Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-11
THE HORSE CARS TO co
Ancient Institution Passes in
New York.
Statement OF VREELAND
Old Cross-Town Lines to Be at Once
Transformed.
THE WORK TO BE RUSHED
Change Means Rearrangemento of Sur
face Traffic Conditions in the
Borough Of Manhattan.
THE WORK TO BE RUSHED

NEW YORK, January 11.-President
Vreeland Of the New York City Railway
Company announced yesterday that the
company Is to do away with the horse
cars which for years have been traversing
the streets Of New York. President Vree-
land made this announcement after action
by the board of directors of the company
directing the president Of the road to pro-
coed at once to make contracts and order
materials and do everything necessary to
expedite the work Of changing from horse
power to electric.
President Vreeland and Oren Root, jr.,
general manager of the New York City
Railway Company, have been making the
plans for this work for several months.
The board Of state railroad commissioners
was notified yesterday afternoon Of the de-
cison, and President Vreeland also wrote
letter to property owners on the East
Side, saying that work would be begun on
LIST avenue soon as the frost was out
of the ground, and that the job would be
completed at the earliest possible date.
Traffic Changes.
The decision, says the company, means
the entire Encouragement of surface traffic
conditions in the borough Of Manhattan,
and will release congestion on many of the
lines now overcrowded such as the Odd
street and 34th street crosstown lines. By
the identification of the 2Sth and 10Th
street lines it is expected that travelling
facilities across town in the midsection Of
the, city will be greatly improved.
The new routes will be laid out to touch
the many important traffic centers to be
opened for public use during the next few
years. Special attention will be given to
facilities for passengers arriving at the new
Pennsylvania railroad depot The ques-
ton of how properly to accommodate people
desiring to use an East Side surface line
and crossing from the Brooklyn section by
the Blackwelrs Island bridge the new Man
haitian bridge and the Williamsburg bridge
will be solved by a main trunk line of the
street surface system down LIST avenue con-
Meeting all the bridges.
Underground Trolley.
The identification Of the horsecar lines
will proceed on the standards as laid down
by the New York City Railway Company,
using the underground trolley wire for
power and placing in use on the new lines
cars identical to those used on Broadway.
President Vreeland said yesterday:
There has been very grave misunder-
standing the part of the travelling public
caused by the horsecars being operated
of late years in Manhattan. The problem
from an operating standpoint has been
one of the most difficult to solve. We all
know of the vast public and private i'm
provements which are being made in and
around New York, creating centers
for the distribution of passengers. New
bridges are being constructed across the
East river and tunnels well under
way. Up to a few months ago 1t was not
definitely known as to what arrangements
the city and private corporations would
make at the various new terminals in New
York to accommodate the travelling public.
1t would have been futile to plan for ac-
comm datng passengers arriving over the
Blackwell's Island bridge without knowing
where the city was to place the terminal.
Why Old Lines Lived.
''As a matter of fact, passenger traffic
business in and to New York will undergo
a complete change of conditions within
the next few years, and the New York City
Railway Company by putting into effect
the plans adopted today will be in position
to give the travelling public greatly
increased facilities. To understand the sit
uation with which We had to deal it must
be understood that the old lines of travel
in the borough of Manhattan zigZagged
across the city from various ferries and
terminal points. In laying out the system
away back in 1893, I started out with the
idea that the travelling public would be best
accommodated by having main longitudinal
lines running north and south through the
borough of Manhattan, bisected by cross
town lines running east and west. This
line of policy will be continued in the new
improvements which we will make"