The San Francisco call., 1896-04-24
An Eastern Railway Journal
Says It Is Doomed in
San Francisco.
ELECTRICITY TO THE FORE.
May Soon Be in Effective Operation
on All the City Railway
Lines.

recent number of the Street Railway
Journa of New YORK, under the head of
1.-THE Doom of the Cable in San Fran
CISCO" has some interesting things to say
concerning the development of the electric
street railway in San Francisco and the
possible supplanting of the cable by elec-
tricity throughout the entire Market
street system and, indeed, the whole City.
In the Hobart building the Journals de-
ductions were not accepted. "The Mar
ket-street Railway Company" say the au-
thorities, ''has substituted electricity ss a
motor on four horsecar lines and on one
cable line. What we will do further is an
other question. We do not claim to
known fact we do not know. There
are some lines upon which the cable will
probably always be used, because il will
always be the best and most economical
power"
Of the cable the article in the Journal
says that started twenty-five years ego
the cable road was success mechanically
and financially from the first, and its
fundamental features were quickly copied
on other roads in this City and in other
cities. The Journal continues:
Articles have appeared in Eastern journals
from time to time to encourage San Francis
cans in the belief that the cable system was
really more economical than the electric
except on long suburban lines, but for about q.
year and quarter the Marketstreet Railway
Company has owned electric roads of its
own and has been making data for itself
Snow has not bothered the company
at all on Its cable roads, nor has the frost
closed up the slot. The expense for cables
has not been abnormal, and the original con-
struction was most substantially done in iron
and concrete. In fact, the conditions for ca BILE
road traction in San Francisco are the equal of
any in the world, and the construction and
operation OF these roads are unsurpassed. The
Market-street Company, however, has become
convinced that the people prefer to ride on the
electric-cars, and that the electrie-cars carry
the people more cheaply Than does the cable.
electricians run on level lines and ct high
rates of speed, but from the operation of up-
ward of $50 cars at from ~ to 211 minute
headway at times and on lines having grades
as high as 1413 per cent. Most of these cars
are subject to frequent interference from the
heavy wagon traffic on the downtown streets
and all of them are governed by the rule
ordering reduction of speed at the crossing
of each intersecting street,
The company began cautiously by changing
its old horsecar lines to electric lines. Later
it decided 10 equip with electricity the route
of franchise designed to be cable road and
for which $4,000 worth OF cable material had
franchises we're then ordered to be equipped
as electric roads, and finally it was decided to
abandon the use of the cable on one line-Ellis
street-and substitute electricity.
This last decision is considered significant
and one foreshadowing the changing of not
only all cable roads on the level to electric
roads, but the changing of all cable roads ac-
cessible to electric cars, and not only the cable
roads of the Market-street system, but also
those OF the other cable roads in the city. The
Market-street Company maintains at present
six cable power-houses and each has Its two
large monthly items of fuel and labor. Every
time cable power-house can be dispensed
with and the lines operated by electricity that
the item of fuel is reduced both
on account OF the less fuel required per car
mile for an electric road as against q cable
road and because the ca ble-houses are usually
run non-condensing, whereas in the electric
power-house the engines are run condensing
quiring a cable $4,000 feet long that is now
under reconstruction as an electric road.
When this road is changed the large cable
power-house at Oak and Broderick streets,
from which both Oak and Ellis have been run,
will be shut down.
The grades on the Howard, the Post and the
McAllister street lines are all perfectly prac-
ticable for electric cars, and in case they are
changed from cable to electricity two more
power-houses can be dispensed with,
Electricity has, perhaps, replaced the cable
on the level and on easy grades, some cable
men say. but on heavy grades the cable will
always be retained.
When we see the daily spectacle of electric
cars unaided climbing 14H per cent grades in
San Francisco and 15 per cent grades in Onk-
land, and by means of simple auxiliary de-
vice ascending a % per cent gr ade in San
Francisco, where no cable grip could be made
to hold, the impregnability of any cable propo-
sition is open to question.