New-York tribune., 1897-12-19
BOSTON'S SUBWAY SUCCEEDS
A RASELESS ATTACK on 1T BY PRESI-
DENT LITTLE OF THE WEST
END COMPANY.
EFFORTS OF THE sTREETCAR COMPANY TO
prsPARAoE IT-A HIGH OFFICIAL SHOWS


Boston Dec Is (speciaD.-NcwYo Workers have no
causo for apprchenson in their search for tho sou
,ion Of the rapld-,ransit problem becaus" OF the
ra,her .urpriqing statements in article pub
ushed IN Nrw.York recently II II the height OF
ab.urlity TO hold up Poston's new subway as
horrible example 20 NewYork. Instead OF being
a failure in actual practice as stated IN the artic''
in question. the subway Is pronounced success
in every respect in spite OF the fact mat j. but
half compleied and when the rema!ndcr Of It's
course IS put In operation there is no question but
il will FUN. ali expectations for rapid transit
through the congested heart NJ the business soc
ton The New-York article succeeded In provoking
nothing more than \ smile IN Boston. where II J.
regarded as a mere attempt 10 prejudice the p"o2i"
., <euyork wlthor' any regard 20 the facts OF
the
While at first glance II might appear In Now
York that the name of President Liie OF me
Wes, End street Railroad Company. who Is qhote'
- rt4ry r,,~rsnce the sentim-nts in ~" art''H
was sufficient to give them the stamp OF autheu-
,,cuv os from, the best possible source. mat
ter Of fact ihls lame alone ia sufficient 70 discount
the statements as 81 absolutely no valu" ~ all "F
every Bostonan recognizes Mr.. Little as IN" In
carra,.on Of AL the forces and continents an
nre reIdlccs ever brought TO bear against the sub
way
The president Of the Wet End has alwny" been
bit,.rly opuo,od 70 the enterprise from i's nc"p-
ton and. his Hutagonism has not abhi'd on" )o''
even upon ijs acceptance Even nj THIS lat" day
he exhibits continued and obstinate opposition. no.
even trying TO conceal the fact that he takes ad-
VANTAGE Of every pl OF red tape ana every circum-
stance 10 block the efforts OF the Transi' Commis-
s,op I'm its cndeavor 10 facilitate rapid transit lie
il s,il lighting at every point and trying 10 defeat
| the object OF the subway in all possible ways
81 can readily perceive tho object OF Mr. Little's
attack" said one Of the hlghes, and best-inioTmed
officials in the Transit Department to the Tribune
| 10 T. -
sion that the subway does not do the work. 80 that
he can fall back II In his Effort TO Keep the sur
face tracks Of the company on tho streets provided
| for the subway II is as plain as can be W" nave
already come In conflict with him on this point. and
! he resisted TO the last straw. He even kept Ger
! tain limo. on the surface when they should have
| been nut I'm the subway FOR the sole purpose or
| preven,ing US from compelling him TO remove the
tracks This interview is hut another attempt upon
! hin part 10 prevent us from making him take up
the tracks In the territory a'ed"S P'"N""" i"' "S
| the subway.
| "Nr Little s one Of the most confirmed pessi-
| mists have ever known" said another official to
| the Tribune correspondent. HE mas beer against
us from the first and will he unfit the last.
| "As n matter Of fact. Mr.. Iittles objections 10
| the subway or rather the causes which he assigns
! for the alleged 'unpopularity' Of the subway with
| the peopIe when boiled down and summed up. re-
! solve themselves solely into an objection to going
| downstairs to get into the subway. Now. that ia
| a matter Of fact. Nobody denies that. Of course.
| any one would rather ride on the surface II he
could other conditions being the same. II Is natu-
raj to prefer not to 80 up and down stairs when II
| can he avoided But then. what a ridiculous thing
! 20 bring up AT this time, Look at the elevated
! railroad in New-York DO they make any obJcc-
| tion there te going up and down flights OF stairs
| twice as long those In the subway?
THE situation simply this: The West End
| Street Railway got so tangled up with It's IN
! creased traffic In the congcsted district that they
did not know where they were at Their cars
made only three miles an hour IN thls section
Something had TO be done This something was
one OF three things-widening the streets. lower
ing the tracks or elevating them. widening the
streets was out OF the question First. 1t would
NOT give rapid transit because that is impossible on
| \ thoroughfare intersected by so many cross
streets no matter how wide it Is. for IL IL neces-
sary 10 come TO full stop at every street for cross
traffic And then 1t was undesirable again be-
cause OF the fabulous expense. OF the other two.
we came to the conclusion that the UNDERGROUND
was far preferable to the overhead system
Coming down to actual figures, II Is the simplest
thing In the world to prove the faliacy or the de-
auctions which President Little makes from the
.,atistcs which he gives OF the subway travel. lie
innocenty picks out for his first example the month
OF September without enllghtening his readers
With the information that this was the first month
after the opening OF the subway. the Significance
OF which fact can be readily seen presently.
Then President Little says: Now. II Is a curl
GUS fact that although our total number OF pas
..roers was increased In October by 23s.0O0 over
IN. scptember figures the number carried In the
subway was increased BY only 1000"
But with all due respect TO Mr.. Little there Is
notbinR curious about this fact at all. On the
contrary II Is perfectly logical and reasonable. ard
II would certainly be surprising were II otherwise
rvervbodv In Boston knows Of the great rush Of
! thu curious thousands who Inspected the subway
when IT was opened In September The size o
these crowds was simply amazing and AZ per
fectIy natural consequence the receipts OF the sub
WAY during that month were abnormaliy swehe"
1t is also perfectly natural that tramc shouiu huV'
|, ] assumed the normal level In months time ano
that in October when the people were returning
| from the seashore and from their vacatiars "n'