Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-17
The FIELD OF ELECTRICITY
New England Electric Lines Reaching oui
for Freight
ANOTHER RAID ON STEAM ROADS
Efhcicncy of the Current in Thnvinr
Frozen water pipcs-C,oVcrnmcnt
Operation of Telephones in
England.
ANOTHER RAID ON STEAM ROADS

The iuroadE into the local revenues of
steam roads made by irteru~ban electric
lines and The steady growth OF the latter iu
the eastern and middle states have been
mentioned frequently ID this column The
subject is Of keen interest 20 transportation
companies. as il ioreshadows Enthusiastically
a revolution IN existing methods The
marked success o. electric lines In meeting
the wants Of nearby communities is not
likely 10 Doe limited as II present, TO pas
sengnr traffic. Many iuterurbuu lines are
already handling freight traffic in d small
way. IN the New England states, particu-
lBrly Massachusetts, the electric lines are
seeking relief from the restrictions imposed
10y law, 10 that they may carry goods The
growth uf the movement is detailed 10y the
Boston Transcript as follows
Everybody who reads the newspapers
nowadays knows that eloctrl. operation OF
street cars has worked q great change in
transportation methods SO far as passengers
are concerned, and that q revolution in the
methods q carrying freight and parcels is
being hintcd a; on all sides. Unless one has
taken the trouble to look into The matter
carefully, however ne would probably he
surprised to find TO what an extent the ex-
listing and projected street railways in this
state are sCrRmbliur TO secure the right to
carry everything from small parcels to The
heaviest freight over streets and highways
and TO what an extent this scramble has
been increased within the last five years.
There are thirty street railway matters
before The present Legislature. and eleven Of
them are petitions for authority to carry
merchandise or freight; but this kind OF
petition has made its appearance generally
gupalivr hin Inst In 1SH4
there were five railways Incorporated with
on. any common carrier privileges one with
express and parcel privileges unrestricted
one with such privileges restricted TO night
hours between ,. m and a. m. while
one road q Nantucket company, had its
passenger powers extended 10 the carrying
OF freight and mails. In 1894 one railway
was incorporated with common carrier Qrivi-
lege for goods merchandise and freight. In
1895 a company was Incorporated 10 carry
goods and merchandise and one without any
common carrier privilege. In 1896 three were
Incorporated without such privilege FIVE to
carry merchandise and mails; Two were
riven merchandise and freight privileges. In
1897 two companies were Incorporated with
out the common carrier clause; two were
empowered to carry baggage and small par
GELS: for one company the bill was phrased
to allow it to carry goods and merchHn-
disc" while a Hulyoke company was al
lowed to carry freight on certain streets,
but only small parcels on others. Last year
1885 two companies were incorporated with
out the common carrier clause one with
barEare express and freight privileges
practically equal TO those Of steam rail
road while five previously incorporated
companies were granted the right of carry
Ing baggage, mails or small parcels Of mer-
chandise
Traffic IN sight.
~ good example of demands that are
now being made for freight traffic on street
railways is afforded by the FftchhurE case
now pending in the state Legislature. Two
steam railroads now run through the sec
ton covered by the FitChhurg d Suburban
Street railway and the Fitchburg & Leon
inster Street railway. Neither Of the steam
roads run very near the big granite quar-
riee there. however, and at a hearing re
Gently before the committee on street rail
WAYS a uuHrrymHn in business there sald
that in year 80 600 tons of stone were
taken out and that II cost 20 cents ton
merely 10 cart II to the railroads Tor ship
ment. Now the street railways. with the
uuarrymeu and business men TO back them
want 10 have the authority TO carry freight,
so that they may take up the business
:
to the steam railroad stations. The street
railway alrendy runs within a short distance
of the quarries so that only a short spur
track would be needed there, but other
spur tracks with sheds and platforms,
would probably be needed at the points
where the railways connect with the rail-
roads incidentally the railways want au-
thority to build spur tracks 10 the YARDS
OF the factories or other business estao-
lishments along their lines and their re-
quest has been supported by the local
boards of trade. In fact il was stated that
the business men of the district represented
by Leominster, North Leominster and
Fitchburg wanted freight privileges on the
street railways for tue last three years OF
more largely for the sake Of getting their
goods TO the lines of the steam roads with
out teRmiuE. A large paper company is
said TO be ready to provide five cars Of
freight Il day if the privileges are granted.
"A somewhat radical change 10 the run
Ming Of regular railroad freight cars on the
street railway is one of the plans Of the
FitChburg enthusiasts and their scheme II
followed out generally, would revolUtlonze
the whole system Of transportation by rail.
The promoters Of the Fitchburg & Suburban
bill told the committee 1hat a good deal Of
the granite to be used no the big metropoli
tan water works dam az Clinton would prob
ably bs taken from the FitChburg quHrres.
THIS would mean number Of tons OF granite
a day for three years and If the railway
company can get freight privileges such as
81 desires II viii put on an electric lncomo-
tive, so the promoters Told The committee,
and VIE draw railroad fHtcars directly from
the steam railroads into the quArries where
they can br loaded and drawn back 10 the
tracks Of Che steam ronds for the haul 10
Cliuton. The quurrymeu stated that some
such scheme was very desirable, since suff-
cient number OF wagons could not be driven
into The quarrief TO handle the amount Of
granite required a, Clinton Then again on
cars blocks OF granite that were TOO large
70 bs loaded between the wheels Of q wagon
or drRy could easily be taken care Of Also
the ndoptinu OF The street car plan for carry
ing granite would save the constant grind