The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-25
AN AGE OF ELECTRICITY.

Workmen are now engaged in tearing up
the tracks and slots of thirty-five miles
of cable street-railway lines in Baltimore,
the original cost of laying which was near
ly 100000 a mile, making total of about
100000. When the cable system was intro
duced in Baltimore twelve years ago it was
thought to be preferable to electric lines,
and the roadbed was constructed in the
most substantial manner with a view of
making the system as perfect possible.
The work required the employment of about
LOCO men more than a year. and now,
after twelve years, it is being removed at
great cost to give place to trolley lines.
The case furnishes a striking illustration
of the rapid development of urban trans
portation. The evolution from horse and
mule cars to the trolley system has all
taken place within less than generation.
AS late as 1877 the most advanced appli-
ance for street-car traction was super
heated water, engine charged with
which would draw a street car with an
ordinary load six miles The first expert
mental line of electric railway was shown
by Edison at the Chicago exhibition of
railway appliances in 1883, the track being
laid in the main gallery Of the exhibition
building. oval in shape and about 1.6o0 feet
in length. Another system was exhibited
at the Philadelphia electrical exhibition in
1884. of which a contemporary account said:
"A crowd was always gathered about the
electric railway, which was in full oper-
alton on track about 400 feet long be-
tween the main building and the annex.
The line is too short to admit of a test
for economy. but 1t deserves attention for
its novelty OK design and easy manage
ment.'' The first practical overhead trolley
line was built in Kansas City in 1884, and
the second was a thirteen-mile system in
Richmond. Va. On Jan. !, 1883, there were
only thirteen electric railways in the United
States and Canada. with forty-eight miles
of track. At a meeting of the American
Street-railway Association in 1891 the pres
ident, who was also president of an East
tern street-railroad company which had
been using horse power, said: Three years
ago there were only thirteen electrical roads
In the United States, now there are over
400" He added with a backward look at
the past and a recognition of coming
events: Horse sense counts for little
I'm this age OF rapid transit. The old dogs
have been obliged TO learn new tricks, and
without the usual privilege of serving an
apprenticeship. Our stables are being con-
verted into power houses; the electrician
has taken the place of the veterinary sur
geon; our drivers are being educated as
motormen, and most of us have horse
cars for sale Since then electricity as
a motive power has carried everything
before IL. completely supplanting the ca
BILE system, which was regarded as most
advanced and permanent when il was first
! introduced, and even competing with steam
| railroads for interurban traffic. The first
| cable railroad was constructed in San
| Francisco in 1872, and for few years IL
had a great run. Now cable roads are prac-
| tically obsolete. They are used i'm Kansas
! City on account Of the steep hills. and there