Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-03-12
AN AERIAL ELgcTRIc ROAD.
Tie Rapid Transit Scheme Proposed by
 San Francisco Capitalist.

 fife Rapid Transit Scheme Proposed by 8
 San Francisco Capitalist.
 A railroad on wire
 Such is the scheme which D. R. P Thomas. San Francisco capitalist, now las on foot He proposes to build what he calls an aerial road from San Francisco to Los Angeles up the cele- brated San Joaquin valley The cars will be suspended on cables and operat- ed by electricity. They will run at the rate of 100 miles an hour. No grading will be necessary for tho construction of this road. no ties, and no rails, no bridges and no fencing in of track. No section gang will be required in it's maintenance.
 1t will, so its projector thinks, be the first road in America to be absolutely free from smashups. The cars can't collide head on because the road is double track, and thoy can't be tele- sooped because, by a simple little mech anism, if one train comes too close to another the electricity is shut off No Instructions or bloekades can interfere with it's running. The cars cannot jump the track. The wear and tear on its mechanism and rolling stock is compar- atiVely slight. It costs from one-thiTd to two-thirds less to construct and maintain than any other kind of rail road. It almost solves the question of the right of way. The road may be quickly constructed and will be slightly when finished.
 This new railroad is not the invention of the capitalist, but of his blind broth. er. He planned it all out in his dark ness. I" says Mir. Thomas, "and you will see, one of these days, that it is such perfectly feasible and admirable plan that it will one day supersede the sur face roads, both in the city and in the country
 ''The cheapness of construction and the high rato of speed attainable by such 6 railway are of course it's main ad- yantages. As far as speed is concerned, It Is now only question of atmospheric resistance And this natural factor can be largely overcome by constructing the l cars either cone shaped or with pointed ends like the prov of boat. But that of course is an after consideration, and no such device will be needed to attain A speed, say, of 100 miles an hour. And such a rate can be maintained easily and with entire comfort and safety to the passengers in this midair railway 1 There can be no Instructions on the track, for there is no track, and no anows or washouts can retard the trains. There are no dirt and dust or smoke and soot to make travelling hardship. no tarring and rumbling and ear splitting noises to make one deaf. "
 Concerning the motive power, MT. I Thomas believes that we shall eventual l ly find force superior to electricity that is, compressed air, the possibilities of which. Mir. Thomas declares. are as yet but little known.
 "My plan, {" says Mr. Thomas, would be to build compressed air tanks along the road in the country where trains could stop for moment or two and re- euperate the motive supply. 1 am satis fled that in the end compressed air would be cheaper and more satisfactory than electricity. "
 The road will be elevated from 10 to 90 feet above the ground, according to the requirements of the grade and whether the road be passing through the country or the city. The cars will be considerably smaller and lighter than the present railway cars now in use They will be lighted by electricity and heated in this way also and, for that matter, could easily have telegraphio communication all the time with the outside world.
 The California idea does not vary in it's essential particulars from two rapid transit systems which were exhibited at the World fair. One of these, known as the Cook system, proposed to have cars suspended from a single track, placed at the top of a series of poles The idea was that the cars were to be somewhat ill the shape of 8 present rail way car cut lengthwise ill twain. One set would move i'll one direction on one side of the pole. and the other set on the other side in the opposite direction. This was an invention of L. D. Cook of Tacoma, who constructed trial track on the outskirts of Tacoma and claimed to have run his cars successfully at the rate of 100 miles all hour.
 The only difference between the Cook system and the Thomas plan is that the latter would suspend the cars from se- ries of cables instead of from an iron track. Electricians believe that some such elevated or suspended railway ope- rated by electricity will soon supplant our present surface roads. They believe the day is not far distant when it will be possible to make the trip from Bos- ton to New York, or from New York to Washington, in less than two hours, from New York to Chicago in less than nine hours, and clear across the conti- nent i'll single 24 hour day The most wonderful part of all this is that they insist that these electrical railroads can be built so as to run trains at 100 to l50 miles an hour, with far greater safety, comfort. ease and far less expense than the steam roads. which now make not