The evening times., 1896-01-07
STREET CARS IN GLASGOW.
Municipal Control of COnveyanccs on
Trial in the ScOitis City.
san FrancixcO E1a


san Franci~cO Examiner.
The horse is rapidly becoming extinct in
this country as a motive power for street
| railroads. He can not compete with the in
expensive trolley. When the municipal
government of Glasgow, therefore, under
| took to run all the street cars in that city
with horses it tried the experiment of pub
lie management Of a business enterprise
under the most unfavorable possible con
| ditiOps.
| Not only is o horse-car system at a dis
| advantage In itself as compared with an
| electric or cable system, but ii is peculiarly
untitled for government operation from the
minute attention to details required in it
| and the impossibility of giving it effective
supervision in a large general way. The
brilliant success OF the Glasgow experiment
under such nnpromising circumstances is
/ fun of encouragement for cities that wish
to handle the transportation OF their peO-
pie by electricity or cable.
All the street car lines OF Glasgow We're
taken in charge by the municipality on July
/, 1894. The former lessees turned over
nothing but the tracks. and those in bad
condition. The city had to equip itself
completely with horses. cars, stables. EN-
ployes and supplies. and while it was doing
tins an epidemic OF influenza struck the
town and laid up l 800 OF the new car
horses at once.
The municipal government reduced fares.
supplied its men with uniforms, except
trousers, established easier hours OF labOr,
ovcrcaIne all the disadvantages Of inex-
pcricnce. met the competition OF a sys-
ten of omnibuscs started in opposition by
the old company and within eleven months
was carrying nearly 40 per cent more pas
sengcrs than he old corporation had carried
when IL had Il monopoly.
=. Although the advertisements, which had
brought in large revenue for the corpora
tioi, were excluded from the cars, the
municipal service cleared Sl2O, 900 in
eleven months above working expenses,
Interest and maintenance. which enable the
management to place over S33. 900 i'll
reserve fund for renewal of tracks, to
write off $4,000 from the capital ac-
count for depreciation, and to put over
Sal 900 into the municipal treasury, as
against n maximum of S2S,Oo received in
a year from the old company. In their
first report TO the common council the
members OF the committee in charge re-
mark that they do not nkow that any other
tramway undertaking has hitherto been i'll
a position 10 pay all interest, working and
general expenses and maintenance. and be-
gin writing down their capital account
within a year from starting operations"
All this has been done with the cheapest
fares in the world. AT the very start the
municipality adopted the principle Of giving
half mile rides for l cent, and 80 per cent
of all the passengers carried during the first
eleven months Travelled on 1-cent tickets.
Soon the average rates were reduced still
further.
on July /, 1894. the city government
gave the people OF Glasgow their choice
of 263 different rides, OF which 92 were
AT 1 cent, 6S at 2 cents, As at cents
81 at cents. Il at cents, and at
g cents each. When the new management
6 cents each. When the new management
began to feel sure of its grounds 1t
consolidated many OF the routes and abol-
ished the higher fares. SO that ON May
81, 1895. there was not 4 trip in the city
that cost over cents. The schedule then
stood. 81 trips at l cent, 90 at cents, 81
at 3 cents and l at cents.