The herald., 1898-12-25
OPERATIONS ON FOOT IN NEW
YORK FOR CONSOLIDATION
THE REDUCTION OF INTEREST
How the Underground Trolly Is Super
seding the Cable-Notes of In
corporations and Realty
OFFICE OF THE HERALD,

connected with current developments in the
field Of finance is the tendency to combine
the electric street railway corporations in
the large cities OF the country with corpor-
ations supplying electricity for lighting and
power. The latter antedated the introduce
tion OF the trolley by number of years, and
it would have seemed when the first cleo
trio lights plants were installed that there
was no possible connection between the capi-
tai invested in them and the large amounts
of money represented by tne surface trac-
tion lines, operated by horse power in such
communities as New York, Chicago or
Brooklyn. AS the utility of the trolley
system became more and more evident, and
the movement extended to the smaller cities,
it was naturally found that in such cases
the same facilities which furnished power to
move the traction cars could be most econ
omically applied to lighting and other pur-
poses. In many cases the original iran
chises were combined. and in others the
street railway companies have bought out
the electric light companies, or vice versa,
while instances are not lacking in which the
traction organizations have gone into the
business OF furnishing electricity from their
power houses for illumination as coinpct-
tOtS vi tut lcNdl tltNtiO iiSht companies.
1t would now seem that plans of this kind,
which are Of exceptional magnitude both IN
the capital involved and the public interests
that may be affected, are in preparation in
connection with the street railways of New
York and Brooklyn. In what is now Man
haitian Borough of the Greater New York
public sentiment successfully resisted the
introduction of the overhead trolley, and
the first move in the direction of modern
lied traction facilities was taken in the
shape of an installation of the now almost
obsolete cable system by both the Metropol-
itan railway, which operates the Broadway
line and its ramifcations, and the Third
Avenue company. This led, however, to
experiments by the Metropolitan company
with the underground trolley systems, which
had already been adopted in some European
cities, notably Buda Pesth, Hungary The
success of the initial line in Lenox avenue,
however. satisfied the fnanciers who had
combined such large share of Manhat-
tan's surface roads in Me Metropolitan
company that it presented advantages of
the most striking kind over the cable, and
a triumphant illustration of its economy
and success were soon furnished when the
Fourth and Madison avenue road rs well
as the Second avenue line were transformed
into underground trolley roads. No time
has been lost in efecting the change in the
power used on the Sixth and Eighth avenue
lines, with equally gratifying results to the
company, and it must be added to the pub
lie. As final result the Third Avenue is
now about to abandon its cable system for
underground electric power, and the Met
ropolitan is effecting the same change in its
Broadway and other cable lines, the work
Involving an enormous outlay, which is
however considered amply justified by the
demonstrated results obtained from its cleo
trio roads. In short the metropolitan com
munity will, in the course of the coming
year, he in possession of one of the most
perfectly equipped electric traction sys-
TENS in the world, while it is understood
that some of the short. crosstown lines,
where the horse still fingers as motive power.
are to be equipped with form of com
pressed air motors.
This sketch of the progress OF electric
street railways i'll New York is necessary
to understand the very important deals
that, according to well-deiined rumors, are
now being consummated. 1t was claimed
that when the work of equipping the Broad
way line for electricity was undertaken,
the Metropolitan Street Railway company
proceeded to lay conduits for its wires on
much larger scale than could be possibly
needed for its own purposes. The posi-
bility that its plant for the creation of cleo
trio power might be larger than was re-
quired to merely move the cars, and that
the surplus current might be supplied to
the municipality and to other consumers
along its lines was suggested, though this
has not been fully revealed as the purpose
in view. The interesting part of the mat
ter came in the incorporation of a company
under the title of the New York Gas and
Electric Light, Heat and Power company,
with the nominal capital of S25,000,000, with
which the leading fnanciers connected with
the Metropolitan company are now admit
ted to be identified. The erection of
power housethe largest in the world, of
some 10000 horse power-at point on the
East river front by the Metropolitan has
and the New York company. it is
stated, has acquired large plot of land con-
tigrous thereto. The deal, so far as it is
revealed to the public gaze, has also involved
the acquisition of some small electric light
and power companies in Manhattan, as we'll
as an alleged interest in the existing electric
and though there has been de-
NAL of reports that the Edison Electric r.
Illuminating company is to be absorbed and
united in some way with the Metropolitan
system, the suggestion finds a certain
amount of attention. At all events. the
matter promises to have an important bear
ing on the supplying of electricity to the
public for all purposes at comparatively
low charges. 1t may also be noted that
the Brooklyn Rapid Transit company is
currently believed to be negotiating for the
control of the Kings County Electric COM
pany, which virtually monopolizes the cleo
trio Lighting of the borough of Brooklyn.
md in some quarters there is belief that
combination of the traction and electric
concerns of the two boroughs is neither so
difficult nor so improbable as it seems. In
fact, there are even whispers that the pro.
posed and long-delayed combination of New
York illuminating gas interests, il effected,
might lead to still larger scheme and in
crease the scope of the possible deals in a
very interesting and important manner.
Even without placing too much stress upon
this phase Of the question it is, however, be-
lieved that a remarkable example of the
tendency to combine electric and street-rail- |
way facilities is about to be given in the
and, as already mentioned. this |