The Saint Paul globe., 1902-09-23
CITY RAILWAY CUTS A BIT OFF
THE CITY HALL
CORNER
COUNCIL MAY ORDER
RAILS TAKEN AWAY
Transit Men Seize on Street and Help
Themselves-No Permit Granted by
City Bodies - 1t Is Claimed That
Curve at Fifth and Wabasha Is an
Engineering Necessity.

The street railway company, not sat
1sfied with using the streets, nave
adopted plan Of widening the thor
oughforeS in the central portion OF the
city.
The plan adopted is now being hur-
ried to completion at the southeast
corner of Fifth and Wabasha streets.
The company at this point has remov-
ed a portion of the curbing and side
walk to make possible the laying of
double track curve from Fifth to Wa
basha street.
No permission was secured from the
council to make the change, but 1t is
understood the officials Of the COM
pany claim that the change is simply
one of engineering, and under this
head no permission Of the council is
needed.
The assembly, at its session Thurs
day night last, passed a resolution dl-
recting the commissioner of public
works to prevent the laying of the
rails on the sidewalk. This resolution
will come up for concurrence at the
board of aldermen meeting tonight, but,
unfortunately for the city, the work will
have been completed before the resolu-
tion forbidding 1t becomes operative.
An Engineering Necessity.
City Engineer Rundlett, when ques-
toned as to the need of taking a por-
tion of the sidewalk for the new tracks,
expressed the opinion that 1t was nee
essary for the company to cut off
portion Of the corner of the sidewalk
In order to lay a double track curve.
"This is a corner where the COM
pany has double tracks running both
north and south, and in order to make
a switch of the large interurban cars
In case Of a fire on any part OF the
Robert street loop it was absolutely
necessary to increase the radius of the
tracks at Fifth and Wabasha streets
The old radius Of the track nearest the
southeast corner was ten feet, while
with the new track it will be thirteen
feet" said Mr.. Rundlett.
'"The change does not really effect
the use of the sidewalk much, for at
p the corner there is no building and
there is a wide space running up into
the court house ground which will give
pedestrians plenty Of room and there
will be no danger of paSserS-by being
struck by the cars. You know we have
no square corners at the sidewalk line
and the curb and sidewalk will be re-
placed by the company in such man
ner as to not be at all dangerous. The
curve will not come any closer to the
sidewalk than the one at the south
west corner of Seventh and Wabasha
street, and there has been no accident
there that have ever heard of.
Rails May Be Torn Up.
Assistant City Attorney McDermott
expressed the opinion that If the lay
ing of the tracks was a change in the
system then the company must have
permission from the council before the
work could be legally done.
"If 1T is as the engineer claims" con-
tinued Mr.. McDermott, Simply ques-
tion of engineering, then the city engi-
neer has the power to grant permission
to the company and permission need
not be secured from the council 1 am
not prepared to say whether it is a
question of engineering or not but it
strikes me that the encroachment by
the company Of two feet of the side
walk is something more than an engi-
neering question"
When the matter comes up in the
board of aldermen tonight it is under
stood that a resolution will be present
ed directing the city engineer to have
the tracks removed on the ground that
1t was laid without the consent of the
council.