The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-08-01
PUSHING IMPROVEMENT.

Over within the purlieus OF that charm
ing section OF the city in and about Camp
street the residents have recently gathered
themselves together into an Improvement
society-the Beacon Hill Improvement
Society.
We believe heartily in these improve
ment societies, and we believe in just the
kind that has been organized in the Camp
street section-a local organization OF
folk living within border, the limits of
which are not too broad, united to inn
prove and beautify and secure from the
larger body polite, OF city or State, all
the advantages possible to get without
robbing some other section.
But when we learned OF the organiza-
tion OF the Beacon Hill improvement
Society OF the Second Ward, we wondered
what il could find TO turn its hand to.
With its delightful climatic conditions,
its well laid streets and sidewalks, its
trees and shrubbery and cosy residences,
and its general air of comfortable subur-
ban prosperity and contentment we could
conceive of no district of the town that
seemed less hungry for improvement of
its condition than this of Beacon Hill,
unless the Beacon Hillites are premature
ly eager to dwell in Paradise.
But now we have learned that the
Beacon Hillites are really in dire distress,
and we have, indeed been blind in both
eyes and deaf in both ears, and halting
in every intellectual faculty that we had
not discovered it before. In a word, the
Beacon Hillites want improvement in
their trolley car service. At least COM
mittee OF our esteemed friends of the
Improvement Society tell us they do, and
we suppose they must be right. The
thing is as clear as daylight with the sun
and moon and all the planets shining up
on us together. The Improvement
Society, having been formed to improve,
promptly began to hunt for something
that needed improving, a difficult task, as
any of US who are not privileged to live
In that charming section may well un-
derstand, until the happy thought OF the
trolley car service struck somebody. That
was dead easy. We only wonder we hadn't
thought of it before. 1t is so simple.
We trust our friends of the Beacon Hill
Improvement Society will wage their i'm
provement campaign with the same vigor
and enthusiasm that marked the organi-
zation Of that praiseworthy society. The
trolley car company is an easy mark and
II may be talked to like a Dutch uncle
with no expense to the society or its
members We have no doubt the trolley
service needs improving on Beacon Hill.
We have heard some Of the landholders
up there complain that more cars ran
down the hill than went up and there
are other serious evils which ought to be
attended to. In fact the trolley car SER
vice all over the city ought to be inn
proved. We really wonder that the troll
ley company hasn't been spending money
and buying cars and laying new rails
ten times more freely than it has, con-
sidering the encouragement received from
certain noisy persons who have been try
ing for the past six months to kill its
franchise, put unexpected burdens upon
it, open the streets to competitors and
drive it out OF business altogether. But
we don't believe that our friends Of the
Beacon Hill Improvement Society will
seek their wanted and needed increase OF
facilities and accommodation after any
such fashion, so encouraging to the trolley
company to spend money and make i'm
Droveuepts,