The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1895-05-11
The Successor of the Railway
The Trolley.

Fra1a tn, Literary pfes~t
In several State legislature, fierce
struggle = goiu= on between the electric
~ Trolley rad, snd ,he steam railroads
The trolley ha> hgz-me a formidable rival
# the steam railriai and threatens to- de-
priye it pf the greater portion bath q il, pas
srngcr s1id frrigh, ,rithc Elestrie lines
Afford superior accommodations "a ~aue re-
slecis. especially in regard to >toppage a,
plar,-s along their roui,s. and can la pro
ttabls business a iawer rates than the
steam railroads The latter. alarmed At
the steady iur,a,is Of their competitor. ap-
F-.al 20 th. legislatures to pr,fcet them by
refusing charters M franchise. t. trolley
csssnF@snis-> -eekin. ta operate suburban
lines ~ t. connect different towns aud
Villages There !. a striking article on the
subject in The Popular Science Monthly
April contributed hy Mr. Appleton
Morgan. ia which considerable evidence l.
marshalsd in support NJ the conclusion ,hst
the trolley /, the ,ucce--or ii the railway,
and that the century which has seen the
birth II this great industrial agen; NAV al-,
~. il. exodus "a death Ia opening his
article, Mr. Morgan writes
Il has been anticipated and toFe~ccu
that electricity was ~ be- the strce~~'r ul
steam. and experimental electsie Io-,oino-
lives have already been operated with mere
~ le-, satisfactory results, Bur the que>
,i,n appears At this moment Ia be. no,
whether the electric locomotives viii super
~ssis. the steam locomotive hul whether
locomotives themselves ART not "a be dis
p.nSei with. and tossed together with
drawings models, plans, Specifications, and
estimates for substitution 1t power, upon
the scrap heap, while the substitution shall
be. ~, of she motive power bnt Of the
m0ttH
|, luoks indeed as If the next cen
,ury. whatever il may have IN the way Of
aerial Sight 10 store for as viii have ma
difficulty if il desires the honor, At being
chri,ieued the trolley aye For It Is To
,hi, new traction system tina, the railway
oau,laui,- arr already looking with ihat
apprehension With which an heirle-S landed
proprietor re-.arls hi> hostile next Of kin.
l.aaie, down with their vast burden Of
liked charge and r,,sJly maintenance.
crippled By all >ur,, 81 parasites, legal, and
mixed there >,rnis to De nothing for them
To DO but to wait patiently To be superseded.
For many years the railway COMPANIES
had come tn philosophize helpl,2sly 1t the
prospective diminution If suburban profits
frnln the horse or dummy operated tram
way and had missed the out-oi town
patruu who had begun to turn his back
utan comfortable sitting, and smokers
,ummuous saloons luxurious upholstery
facilities for his travelling whist or chess.
heat. water. and conyenleneeo galore.
They had withou; a murmur seen all these
pale in attraction to- the man Of business
who needed not To await time tables or
~uccumb Ia belared or missed trains. when
the buzzing little trolley hummed along IT.
inexpensive wires every five minutes, :"
long a. it attended him a board bench or a
strap to hang on BY. But when this I'M
expected trolley began To 20 farther and
stretch its transportation powers To longer
distances. the poor handicapped railways
we're led To look at their books and-ii
metaphors may be mixed-to button up
their pockets and hint Of receivers instead
of dividends. And just At present they
NAV be praying for time to turn around
before a transcontinental trolley Is upon
them
The trolley indeed has, in less space
of time than that required to launch any
other known improvement, practically cap
tured the cheap transportation field This
newcomer, indeed seems equipped with
every opportunity that the railways have
been coveting for fifty years, and to be
getting for the asking everything for which
the railways have to pay the heaviest. Its
economies began at its very birth. In Its
construction it has no use for high salaried
engineering and locating parties for woods
men. excavators. bumpers. agents ofrghts
of way. and for the long catalogue Of
machinery for surveying and making rail
way line. All these become as superduous
and as clumsy as the Old Man of the Sea
ON Sindbad 5 back; for. while Your principal
assistants are putting ON their rubber boots,
your trolley-built in a night, like Alad-
din 5 palace-is earning dividends, obliyious
of SUBMITS or watersheds or grades, loops
or bridges. trusses or cantilevers. 1t Is
only an item of the situation that, as last