New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-05-29
THE TROLLEY SYSTEM IN BOSTON.
A BENEFIT TO THE SUBURBS. PERHAPS, BUT AN
INJURY TO THE CITY ITSELF

INJURY TO THE CITY ITSELF.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir After all The Hub' has decidedly subur-
ban, not to say rural, aspect to New-Yorker He
of New-York goes to it with much the spirit that
he lnvades Brooklyn HObOken-hestatingly, and OF
necessity chiefly. lie retains the mood Of restlesness
and loneliness, so matter how long short his stay
and he comes away with feeling of relief at the idea
of exchanging the gentle duness Of suburban city
for the hustle and bigness of New York. There IS
even the appearance Of the ayseed In the cut Of the
clothes and the walk and talk Of the resdents-not tha
the first is outre cheap, or that the latter
betrays ignorance but the rusticity IS there quite as
apparent 1t is in Albany, for instance.
One sees more Of this peculiar distinction when ne
comes to compare TIemOnt-st. as thoroughfare with
Broadway. Tremontst has latterly superseded wash
ngton-st as promenade at the afternoon hour when
Boston residents turn out for hours stroll, with
shopping as an incidental occupation The crowd Of
Broadway Is missing. So Is the quick movement OF
the ever changing procession. So are the rich and
possibly too gay street costumes which so please the
eye familiar with Broadway The Boston prOmenaders
are not precisely langud-they are simply slow from
the metropolitan point Of view They are not as
handsome either in face or figure the New York
women. As to the general features of street arch-
lecture, travel and other pecuarltles. Tremontst Is
as inferior to Broadway Boston generally Is to the
metropolis II is hardly superior in architecture TO
Philadelphia with its Of red brick and white
doors and white frames, while It's methods Of locomo
ton are decidedly inferior Both cities, however.
greatly excel NewYork in the management Of those
necessary nuisances, the cab drivers.
The trolley system Of Boston, which I was much
interested in studying The Tribune probably Is, on
account Of the recent episode Of its spirited oppos
tfon-to deserved death-to the system in Brooklyn
IL positive failure in the city and success in the
suburbs The suburban has, however, been at
of f,a nv itself and
beginning to discover that they have paid In money
and In the Disagreement Of their streets solely for the
benefit Of the suburban towns, which have grown
amazingly since the electric cars have been employed
Boston may now be said to be nothing without Its
suburbs-another aspect which emphasizes the COM
parson with which began this article 1t is so easy
to reach by these electric the beautiful suburban
towns after getting tediousy through the busy and
crooked streets of the city, that many former residents
Of the city have migrated to the adjacent suburbs whe
all the modern built houses Of the rich have been located
In the outskirts Of the city, where land Is cheap ana
plenty and villas may be pictursquely located, where
trade does not obtude and the noise Of the city does
not disturb The trolley electric lines have undoubt
eddy conduced largely to this great growth Of the
suburbs they are good things for the suburbs, and you
should take warning from Boston's experience ana
keep them in the suburbs of your great cities Ike New
York and Brooklyn. Slocum and Richardson should
be emphaticay told to stop where they are" so far
and no further shalt thou co."
Within the city nroner-even in broad avenues like
Tremons-the trolley electric roads Of Boston do not
furnish an improved service. They would be cleaner
If other means Of locomoton by horsepower were BAN
ished from the street altogether but that impossible,
If removed, for the cab and truck
horses would necessarily remain. The argument of
cleanliness is one Of the specous but deceptive arg-
ments used by projectors Of cable and trolley roads
The trolley cars OF more recent make are larger and
handsomer and more elegant and comfortaDie tlau
the horse cars. You l freely say all That ma
to say favorable Of them. but when have said TINS
have said all, and that all is rather insignificant
The rest must DO cOndemnatory
In the first place the trolley system Is disfgurfng
The poles are set about hundred feet apart on the
outer edge of the sidewalk and the suspended wires
are about twenty feet overhead. Everything mas Deeh
done to make the structure as little unsighty rs pos
sble but still the poles eyesores the wires are
numerous and are Objectionable than telegraph
wires because they at right angles 10 each other
Another serious objection is the loud noise which the
trains make in operating this system. To the usual
and unavoidable rumblng Of the wheels over the rails
Is added constant noise whenever the apparatus
Of the car Is put in contact with the overhead wire
carving the current Of electricity WHICH iurnlshcS
the motive power. This buzzng noise Is greater than
the noise made by the wheels, and the two equal, If
they do not exceed, the rambling OF an ordinary ele
waited railway train. There is nothing in their pro
pnson 10 be compared 10 the nOseless and stealthy
Glide Of the cable cars This noise Of tho trolley IS
neculiarly disagreeable as well penetrating. 1t
cosd be distinctly heard in the lobby Of the fremont
Theatre nearly 200 feet away from the tracks IN Ire
montst Spirited horses are made more nervous by
this noise from source than by the pulling OF
locomotive which they confront. Ii leaves for hours
In the ars OF persons not overfamar with the noise
q rumbllng that makes them suspect that their hear
ing is impaired. But the great defect Of this trolley
system is that It does not supply rapid transit In
crowded streets. Its cars are more helpless IN the
face ordinary obstruction than either horse or caOle
cars Tie trolley electric cannot Jump the track
as horsecars cam they can run In only one direction
ON single track they have not the power which cable
cars have TO run under the hubs OF the wheels OF
obstrcting trucks and lift them bodily out Of the
I'm front OF them. Arc they dangerous / don't
know for | saw only accident and that TO a man
who stepped of Of them In the wrong direction
INT at night all along Tremontst., at every crossing
the electric spark-a spark big ones fist by the
orav-and during a brief thunderstorm last Friday !
saw the lightning play along the line above my head
with great brlancy on the part OF the lightning and
greater uneasiness on my part They may not be dan
Serons TO life. but they certainly 10 the
There IS vigorous opposition 10 tho further extension
~ This system In Boston The Boston Herald" OF
saturday hid not les than thirteen columns Of opinions
~ neople along routes where improved facilities OF
travel are demanded. II summed up consensus OF
. Dont Ask Electrlcs'; and sublime added as de-
tau was 70 the effect that the persons represented
thnucht that motors would be dangerous In the mar
row and crowded districts. This Is an almost unai-
the defective system In favor Of which so much has
been written by electrical supply companies with the
apparatus to sell. and by some streetcar companies
IKE active and prominent street railway president in