The Saint Paul globe., 1896-11-18
NEED OF AZ DEPOT LINE.
Views Others Have of st. Paul Street
Car Accomm atiOns

Relative to the need of improved
street car service to and from the
union depot Hermann Scheffer, of this
city, received the following letter re-
Gently from John f. Norrish, of Hast
ingS, Mimi:
You ask nae for my Judgment as to the
necessity of a better accommodation of street
car service to and from the union depot in
your city. Perhaps it Is little out of place
1or me TO express an opinion in this matter.
and do so with some hesitancy, but l will
venture to say in a few words what has often
occurred to me in passing in and out of your
city, ana from which you must draw your
In the first place, fully 95 per cent OF all
out-of-town transient visitors to your town
come through the union depot, whether pa
irons or guests, and when through, is there
any evidence of appreciative hospitality
awaiting them in the way of convenient and
ready transportation facilities? 1t seems to
me to be a narrow view for any one to say,
II you do not pass the crowd by my door,
they shall be made to wade through the dis
maj swamp, in storm, mud or parching heat,
before getting anywhere. How do you think
this impresses the stranger? Pardon me for
saying this much, and believe me, etc.
In response to a letter addressed to
e. s. Dreyer, of E. s. Dreyer & Co,
mortgage bankers in Chicago, Mr..
Scheffer received the following reply
from Mr.. Dreyer detailing in COM
prehenSive fashion the admirable street
car service Chicago possesses:
l consider it to be of the greatest Importance
to any city that its railroad depots should
have direct communication with the leading
street car lines. The argument that streets
are too oYercrowded by ordinary wagon traffic
to permit, in addition thereto. the running
of street cars, 1 consider it to be absolutely
fallacious.
We have here in Chicago an electric lire
running along South Clark street, one Of
cur leading Streets right up to the court
house, On the corner of Washington and Clark
streets. Another runs over South Clark street
from north to south, traVersing a part Of
the city which is always overcrowded with
teams. Both Of these, lines are electric lines
with overhead wires. No objection is made
in our city to the extension of car lines on
account of the impedments they would
cause to ordinary street traffic.
Our cable cars run through the most i'm
portant business districts of our CITY, and
even intersect one another at dozen diff
ferent points. Although this is sometimes the
cause of some little Inconvenience still the
advantages of rapid and quick communication
from one point to another far outweigh these
little inconvenience
All of our depots are connected one with
the other by street car lines. either cable or
electric, to the greatest advantage of the
travelling public. Rapid transportation from
and to the main points of a city and rail
terminals certainly are of paramount import
ance, meaning Increase of traffic and increase
Of trade.
l inclose herewith map Of our city, and
by studying 1t, you will see that we have
nardly single street in the very center
Of our city which is without a street car
line, and as a good Chicagoan, I might add
that we have the best street car system in
the world. 1t behooves your citizens to strive
for the same. All OF our horse car lines
with the exception of few insignificant
lines, have, within the last year. changed into
electric lines