Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-07
EMINENT ENGINEER
George Parker Deacon Of England
Studying Street Railways.
TIE OVERHEAD TROLLEY Is EIECRABLE
interesting Interview With the Wis.,
itor on the Subject.
COMPARISONS THAT TELL

Mr.. George Parker Deacon. one of the
most eminent of English engineers. is in
Washington and called this morning upon
the District Commissioners. Mr.. Deacon is
visiting the United States to examine into
the street railway systems. and will make
an exhaustive study of the question. He
constructed the first tramway, as street
railroads are called in Great Britain, in
Liverpool in 1876. and later constructed
the remarkable works by which the city Of
Liverpool is supplied with water.
To accomplish this Mr.. Deacon made the
artificial lake at Lake Vyrnwy, in North
Wales, and connected with Liverpool by
an aqueduct seventy-seven miles long.
This was completed in 1891, and is the
greatest aqueduct in Europe, and will only
be exceeded by the Croton aqueduct which
is to supply New York city.
Mr.. Deacon has been in attendance on
the sessions of the British association re-
Gently held in Toronto, Canada, and Is
president of section G of the association
devoted to engineering. The meeting was
a most important one, and was attended by
many Americans.
While visiting Engineer Commissioner
Black this morning, the latter introduced
Mr.. Deacon to the Star reporter. He Is
very pleasant gentleman of medium height,
.amiable eyes and wears full beard.
Investigating Tramways.
Il am here to Investigate and secure an
understanding Of the system of tramways-
your street railways in the United States"
said Me. Deacon. I'VE have been waiting
in England to what the development in
that line is in America, as We have done in
so many other instances in the past. In
England, you know, we regard the United
States as the great country of experiments.
Loaf no in hiS in mr. III
cal matters.
1T is very pleasant to me to see that the
great cities of New York and Washington,
continued Mr.. Deacon, have withstoo1 the
clamor for the overhead trolley. Their ex-
ample will have excellent effect in retarding
damage to the beauty of other cities, which
results from the overhead system of car
propulsion.
Il think the system an execrable one My
general inquiries indicate that the cities
which have adopted the overhead trolley
would not have done so If they had fully
understood what it was going to lead to.
No one who has been in Brooklyn and
Washington within two or three days of
each other, as 1 have been. needs further
lesson to impress him of the immense su-
periority of the underground over the over
head system.
THE street railway development in the
states, however, is admirable continued
Mr.. Deacon. land it looks to me if the
overhead trolley system was only make
shift. The companies operating them seem
to have grown too strong for the munich
palities that may want to get rid of them.
The Legal Status.
Turning to Commissioner Black, Mr.. Dea-
con inquired:
would it be unconstitutional to secure
the passage of what we would call in Eng
land IN act of parliament by your Con-
gress to compel the companies to adopt
other systems in place of the overhead
trolley?'
Congress could not do that" answered
Captain Black, but there is no doubt that
such Il reform will be eventually accom-
plished by the states themselves"
Captain Black then exclaimed in an in
teresting and succinct manner, which
/ claimed MIR. Deacon's attention, the man
| ner in which street railways are governed
| in the national capital and the various re-
| quirements they are under obligations 10
| meet in the matter of conforming to
| streets. grades. ETC., paving between the
| tracks, and Mr.. Deacon in return, sketch
ed the control exercised over them in Eng
| lard. Mr.. Deacon then left to examine the
| Metropolitan underground system.