The Waco evening news. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 1891-1894, 1893-12-05
The Chariots of the People.

towns, invading viii ages, grasping
the country, and subjagating cities,
is the terror and toy of Brooklyn,
the greatest of the communities
where it has been adopted az the
chief feature of the rapid transit
that is demanded with increasing in.
tensity by all the great aggregatlons
of population. For good many
years the Long Island Railroad fur
nished the bulk of the supply Of
items touching the perils of the
streets, and the lists of killed and
wounded men, women and children,
victims of the possession of an i'm.
portant street by monopoly, were
often paraded, but public opinion
while loud in denuncation, was lag
gard in execution.
The not unreasonable demand
was that the tracks should be ele'
waited or suppressed, so as TO be out
Of the way Of the ordinary pedes'
tiian, and children a. play. 1t
was held thai the fences add guards
at the dra~.bridges were insutfi
cient. the troubles at the Long
Island are now forgotten. The
trolley has invaded great many
streets, and, beginning with the
Bridge, sweeps through the city on
a web of lines spread in the sight
of all the people. The realization
Of the population is that there are
surface railroads operated by a force
more formidable than steam, and
there are no gates or fences, or
guards Of any description. Worse
than that, there are not roaring and
snorting trains at considerable inter.
yals, but single cars running their
courses, with changing
gongs that confuse, aud headlig Is
binding as those Of LOGON olives.
And, there are times when
these fiery charlots seem
to form endless and frightful pro-
cessons. There have been many
most shocking incidents of personal
mi ary-the aged and the young es-
pecially sutferers-and there are We
hemenl appeals for ELI ,ient protec.
ton. The presumption is that
these will be as they have been dis
In fact though there will
be poiiteness in receiving remon-
strances. The press las crusaded
against the trolley in vain. One en-
terprising ournal called for organ
izad boycotting the cars, and the
people boycotted them by getting
alb ,ard in thousands, and gliding
swiftly to their homes. There ia no
doubt the trolley has come to stay,
and the relief from horse dirt is dis
tinctly an improyem mt on the old
system, while the cars are remarka.
bly, solid and commodious. How
the tremendous energy that moves
the immense chariots is exerted
through the wires, is marvel that
seems like a miracle, and one won.
ders what worlds are yet 20 be con.
quered, and behold, on what slight
Strings hang ponderous things.
New York is furiously opposed
to the trolley, and has been guarded
against all railroad entrances but
one, and that has to come in through
a tunnel. And yet at last Broadway
is traversed by cables even more
dangerous than the trolley, because
the cable cars are less manageable
than those propelled by electricity.
The cable power cannot be put on
aud taken off so readily as the magic
fire in the wires. The peculiar
merit of the trolley is that the
motor man can start and stop with
facility, without jarring, jerking,
and the liability of freaks in the
breaks. But the city of New York
does not see the facts by these
lamps and clinging to the cable, re.
port the trolley as public peril,
and pay no attention to the statistics
showing that the cable has been
more destructive of life in Chicago
and Baltimore than the trolley in
Brooklyn.
The main question has not been
answered-and that is: What sys.
tenn of rapid transit for the people
of great cities is the swifter and
the saf-r? There are modern con.
ditions and conveniences that en-.
large towns, and there is an aug.