are not so
many eye-sores as there used to be in the
shadow of the big station. The groggeries and
low doggeries have been cleared away and some
fine buildings have risen in their place. But
still the property is not improved to the extent
its situation seems to warrant.
A railroad officer unoffcially gave an ex-
PLANTATION of this phepomenon the other day,
Said he: There would be a struggle to see
whocould first put up a big hotel of the finest
kind close to the Union Station, if satisfactory
assurance of the permanence of the latter
in its present position could be given. Trades
men would scramble in the same way to erect
first class stores abutting upon all the ap-
proaches if they were not afraid that the sta
tion is not destined to stay long where it is. I
think the doubtful factor IN the premises ac-
counts for the absence here of the usual at
tractive surroundings of great passenger rail-
road station
'BuI are these doubts well founded?"
"Yes, 1 believe they are. The Pennsylvania
Railroad and the allied lines in the Pennsyl.
vania Company some day-how close or distant
officers in these companies know-will have an
elevated terminus at Seventh avenue. There
is nothing to prevent the railroads from erect
ing splendid passenger station on the ground
now given up to freight yards along
New Grant street to Seventh avenue.
Perhaps there Is some idea of carrying
the elevated tracks to a terminus at Fifth ave-
nue., but that is not so likely. For my own
part 1 am confident that in a few years Pitts
burg will have Union station not more than
two blocks from. the cty's center. The grade
crossings in both cities will have to 60; the
PennsyIvanias managers are convinced Of this.
The Pennsylvania Central and the Pennsyl-
vania company will act in concert in this move
ment and the new Union station is a part of
any plans of course that bring all the roads into
the city above grade. The improvement of
property adjacent to the new station will fol-
low"
Electric Cars Give Them Bad Dreams.
A Pittsburger who was IN Philadelphia the
other day says that the good peacelovng peo-
pie of the Quaker City are in a dreadful state
of mind over the proposed introduction of cleo
tric street cars. Plenty of Philadelphians are
seriously alarmed at the prospect Of the cleo
trio trolly system being established in their
streets Petitions against the new street rail-
roads are being passed around and are receiv-
ing lots OF signatures.
Some of them asked the Pittsburger if he did
not agree with them that the overhead wire
and trolly system was likely to be dangerous,
and he replied: mo, L can't say that do.
NV experience with the electric cars of this
sort in Pittsburg is that they are safe and
great convenience. Pittsburgers will walk two
or three blocks to get an electric car in prefer
ence to taking horsecar. As to fatal effects,
no human being has been killed by the street
railroads electric current in Pittsburg or Ale
gheny, and the killing of one or two horses can
hardly be sufficient ground for the condemna-
tion of so satisfactorya means of rapid transit"
But Philadelphia, to be sure, is not Pitts
burg. and electric cars may be harmful to the
Quakers' nerves. If not to their lives. There is
still a mule line or two about Pittsburg that
Philadelphia is perfectly welcome to. It would
be mutually advantageous to the mules and
Philadelphia if they could be brought together.