The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-17

point in the development. of electric trac-
tion where franchises granted TO electric
railway cen: :anies in cities of l0l,cOJ anu
over should have the following coniitions
attached: That the company shail pave
and keep In good repair the streets along
which 1t Is granted the right OF way; that
the company shall equip all cars with
Tenders; that the company shall adopt n
new system OF motor power as soon as the
city engineer or council shall decide that
now and practical form of traction
which dispenses with the overhead troile!
has been developed and perfected IN
less these conditions are eXac,ed the des-
potism of the trolley promises to be
onerous and perpetual Compressed AIR
motors, underground trOlleys, storage bat
teries and gasoline motors are all in u
process of promising development. some
of them are already in practical opera
ton on short lines in the larger cities, but
traction experts declare that they have
not yet emerged from the stage OF eN-
perimenta.ion. In view of the promising
prospect that the overhead trolley muss
be superseded sooner or later with n
safer and better means of transit. the
above conditions are reasonable ana just,
and should be insisted uoon in the inter-
ests of the public from which these fran
chiscs emanate." That is, provided the
the trolleyizcd councilmen are bound TO
respect
-:li:--
The experiment of lowered prices inau-
gurated by the mana cement of the Aca"-
| emy of Music at the beginning OF the
present season has already more tnan
proved its own wisdom. AT time whcn
| theatrical ventures generally were sut-
fering from what to the profession are
known as "frOsts," this popular play
house has kept on unusually intimate
terms with the "S. Il. o." sign. To be
sure, not a little of this large patronage
is due to the efficient management and
personal popularity of Harvey Long, who
has demonstrated his entire fitness for
the position entrusted to him by Messrs.
Mishler Il BurSunder. Mr.. Long is uni
formly obliging and thoughtful of the
public's needs. and such qualities quickly
tell on the attendance at a playhouse.
But beyond all that is the fact that cheap
er prices are demanded by the average
theatcr-goer and that it Is going to pay
the amusement managers the country
over to recognize this fact.
-. T.
Only small percentage of the people
of Scranton are aware that one Of the iin-
est cataracts in this part of the state Is
on the Roaring Brook within the city
limits. It's an artificial one. to be sure.
but that does no. altogether rob It of Its
beauty and picturescueness. The falls
is opposite the end of Wheeler avenue. and
over 1t the crystal water of the brook
dashcs, falling n distance of tfty fect
into the bottom of a narrow gorge, throw
ing spray high in the air. The cataract
Is due to the erection of a dam by the
Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company,
which now has a storage reservoir on the
Roaring Brook to take the place of the
reservoir at the Blast Furnace, which
burst twice. The rains of the last two
weeks greatly increased the volume Of
water in the brook and the falls became
correspordingly more interesting.
-.lI:-
j. II. Fisher, of the Pennsylvania
Roofing company, was one of the hustling
Scranton newspaper men ten years ago.
Mr.. Fisher graduated from the engineer $
| department. of the Delaware and Hudson
Coal company to the city e1itorshiU Of
one of the Scranton dail.es. without pre-
vious preparation for the work; but he
proved equal to the task. made his mark
| as a local journalist and got out a newsy
city page. Upon becoming secretary Of
the Scranton board of trade Mr.. Fishers
experience as n newspaper man was Il
great aid to him in the labor of putting
new life into that organization, which
made its frs. marked progress during his
terms of office, and doubtless owes much
of its strength today to his untiring ef-
forts
-.:-
Philip ]. Thomas, president of the
Scranton Central Labor union, and for
| many years one of the most prominent
trades rnonists In this portion of thr
state has been appointed organizer for
Northeastern Pennsylvania of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor. Mr.. Thomas, as
Tribune readers know, has a hobby. and
a mighty good hobby 1t Is, too. He wants
the people of Scranton to patronze home
labor ard do their brving Of home mer-
chants. His agitation of this subject
through the local press has attracted
| statewide attention and furnished the
text foT many editorials indorsing his po-
sition.
-.l:-
Thomas jay. cx-warden of the county
Jail. came down fran his home in Jer-
myn yesterday to see how his boom for
the position of postmaster of that town
| Is regarded here. He Is one Of the oldest
residents of Jermyn and H. of the opinion
that he has at least as good claim to the
appointment as any Republican his town
can boast of. 81 have my petition In cir
culation," he said Yesterday. land you
can depend upon 1t that 1t will be n good
sized one before 1t goes to Washington -
Mr.. Jay believes in getting in the fell
early and then fighting until the end.
tilt
Congregational church convention in
Milwaukee suggests in its resolutions that
inasmuch as the daily papers have sport
ing editors. society and amusement cdi-
tors, and commercial editors, they ought
also to have church editors. Just ina
gine one editor spreading himself on Sun
day among the eighty-odd churches of
Scranton. and pleasing the. pastor OF
each with his synopsis of that pastors
sermon!
-:N:-
Ought there not to be a law forbidding
the enactment of "Richard III"?