The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-03-12
FULL LEASED WIRE REPORT
OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CITY RAILWAY POINTERS.

Why does not the Topeka Railway
company awake to the situation and
give the people of this long suffering
community respectable. decent modern
city transportation? The old style.
small decrepit cars were all right in
their prime and in the youth of the
town were adequate to the wants of a
young city; but we have grown
The light iron was suitable only for
smaller cars and smaller traffic. The
high. cramped coaches now pitch and
toss on the track like short ship in a
ohoppy channel. A ride tends to sea
sickness. discomfort and unhappiness.
The low joints rock the passengers
bones and the company's equipment till
the expense for repairs on the latter is
like doctors bills in a malaria district.
The prevailing company solution seems
to be more doctors. The real remedy is
larger new cars. and new heavy iron.
\ few hundreds in old coaches fixed up,
little new track here and there will
not do
The best cure for malaria is to abol-
ish the conditions and discharge the
doctors The best thing for the railway
is to spend some money, enough of it.
about a hundred thousand dollars and
spend it now. Its owners are wealthy
until they make decent track and run
decent cars. They can't make revenues
out of broken down car and rail to
build new equipment.
Put in the money and revenues will
follow, because riding will be a pleas
ure and pride and people pay and
patronize when they are given their
moneys worth. which they don't get in
Topeka out of our city railway. Walk
ing is not only cheaper but n ore desir-
able unless you are absolutely compell-
ed to board these ships of the plains.
These are hard words but gospel
truths. The city railway owners have
recently secured a cancellation of half
of their bonded indebtedness, wiped out
six hundred thousand dollars. They can
issue if they Will. a hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in bonds and give To-
peka a good service and it would pay
big returns in good fares. good will. and
good business.
This is not an attack on Cliff Baker;
we like him, but we don't like the way
his eastern hackers handicap him in
any honest efforts to give Topeka a re-
spectacle car service Mr.. Baker can
never give his people good interest on
their investman until more, lots more.
is added to the capital, the present
owners have put in. They had to buy
some water. but much of it has been
squeezed out Now put in some of the |
real stuff, money. and get more money
hack
We are not in favor of giving the
VinewOod promoters an electric fran
chise on the streets of Topeka. 1t is an |
entering wedge to the Kansas City |
scheme or plan to worry and hold up !
the Topeka Railway company by pro- |
m oters who are working the council for !
a free franchise to sell out at a big /
price to the city company or somebody |
else. We win get the Kansas City cleo |
trio lines soon enough, what we want !
now is an up-to-date electric line be- |
tween our homes and our own business |
houses, shops, and factories, which |
make those homes possible.
While many merchants have affixed |
their names to the Vinewood petition it
is safe to say there is some Interior !
purpose of the promoters and that the i
scheme is not for the best interests of |
the general public. If Topeka compels |
the City Railway company to provide a |
good service the city should to a certain |
extent protect its field and not encour-
age two rival car lines with their dupli-
cate tracks and repeat again the old |
double system, the effects of which are
still visible in today's miserable equip
ment. If the Vinewood line should
prove a good investment it would be in
one main system with one set of Off
GERS connected with the Topeka plant