Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1905-07-07
THE MOTOR OMNIBUS.
Comparison of Merits of Electric Car
and Se1f-Driven Carriage.

Comparison of Merits of Electric Car
and Se1f-Driven Carriage.
In England, where the use of cleo
tricity for the operation of street rail-
ways is more of novelty than in the
United States, the wisdom of the prac-
tice Is occasionally challenged. For
instance, an engineering expert, writ
ing to the London Times a few days
ago, expressed the opinion that some
of the smaller English cities which had
authorized the construction Of trolley
lines might in time regret their 'pre-
cipitation." He then proceeded to
point out the merits Of the self-pro-
PEELED. omnibus, which is probably
more common in the streets Of London
than in New York or other American
cities, although still too new to admit
Of thoroughly satisfactory compari-
son with the electric car
In at least one respect the omnibus
is distinctly superior to its rival. In
extremely narrow streets it is less of
an obstruction to drays, cabs and pri-
vate carriages and is less liable to be
delayed by blockade than a vehicle
which must follow line of rails. The
first cost of motor omnibus is esti-
mated by the correspondent of the
Times as about the same as that of the
trolley car, but the latter requires an
additional investment of capital for
track, overhead wire or conduit and
power house. An omnibus line, then,
calls for smaller outlay to begin with
On the other hand, less power is need
ed to move a car than carriage which
runs on the ordinary pavement of a
street Rails facilitate movement by
reducing friction. Again, a vehicle
which generates it's own power expert
ences greater difficulty in climbing
steep grades than one which derives
power from central station. Finally,
the trolley car has from two to three
times the capacity Of the omnibus.
theoretically, If not practically, there
fore, it's earnings should be larger.
The contributor to our London con-
temporary has undertaken to get lit
tie light on this last point, but confess
es that he has not been able to obtain
as much as he could wish. Here, how
ever, is the result in a nutshell: For
the omnibus the cost of operation is 9
or 10 pence per car mile and its re-
ceipts 13 or IA, an excess ranging from
one third to one-half. Fer the trolley
car the cost of operation averages 6
pence and the receipts 10 pence, the
margin being two-thirds of the oper-
ating charges.-New York Tribune.
just Discrimination in Railway Rates.
All railroad men qualified to speak
on the subject in responsible way are
likely to agree with President Samuel
Spencer of the Southern railway when
he says: s'There is no division oi
opinion as to the desirability of stop
ping all secret or unjustly discrimina-
tory devices and practices of whatso-
ever character.
Mr.. Spencer, in speaking of "unjust-
ly discriminatory" rates and devices,
makes distinction which is at once
apparent to common sense. There may
be discrimination in freight rates which
is just, reasonable and imperatively re-
quired by the complex commercial and
geographical conditions with which ex-
pert rate makers have to deal. To abol-
ish such open and honest discrimina.
tion might paralyze the industries Of
cities, states and whole sections of ou,
national territory>
This distinction between just and
unjust discrimination is clearly recog.
nized in the conclusions of the interna.
tional Railway congress, published yes.
terday:
"Tariffs should be based on commercial prin
ciples, taking into account tie special coadi
tions which bear upon the commercial value
of the services rendered. With the reserva
trary dir elimination to all shippers alike un
der like conditions t 9 making of rates should
as far as possible have ell the elasticity neces
sary to permit tie development of the traffic
and to produce the greatest results to the pub
lie and TO tt 9 railroads themselves"
The present proposal is, as Mr.
Walker D. Hines, of Louisville, how I
in his remarkable testimony the oGnel
day before the senate committee a
Washington, to crystalline flexible ant
justly discriminatory rates into fxet
government rates which cannot b.
changed except by the Intervention o
some government tribunal, and by thi
very process to increase 'the tempta
tion to depart from the published rat,
and the lawful rate in order to NEE
some empowering and urgent CONNER
cial condition''--New York Sun.
I. Or Duty.
i "Hello!'' cried the policeman, "read
ing a paper, eh? l thought you were
blind man"
$50 am during business hours" tn
blind beggar replied, ''but I'm off dut
ow."-Philadelphia Press.
Idleness is many gathered miseries il
one name.-Richter.
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