The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-03
FOR BETTER CITIES
PROF. ZUEBLIN GIVES FIRST Lee
TURE ON MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS
FAULTS IN TRANSPORTATION
TrolIeys, Overhead Wires and Five
Cent Fares Should Not BE Toll
erated-Undergroun Conduit
the Rest System.

Faults in our local transportation sys-
tenn were pointed out last evening 20
a large number Of st. Paul people by
Prof. Charles Zueblin, in the lecture room
on the fifth floor of the Ryan annex.
Last nights lecture was the opening
one of a series of six to be delivered
in st. Paul by Prof Zueblin, under the
auspices of the Woman's Civic league.
The general subject of the series is
American Municipal Progress. Prof.
Zueblin stated last night that the best
features of American municipal progress
were its systems of transportation, pub
lie works, public schools, libraries and
public buildings, parks and boulevards.
and recreative institutions. Therefore
his six lectures would take up these
various systems in order.
Americans, said Prof. Zueblin, were too
apt to ignore the projections in their
own municipal systems and to dwell
on the iniquities instead. If city was
not remarkable for it's good government
and denied glory on that account it's
citizens boosted of it's depravity. Chi
cagoans more often pointed with pride
to the fact that their city was the third
wickedest in the country than - the
fact that it was rapidly attaining a we'll
nigh perfect system of underground rail-
way crossings.
Among the slides shown last evening
were three or four giving views of the
approach to the union station and on
the congested condition Of the railway
tracks that come into the CITY, The
approach to the union station Prof. Zueb-
lin pronounced unsightly and inadequate
for the traffic that passed back and
forth. There were grade crossings that
were a menace to human life, and should
be done away with by means of elevat-
ed or depressed tracks,
ST. PAUL's MIsTAkA.
In regard to the street railway system,
the speaker stated that the cars on most
of the lines could not be bettered and
that on the whole the system took care
of the traffic very well. To counteract
these virtues there were the trolleyS and
overhead wires that should not be toll
Grated, and there was the eXorbitant de-
mand of the scent fare, the payment of
which Prof Zueblin styled an antiquated
custom. st. Paul, like most cities, made
a mistake in not keeping in its hands
the regulation of traffic, for statistics
showed lnat the best service was given
the people by the railway companies
that nad been most restricted.
Views were shown of the Boston sub
way system of transportation, which
Prof. Zueblin pronounced the best means
of transportation in the country; of the
New York subway in process of con-
struction; and of various points about
Philadelphia, Washington, D. c.; Pitts
burg Cincinnati and Chicago, showing
how much progress had been made by
each city in its system of municipal
transportation. The underground conduit
Prof Zueblin pronounced to be the best
system of local transportation now in use,
for it did away with both trolleyS and
overground wires. SO far it had been
found superior to storage battery and
compressed air, although these two lat
ter systems were still in their infancy.
In conclusion Prof. Zueblin stated that
voting once a year did not make people
citizens. Citizens should be citizens
every day of their lives, alert always for
the welfare of their city. Otherwise they
were simply automatons whose strings
were pulled by the boss of the city.
ATTORNEY GRIGGS TALKS.
Following Prof Zueblin, Franklin H.
Griggs, assistant corporation attorney,
spoke briefly in regard to st. Paurs
street railway system and to the rail-
way approach to the city The levee
rights that had been accorded the union
depot people might or might not result
to the benefit of St. Paul, said Mr..
Griggs. 1t depended largely upon the
growth or decrease of the river traffic.
People interested in the latter claimed
that it was growing. The union depot
people claimed it was decreasing. Only
by the protection to certain extent of
the river traffic could the railway freight
rates be kept down.
In the matter of the street railway
company, Mr.. Griggs stated that no re-
turns financially of any appreciate
amount had been received by the city
from the street railway company. Prom
Uses made by the latter in the granting
of the franchise had not been lived up to
and the city had to face the unpleasant
fact that the franchise would exist for
thirty-eight years.
Following the lectures an informal re-
ception was held to give those who de-
sired it an opportunity Of meeting, Prof.
Zueblin.
The next lecture will be delivered in two
weeks. The subject is Public Works.
A number of local views will be shown.