The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-11-11
The Minneapolis Street Car Service.

To the Editor of the Journal.
According to an interview with the
manager. of the Boston street car COM
pany, published in h J o ur n a l, the
street car system Of Minneapolis and ST. |
Paul is all right.
It seems to me, however, that any one |
who has seen Detroit, Cleveland. Buffalo |
or Indianapolis recently will hardly agree |
with him regarding the value Of "single- |
enders," the class of cars used in the !
twin cities. |
I am travelling mani and my occupa-
| ton has taken me to every city in the
United States of $4,000 or over, and I
feel qualified to discuss the quality of the
street car service. The very points of SUI
periority which the Boston man claims
for the street cars Of Minneapolis and st.
Paul are, in my Judgment, distinct rea-
sons for poor service. refer to the very
long cars used on the twin city systeni
| open only at the rear end. No one can
| leave or enter these. cars. until the iron
gate Is opened, so that the people are
really shut in until the conductor can COL
lect the fares. Possibly that is what the
gates are for, altho it is claimed by the
company that they are put on to avoid
accidents. The big oars used do not run
very often, hence they are filled to over
flowing during the busy hours of the day.
To crowd 100 people into street car
| Ill1C HAS d SCdIAIl6 Capacity MY
sixty may have struck the Boston street
railway manager q grand scheme to
earn dividends for the stockholders, but
I have often wondered how long the good
people Of the twin cities will endure such
an imposition upon their rights and 7spac
thence. They are daily crowded into these
big "single lenders" like so many cattle,
until they tramp upon each other, tear
one another's clothing and have their
clothing torn by the conductors, who nave
to push their way thru the solid mass Of
men, women and children in order to COL
lect the fares. This happens on practi-
cally all the lines morning and evening,
Sundays and after the theater, and pre-
sumo will continue as long as the people
will pay for what they do not get-a seat
in a street car. If they were even getting
comfortable standing-room it would not
be so bad. ~. ~ :: -
I would like to visit Minneapolis when
I could feel sure on, entering one Of, it's
street cars that 7 would not be liable, to
have my coat torn from my back. I
should like to feel that If lived here my
! wife or sister would be reasonably safe
in travelling on the street cars without
having their clothing ruined. If any one
will go to Indianapolis, for instance, and
have occasion to ride on the street cars
of that city he will find that they run
much more frequently than In Minneapo-
lis, they are not unreasonably crowded,
they are open at both ends for passengers
to get in and out there are no. gates, and
: they would think that the model system
Of the twin cities would not stand COM
parison with that of the hoosier capital.
Many other cities might be mentioned
where the service is very much superior
| to that furnished in Minneapolis and ST..
Paul. &c. .<,'.'+@5' - Edward Sawyer.
Fargo. N. D. = -. r.. = -. -. ~
The writer Of the above is mistaken if
he thinks that the people of Minneapolis
subscribe to the estimate of the Boston