The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-11-08
RALEIGH, N. c., NOVEMBER 8, 1898.

agency. Through the dairy districts
these electric roads carry milk, butter,
&3, and produce in barrels, and in the
fruit districts they are a great help.
Just now an electric road ia being built
from mCleveland,ea east, especially designed
as a freight road Ii runs through a
district destitute of parallel road. It
does not follow the highway, but goes
across country on a cross cut right Of
way OF its own.
Such a system of transportation at
greatly reduced rates must evidently
be benefit to country people, though
as one man expressed it the other day,
ut is an excuse for US to go to town
twice where We hardly went at all be-
fore, and we spend little money every
time we go, as we'll" This may be
true Oae line that runs out of the city
18 miles has Is cent fare, and gives
trane'er ticket free to any part of the
city, 81 that it is possible to got %
mile ride for the Is cents Country
people for miles around will drive to
the electric road, put their horses into
a 10 cent hitch, go TO the city and back
for 40 cents, all told, as against a 81 25
and 81 40 fare on the railway. CIeve-
land has already over 80 miles of elec
trio lines entering the city from differ
ent directions, and three new lines
bulldog which will make it eaaily $50
miles in the aggregate-all travereing
farm country. The intercourse that
has sprung up in neighborboods and
between towns is astonishing, and
even church going on the car is COM
mon. Country trolley parties are fre
quent. A party Of country people
charter a car, to 60 to some point 75
miles away, possibly. The car is
switched in Cleveland, and away the
party go on another line, perhaps 40
miles more. No passengers are taken
on, and the fun and enjoy ment are
modern, and in tune with the power
by which they are moved. The car
awaits their return unwanted baggage
ia left upon it, and the Car at last speeds
them home. The city cousins come
down to the country for a moonlight
ride, aud are left at some farm house,
to be called for later; and thus country
| and town are being made metropolitan
by the trolley.
Along similar plan, southeastern
Ohio is being covered over with a net
work of telephones, reaching all the
to ~nship centors and villages, and
hundreds of telephones are being put
into the farmers houses along the lines,
| and off from them as we'll, for the com
papy put in a half mile loop for me
without extra charge, as I lived that
distance from the line. The charge of
dollar a month rates for service, and
| discount rates on other connecting
lines, make the plan very popular; and
a farmer out in the country in touch
with the world by means oi a tele-
phone, not to mention his nearness to
his town aud townsmep, is certainly
benefited in many ways. For instance,
my neighbor discovered that IL Of his
cattle had been stolen in the night; I
was short one horse. The telephone
quickly acquainted the police of Cleve-
land with the fact, with description of
the ani1als, and in half an hour the
police telephoned: "Have thief, with
cattle and horse! Come and get them
aIl!'-a matter which paid for two
telephones in this town many times
over.-Country Gentleman