Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1907-03-08

Directors of the Big -Four, some years
since said that the electric interurban
had come to stay; that it was useless
to oppose it; that in his opinion it
should not be opposed. He was broad
enough to take this position notwith-
standing the Big Four had been paral-
led by the interurbans to greater ex-
tent, probably, than sany other system
in the country.
Mr.. Stickney has said that the Chi
cago Great Western wants business
and it is immaterial to its management
whether the business is delivered by
steam road, an electric road, wagon
or wheelbarrow.
Traction on Electric Interurban Rail
ways is either by electric motor cars
or electric locomotives. The former
are generally used in case of single
cars; the latter where long trains of
passengers or freight are to be hand
led.No turn-table is required for either;
neither has to haul fuel or water for
power purposes; neither has to stop for |
the purpose of taking on fuel or water.
The weight of the steam locomotive |
has been increased four-fold in the last
80 years; its reciprocating motion is
hard on bridges and track, and is
also destructive of the machine itself.
The force applied by the electric ma
chine is an even twist on its axle, like
that on the axle of an over-shot water
wheel.
The expensive skilled labor required
by the steam locomotive makes the big
train, hauled by one machine, an eco
nomic necessity. The electric locomo-
tive need not be so heavy. Where it
is necessary to haul long trains, if one
machine is not sufficient, two or more
can be used and one man can operate
as many as are required. Besides, In an
electric locomotive there is not much
to get out of repair.
The steam engines that produce the
motive power for an electric road are
in the power house under cover, and
the supervision of the same is more
centralized than in the case of the steam
road. Economy requires continuous use
of the power plant of electric road;
consequently as much of the heavy
freight as is possible should be moved
during the nighttime.
But the chief advantage of the cleo
trio road is that the power can be d.
vided into small units which allows fire.
quent trains. The well known ease of
stopping and starting allows frequent
stops at convenient points, and good
schedule time as we'll. This creates or
manufactures business that could not
be had under steam railway methods of
operation.
Greater business reduces rates, and
reduced rates, again, increases business
and allows the interurban to be built
where the steam road would not pay.
Some questions however are yet tc
be solved before the long trunk lines
are to be electrified. 1t is not YET
9sfAaveaMIass.ssz.-taa;;zs4.-s and ice would
. ndnuIeu, or What would be the effect o
a congestion of traffic at one point
. The complete destruction of powe,
> house would tie up a whole division in
stead of single machine, in case
steam locomotive was destroyed.
= Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Mime
: sofa are following the lead of the more
9 eastern states in the matter of electric
railway development. 1t doesn't re-
quire prophetic vision to see that, with
j, fair crops and a sound financial condi
ton, this development in the Missis
: slppi Valley will be rapid from now on
= just where these lines of road are tt
: be placed, that will surely be built, is
. a question that concerns each locality
= and often local effort determines these
= questions. The farmer who has Rura
Free Delivery, a telephone and an cleo
trio road passing his door, leading to a
good business center, is surely most
fortunate. He has practically all the
advantages of city residence without
. many of the disadvantages.
The electric railway has also proven
very beneficial to the business centers
!, through which it has passed. It ce-
ments the population along it's line,
which its existence always increases,
by ties of interest to the business cen.
ter.
, The argument that railways passing
through the larger business centers
builds up smaller places and divides the
business is one hardly worth consider
/ ing. All communities will finally have
close railway facilities and they ought
, to have. No important city ever has
been, or will be, built in prairie coun-
try like Iowa without good railway
connections. 1t requires diversified in
dustries to build up any considerable
city.
| We are endowed by the Creator with
diversified faculties; one will be prof.
clent in one calling while another will
succeed best in different vocation.
and any country or community that
wants to keep the brightest of it's youth
with it, must create conditions favor
able to Investigation of Industry.
With the electric road, you can take
the car that leaves on the right hour to
meet the train on the trunk line YOU
rot To fo1,o