The Topeka state journal., 1900-07-27
FOR LONDON ROADS.
Chicago Man to Direct Establishment
of Rapid Transit System


London. July 27.-Mr. Yerkes who ar
rived here yesterday as stated will
probably not remain in London over
a day, having received word at the
boat that his wife was i'll at Carlsbad,
and he said this morning that unless
he received a message today that his
Wife was much better he would join her
Immediately and return to London
later.
1t is safe to say that the London
publlc Will hail with delight Mr.. YerkeS'
coming, as the present mode OF travel
between London and the suburbs is ex-
ceed1ngly poor, and those unfortunateS
who are compelled to use the suffocat-
ing underground cars look upon any
man who can change these conditions
as nothing short of a deliverer.
Mr. 1erkes is more communicative re-
garding his London schemes on this
side of the water than he is on the
other; in fact, he is willing to give free
ly an outline of the project as far as he
himself is acquainted with it, with the
promoters and capitalists interested.
These he thought he would be able to
give out soon.
The London people," said Mr..
Yerkes, ''who have Travelled declare
that Chicago has the best street car
system in the world, and in order to
give London intramural transit similar
to ours they submitted to me a scheme
ing with the surface lines in the su-
hurbs-
BY they I mean the syndicate of
English capitalists.
1.-THE scheme appears feasible to me,
but in order to discover whether the
franchises, acts of parliament. and
charters We're all regular / sent Mr..
Lauterbach to London to investigate
His report. I may say, is favorable, and
l have come to carry out my share of
the preliminaries in the enterprise.
IF London really wants rapid transit it
can have it, but do not want to stake
my reputation on anything that is not
hrst-class and in good order"
Mr.. Yerkes was not in a position to dis
cuss the whole question, but 1t is under
stood here the scheme is based on some
old acts Of Parliament which have been
overlooked for years. and that the system
when complete will connect with the Cen
trail London electric railway and the
which were recently completed The
whole to form letter L. from Shep-
of England Another electric line con-
Meeting Waterloo station and Baker
probably be added to form the inner circle
of the gigantic electric underground sys-
The old Underground, or Metropolitan,
and the Metropolitan District railways
have been talking the substitution of cleo
tricity for steam for the last fifteen years,
the idea originating in a letter from
Joseph Medill to the London Times about
1886 and at every semi annual meeting of
both companies the subject has cropped
up, resulting in the promise that some
thing would be done in the next half
year, but that something however, has
never resulted in anything beyond a few
expensive experiments until the last year,
when the Metropolitan District road an
nounced its intention to increase its capi-
tai for the purpose of putting in electric
ity-
In the meantime holes in the ground,
which are supposed to ventilate the tun-
nels, continue smoky denominations and
the foulest places on earth.
Whether these old roads will be ulti-
mo ofnIx fol iY1fn ia CRhQTna a
matter not yet seriously discussed, but
it is not improbable, however, since they
have paid only scant dividends for many
years for reason that one patronizeS
them, unless compelled to do so.