Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-12-03
BENEFIT TO ENGLAND
IN CITY OWNERSHIP

spondence Record.Herald
WASHINGTON - There are 120
miles of stret car lines In the City of
London and practically all of them
have been acquired by the county
council, which Is the municipal gov.
ernmeDt OF greater London. The only
exceptions are four miles which be-
long to the UniSed Tramways com.
pany and two miles knows as the
Harrow Road line. the franchises for
which expire in 1907. The London
Southern Tramways company has a
short line from Vauxhall to Chamber
we'll which will doubtless be acquired
within year or two. 1t Is the pol
Icy of the government not only to
own but to operate all street railways
in the greater city and the suburban
lines so far as possible. During the
last two years the icty has taken over
forty-eight miles OF the track in the
northern district parishes and has
electrified" II. as the phrase goes
Ninety-eight miles are now run by
electricity. the balance by horses.
The motors are usually OF thirty-five
horsepower. sufficient to propel the
car at a speed OF twelve miles an
hour. There IL one at each end OF
the car independent Of the other. The
cars can accommodate slxty-four pas
sengers-twenty-six inside and thirty
eight on the roof.
During the year 1905 the 1000 cars
in use ran 14.0S1 1897 miles and car
ried 1G4,S1S.560 passengers.
II will thus be seen that the aver
age receipts per passenger for the
three years named wer trifle less
than two cents. and show n slight
increase. The London street car com
panies charge by distance, and the
fares range from one cent to six cents
In our money. This zone system, as
they call 1t, is universal throughout
Europe, not only on the street cars,
but on the buses and with public cabs
The conductor goes through the car
after stations are passed and collects
a new fare from passengers who can
not show a ticket When a passenger
pays his fare he always mentions the
point to which he is going and pays
accordingly--one cent. two cents
three cents, four cents. five cents OF
six cents-which is the maximum, and
the average charge Is about half a
cent per mile. Each passenger re-
ceives slip or ticket showing how
much he has paid and retains this
as a receipt until he has reached the
end of his journey. Inspectors enter
the cars at frequent intervals and ask
| to see all tickets. Whoever is unable
to show ticket has to pay another
fare. No transfers are given by the
London lines or by any of the lines
in Europe. so far as l know.
In many OF the British cities there
is regulation prohibiting a condnc
tor from admitting more passengers
| than he has seats for, notwithstand
| Ing the clamor of the people who
want to get home as soon as possible
In the early evening. when the work
ing people and shop hands are tryini
| to get home TO their supper, there IL
| always crowd around each OF th'
stations at which the cars stop. ant
they howl with rage when they arr
not permitted to board car. Never
theless. the regulation is strictly en-
forced.
Last year the net profit of tn
operation of ia miles OF track in Lon
don was $93,275. The year previous
1904. the net profit was $149,94O, oil
an investment. as | have said. o
about $55.000.000. During severa
years of the early experience in thi
line there was deficit. the larges
being In 1893. when 1t was about s45
900. Since then the balance has bee
annually on the right side of tn
ledger.
The profits have not been so larg
under the management OF the munlc
pal authorities as they were when tn
cars were operated by private CON
panies. This Is explained by In
creased wages. shorter hours, a muc
larger force OF employees and more Iii
eral management. The salaries O
employees are very small compare
y-lh A..