The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-27

Tse, of which IA were electric. At tha
time there were 1885 electric cars il
| use out of 32,505 OF all kinds, and l.,
262 miles Of track out Of s,123. BY 1SS!
| the number OF cable cars had declined
from 22,4Os to 1.49s; but in the mean.
| time electric cars had increased to the
| number of 5o,65S, aud the number OF
miles of track to II ,969 The stimulu.
given the industry is further brought
out by the fact that whereas In 1890 the
total capital and funded debt for al
roads appears to have reached sS63,
10000, IN 1900 the total for S71 street
railway systems, chiefly electric, was
$1.023, ,s19,9S7 capital stock and s777,S62,
571 funded debt. making a total OF
slightly over s1,Soo, 100000, or just five
times the figures of ten years before
On this vast capitalization the returns
from the operation would Indicate a
net earning capacity of from to 5 per
cent.
Economy of Electric Power.
The saving introduced by the adop-
ton of electricity is indicated sufficient :
ly by the annual report of the Metro
politan Street Railway company of
New York. for the census year ending
June 30, 1900. This system employed
the most expensive method of electrical
operation known, the trolley running in
a slot under the car. 1t appears from
the Metropolitan figures that the cost
Of operating with the cable per car mile
was 1915 cents: with the horse, 1888
cents; and with the electric motor 1916
cents.
al In oil In
fans for Offices and homes has in
creased to such an extent that the de-
mand In the census year was greater
than the supply. The report states that
the experiments with storage battery
cars have not beer entirely successful,
but better results have attended the
construction of portable equipments for
use in such places as mines. etc. where
it is difficult or dangerous to introduce
wires carrying live currents. Statistics
of arc lamps compiled during the second
quarter Of 1899 showed 1880 stations
owned and operated by private corpor-
ations, reporting 2sO.400 arc lamps, g.
$4,000 direct incandescent and $500. 900
alternating incandescent on their cir
cults, with 100000 horse power of mot
i've machinery in their generating
plants. This does not include the NUM-
cipal plants.
Telephone Developments.
Ten million dollars worth Of electri-
Cal apparatus is invested in the tele-
phones of the country. Referring to
the history OF the telephone in the
United States. the report says:
Few industries have undergone a
more violent transition frorI a central
lied control Of production to unlimited
manufacture OF apparatus than tel
ephony, and the period of greatest ac-
tivity in this field since 1850 began with
the census year 1900. Having after ,re-
expensive litigation estab-
lshed the supremacy of its patents. the
Bell telephone system enjoyed for some
years undisturbed possession of the
field. but the moment these patents
could be assumed to lapse, competition
broke in from every quarter. with the
result that the industry has Of late
undergone an extraordinary develop
ment, doubling its figures from year to
year. and witnessing a very thorough
revolution in methods, apparatus and
rates. Since the census year lS79-S0,
no statistics OF telephony have been
compiled other than those embodied in
the annual reports Of the American Bell
company. Twenty years ago
l4S companies and private concerns re-
ported 54,Sl9 receiving telephones, 3,3333S
employees. and 34,305 miles of wire, with
total liabilities of $15.502l35. In 1900
the Bell systems reported about $500
with 1,0S0,0G0 subscribers
using 1,254,203 miles Of wire,
employing $4,000 persons. and handling
:, 2,O0o. .O0O,O 900 converse tions per year. The
capital for the parent and sub-conlpan-
les then stood at not less than $500, 600
D00.
"Ihese figures would in themselves
Indicate the stupendous growth of a
listinctively modern industry, but they
ire far from revealing the actual con-
litions. Beginning about 1s94-93. 'n-
dependent telephone exchanges sprans
lp like mushrooms all over the coun-
.ry, but more particularly in the Mid
lie and Northwestern states, and by
they had attained tot;t; of
about 2,75O exchanges with 100000 SUBJ
;cribers and an investment OF $150, ,OO0,-
east three score manufacturers. 1t
Will be observed that the output OF
apparatus for telephone purposes in |
900 reached $l0512,4I2, scattered !
through nearly IA score OF states. These
igures. however. are strictly those of |
he manufacturing side of the indus
ry, and do not take any account of |
he far more striking data TO be de- !
lived from Il study of the subject after |
his apparatus had gone into service
md is in the hands of the public. 1t |
will suffice to point out that in 1900 |
he United States Showed a per capita |
# | telephone in 40. while in some |
,laces, such as San Francisco, it had |
cached 1 in II. a, rate that leads the |
world, and which has since been grow
ng with unprecedented rapdity."