The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-02-17
ENGINES FOR SCRAP IRON
THEY WILE FOLLOW IN THE WAKE
 OF THE STAGE COACH.

With Electricity Makes This as Sure as
 There Will be Another Day-President
 Clark Makes the statement-He Has No
 Quarrel With Electric Interests.
 Another chapter was added yesterday
 to the history of the railroad war, now
 being waged before the committee on
 railroads at Hartford between the Con solidated railroad and the electric street railway interests, when President
 Charles P. Clark told of the success at tending the third rail experiments he was making in the interests of his com pany.
 The fact that President was going to address the committee was we'll known yesterday morning, and the room in which the hearing was held was crowd ed with spectators to hear what the noted railroad manager had to say.
 MT. Clark addressed the committee as follows:
 I was asked ten days ago to attend this hearing, which I understand to be l 1Oi subject granting an extended right to certain existing railroad company to
 connect with another railroad which { together make a parallel line to the New England and New Haven roads between Hartford and New Britain. It was represented to me that my pres ence was desired here for two purposes. < The first purpose I understand to have VI I.- s1 l.. 1o,, oF,,I \ It was to explain, or contradict, or amend-I do not know which word l ought to use-certain statements that E had crept into the hearing, which I had never heard myself, but which in volved the good faith of the steam road s as to something that has happened in the past. But I understand from the gentlemen who represent the petition CTS since I came to the capitol that { that is no longer a live question, and that there is no pretence on anybody s part that any representation which has been made by the New Haven road has failed in it's keeping, and there is no contention on that subject. There has been nothing done, or omitted to be done, by the Consolidated road for , which it can be blamed. I am very glad that that matter goes into the tomb of the Capulets and no further discussion is necessary
 The other subject which I was asked $ to explain was what the Consolidated road has done, is doing and proposes < to do in the way of using electricity as { a motive power, especially between < New Britain and Hartford. New Brit ain and Hartford, by road and by rail- road, are parallel lines practically, and \ of course those of us who are charged 5 with the management of the New Ha- ven and the New England interests cannot view with indifference the di- version of any business which has been enjoyed for SC many years, and espe- cially when it believes that, in addition 2 s=.s it's duty as representing a living, go- ing interest, an additional investment of capital to accomplish the purpose is q unnecessary, is unwise. and will event ually prove a loss to those who make it. Before taking up the subject in it's details would like to tell the commit tee little about the history of the elec- trical experiment of the Consolidated \ road. About three years ago, east of Boston, there was a cry for the double tracking a short piece of road, about < seven miles in length, upon which the business was extremely variable. On
 some days the number of passengers carried, being those resident on Man. X tasket Beach, would not outnumber a thousand or fifteen hundred. Perhaps the next day, pleasant holiday, the 8 number of passengers would be twen- ty-flve thousand. On busy days the X handling of the traffic was attended S with delay and risk. The use of cleo { tricity as method, not of creating power, but of conducting power, hac S been very largely discussed, and ii seemed proper that an experiment should be made with the advantages o1 a high, dry, well-tried rail, so that we might learn as to it's economy, both un- der a great volume of business and un-
 der a small volume, and it was deter mined to erect a very substantial trol. < ley line, which up to that time had beer 5 the only practicable method of using the fluid A large line of solid center posts was set up, and the double track was laid at a sufficient distance from { these posts to prevent accidents to pas
 sengers, who often injure themselves ii { they have an opportunity. The power { house was located at one end of the : line A trolley wire was strung, the
 section of which was in the shape of a figure eight so that a mechanical griI { might be had upon it, instead of de E pending upon the old method. Every & thing worked as we had hoped it would S and better than those who had been ir the business of trolley construction hao prophesied. The continual application E made to us as managers of the road was to make our rolling stock as light as possible, to asSimilate to the prac' S tice of the street roads in every respect { All these overtures were resisted, anC 4 the equipment put upon that road con- sisted entirely of open cars, the busi'
 ness being @ summer business. The cars themselves weighed between thir' F ty and thirty-two tons. They were fit ted with standard Westinghouse brakes
 and were so fashioned as to comply z with the laws in force as to whistles E and bells, compressed air being used for Ethe whistles and a large gong of the < requisite weight answering for bells ss After the service which had been de $ manded for the summer had closed we E obtained figures which showed us thai with business in volume electricity proved a much cheaper source of con sveying power generated in & stationary z plant than to generate the same force and power at the head of the train