Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-31

1851 BeG.l-HOW WOuiu yOu hhO ~
W have a street car ride for a
S3A@D cent? You can get 1t In Shefieid,
where the city WINS the tramways and
charges different rates. according to dis
lance. I rode from one end Of the town
10 the other for a penny and my short
rides as a rule cost me a halfpenny. Tho
car fares In Liverpool are a penny or 2
cents for the ordinary trip and 1t Is the
same in Manchester. The rates are not
different in old Chester, which was a town
in the days Of the Romans and about the
same In the college town Of old Oxford. In
Glasgow the municipality owns the trans
ana charges 1 cent a mile, or 6 cents for
six miles. Belfast charges 6 cents for nva
miles. Liverpool / cent a mile and Man
chester 2 cents per mile. There are many
of our American cities In which you can
ride ten miles for a nickel, which Is equal
to half a cent q mile, but as the most OF
our street car rides are short, the British
on the average pay much less than we do
in the United States.
Thu cars are mostly double-deckers with
seats below and also on the roof, high
above which are the wires OF the trolley.
You ride as high up In the air as though
you we're on the top OF an elephant, but 1t
is delightful, although the cars do not go
half as fast as our own.
The tramways are rapidly increasing In
Great Britain and the tendency Is en-
tlrely toward city ownership. A score OF
different municipalities are now negotiat-
ing for the purchase of street cars or are
laying down new lines. Many cities "
the tramways and lease them out to COM
panies who manage them. In nearly every
case the municipal tramways pay a profit.
thus reducing the tax rate.
cities which DO Their own Business.
l have already written something as to
how the British cities are managing their
own business. Manchester Is making
about S4O0. 900 out Of its gas works. electric
lights and markets. The markets bring 1t
an income of SIS, 900 q year, and at the
same time give the best facilities to the
peopie. The markets have a big cold
storage plant and freezing hamber con-
nected with them. AS l rode down the
Manchester ship canal / went by the
abbatoirs, which belong to the city. They
have wharyes and buildings for the &C
eommodation Of a thousand head OF cat
lie and one thousand sheep. There are
slaughter houses and chilling chambers
adjoining them In which twelve hundred
sides Of beef can be chilled In twenty
four hours-
Manchester now has It's own telephone
system, belonging to the city. in which tbs
hello girls are city clerks Glasgow owns
its telephones and charges 2 cents a cal
or gives you an unlimited number Of CALI
for s26 a year. Liverpool, Nottingham
Hull. Leicester and a half dozen othel
cities are now thinking Of buying up th'
telephones or Of establishing telephone
systems run by the city.
1 spent some time In the shehield mar
kets during my stay there. These recent,
belonged to the duke of Norfolk. who stiI
owns a large part Of the city, but the gov
ernment bought them at a big price an
a now running them at n profit. Londo
has control over a part OF Its markets
although the big vegetable and fruit mar
kets Of Covent Garden still belong to tn
duke Of Bedford. Bolton owns Its market
and also the street cars, gas works, cleo
trio lights and
Homea for the working People.
There are Eve towns In England whic
turned into their tax funds s25O.O0O Las
wear as the profit OF their municipal undel
takinRs and. the extent Of such undertal
ings is steadily Increasing. have tol
YOU how the Manchester corporation boz
rowed s25, 900, 900 to loan to the Manche'
ter Ship Canal company, and how Lave