Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-03
Tuesday, April 3, 1906.
Half q Century Of Street Railways.


of the Inauguration Of street railroad
ing in New England. 1t was on March
2S. 1856, that four or five street cars
hauled by horses began jangling over a
little line that had been laid down be-
tween Bowdoin Square, Boston, and
Harvard Square, Cambridge. This in
novation which involved a lively COM
petition with the old-fashioned omni-
buses, was hailed with enthusiasm by
the Boston public, and one citizen, in a
communication at that time to a BOs-
ton newspaper, advised everybody to
take a ride in one of the new convey
ances, the delightfulness of whose
motion was to be compared only to that
Of the most perfect sleighing. For sew
eral years before 1856 small horse rail-
ways had been in operation in New
York City and elsewhere, but this was
the beginning in New England from
which the great development. which
has so radically transformed the char
acter Of this whole section. made it's
start.
How great the industry has become
in this section was strikingly shown in
the recent special report Of the Census
office on street and electric railways.
In Massachusetts, at that time there
were 92 street car companies: in Con-
necticut 81: in Maine, 20; in New
Hampshire. l3; in Vermont, 3 and in
Rhode Island, 8; representing Il total
capitalization of 500. .441,444 This sum
is nearly equal Ia the assessed valu-
alton of Providence, the second largest
city in New England, or TO one-sixth
the Total valuation of the city of Bos-
ton. This is the land OF the trolley.
Massa chusetts. with 2,51s.42 miles OF
single track. has the largest street rail
way trackage in proportion to its area
Of any state in the Union, though other
states of this section stand well up in
this regard. Connecticut. for example.
had in 1902. 93.i3 miles of single track;
Rhode Island 350.35; Maine. 40: New
Hampshire. I14.45, Vermont. s6.Ol.
These figures. it will be observed are
for 1902. which is the latest year that
figures are available for all the New
England states. According To the
latest report of the Maine rail
road commissioners there are now
3S0.45 miles of street railway in the
State Of Maine, and doubtless there has
been a proportional increase in other
states in this section. The end of the
extension moreover, has by no means
been reached and many miles will he
built this year.
OF course, electricity as a motive
power has long since driven the horse
out of business in hauling street ears.
In fact. most of our street car lines
have always been trolley lines though
we believe there is still one solitary
little line in Maine up in picturesque
Frycburg operated during campmeet-
ing season where the cars are still
hauled by horses. The Importance of
the trolley lines to the cities and coun-
try sections of New England can hard
ly be Overestimated. Without such Il
system, of transportation, our cities
could no more do business as il is done
today than they could get along with
out the telephone, or electric light, or
fire alarm system.
The expansion of trolley lines
through our rural sections coupled with
the rural free delivery and rural tele-
phone lines has revolutioniZed life on
the farms of New England. The land
values in hundreds OF country towns
have been increased. and the city and
country have been brought much closer
together to their mutual advantage in
many ways. Not the least of the serv-
ice which the trolley lines have done is
that resulting from competition
through which they have made the
steam railroads reduce their fares
Trolley fares themselves are remark
ably cheap. and in and around Boston
for instance, continuous rides of ?,
miles are possible for five cents. with
all sorts of transfer privileges. OF
course. there can be no such chear
service where the lines run largely o,
wholly through rural sections. O,
such lines here In Maine however. TN
fare is very cheap. often too cheap /,
fact. considering the expense Of equip
Ping and maintaining the lines