Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-10
70 [H95KEI5S FAMOUS
CtNCkAetAEdA

ITO an Angeleno who stands ON the
corner of Main and Sixth streets
and looks at the trolley cars wind
ing in and out of the ground floor of
that stupendous structure, the Pacific
Electric building. the modest beginnings
of street car locomotion in Los Angeles
would excite smile.
Better still, the Angeleno who as
cends to the top floor of that building
and from the great arched windows of
the Jonathan club surveys, as he can
in every direction, the enormous rami-
ficatons of that trolley system which
extends on every side to the ocean b.
half Il dozen lines, to Mount Lowe, and
south, even as far as Santa Ana. Will
find his smile transformed into Il look
of wonder. Well might Howard Il.
Huntington say. on his return from
Europe that he saw nothing in the
trolley systems abroad to surpass that
Of Los Angeles.
Thirty years go the first horse rail-
way Of Los Angeles ran from the CEN
ter Of the city to the corner of Fig
ueroa and Seventh streets. The horses
We're mules. by the way. l may be par
doned for saying that, in the fiippant
which | was then invested, l was wont
to think that The principal employment
of those cars was to carry out Suitors
and ddrlrers to the beautiful daugh
ters of eX-Mayor John G.. Nichols, who
lived short way from the corner on
Figueroa, in one of the first modern
looking houses built i'm Los Angeles,
and standing i'm what was then regard
cd as the country.
Little Cars Then
Those cars were a miracle of COM
paCtness. There was Il little box in.
side in which you dropped the fare. At
that time ten cents, the driver the
while inspecting you from the outside.
Such a thing as Il conductor was not
dreamed of in those days.
That was an era when there was no
use for nickel in the City of the
AnSels-at least ii was employed and
accepted unda" protest as cent is to-
day in San Francisco. 1t is only the
large eastern influx that has made
penny daily paper possible in Los An
Reles. 1t never has been and is not
now possible in San Francisco. When
the mule ear first made its appearance
III Los Angeles the bOotblack as often
as not would receive quarter from the
silded youth for shining his boots.
This Impressive mode of locomotion
largely owed its inspiration to Judge
II. WidneY who was then, as ever,
ready to press in the advance guard
Of progress.
The next railway development i'm Los
Angeles was the Main street line, which
ran out to Washington gardens, a re-
sort kept by the locally famous Dave
Waldron. This line was owned by |.
w. Hellman and w. j. Brodrick.
Brodrick was president, Banker He'll
man treasurer, and John O, Wheeler
secretary, BY that time the fare had
come down to five cents, the cars had
been modernized. and the solitary and
mule had been replaced by
spans Of spirited horses
Great Men, Even Then
The names l have just mentioned
have played great parts in the local
history Of Los Angeles. OF the first /
have treated in previous papers, an
attention which would be enforced on
the part of anyone who would even
cursorly talk of the early history Of
this city. Brodrick, when / first knew
him, was keeping a book store i'm the
Bella Union block He was a lively
and obliging young fellow: and. asj