The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-03-20
MANKATo FREE PRESS

IN
/ developed into interurban railways and
There are very many interurban lines
| |connecting mp with city lines and real
lily forming a part of what are known
/ lstrictly as city railroads. What are
, known technically as first class in
| iterurban railways are those with more
| than fifteen miles of mileage, having
l2-3 or more of its trackage outside
, the limits of municipalities and which
operate cars at maximum speed of
: Twenty or more miles per hour
}, The development of these lines has
: been very rapid. In 1902 Massachl-
sets had over $500 miles of electric
: roads. Indiana now has 1880 miles,
Ohio 1906 and Illinois about HOO
miles of interurban lines. 1t will
soon be possible in such states as IL
, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan to
, travel over a large part of the state
on electric lines. indianapolis has
, fourteen interurban railways radiating
out in almost every direction and what
} lis true of that city is true in a greater
or less measure of most of the large
cities in the states named
: In Illinois there is now one large
{ system which owns AS miles of track
1t is said that by the end of this
year unless financial conditions prevent
{ | it will be possible for the tourist to
: take his electric sleeping car in Chi
cago and wake up for breakfast in
, st. Louis, covering the entire distance
5 by a single trolley line. There is
l now under construction BY this com
| pany l05 miles and the general plant
) provides for about 100 miles more An
{ electric road with mileage of 700
miles is certainly interesting and shows
5 conclusively the tremendous rate at
, which these companies have been cap
, turing the territory.
5 Sleeping cars on electric roads are
e new, but they are not the only new
e kind of car by any means. This
, company is not only running sleeping
t ears now between Springfield and East
' st. Louis, but is also managing limi-
ted trains between the principal cities
| on frequent schedule with individual
chair cars and buffet lunch fully equal
r to the Pullman service on short runs.
< Mail, freight and express cars are
, rapidly coming into use and the latest
I novelties mentioned are funeral cars
and a doctors car or Il complete
r little hospital on wheels all ready to
I be sent ont to the scene of wreck
or accident.
The electric roads i'm New England
are reaching out in almost every direc-
tion. The journey from Boston to
New York con now be made by troll
ley and apparently it is only a ques-
ton of short time when one can take
an electric car to st. Louis and 60
) to remote points in Maine without
5 ever changing from an electric line.
/ have not had the privilege of max
ing any of these long excursions into
: the country by trolley and am COM
> lpelled to take the observations Of
, those who have, but, it is an inter
esting study to note the effects upon
: the country where the trolley lines
, have gone, from social and business
standpoint. drij@a
When the trolley lines were first
/ proposed from the large cities the
; merchants of the smaller towns almost
without exception were ready to do
, everything in their power to prevent
the trolley going in, believing it would
result in great loss of business to
the larger cities. Some interesting
, studies have been conducted along this
. line to determine what the result has
been. In one instance replies from
:, over fifty mayors of smaller towns
were received in answer to the in
, quiry as to the effect of the trolley
lines running out from large cities
and almost without exception answers
indicated that increased business pop-
ulation and prosperity had followed
the coming of the interurban not only
for the large cities but for the smaller
places as well.
Space forbids extended mention of
these replies. I will quote only one:
Lyon, n. Y, Population, 5000 forty
miles from city of 10000 and thirty
six miles from city of 100000. Before
Operating the people were opposed to
the electric railway, but since it has
proved of great benefit both CONNER
cially and socially. / believe it will
be the making of Lyons instead of
otherwise"
Effects Upon the Farmer.
1t is easy to see that the benefits
derived from the electric road are
greater to the farmer than to any
other class. Transportation facilities
increases the value of his land re-
markably. Statistics gathered of the
different interurban railway concerns
since 1890 have shown that the inter
urban railways have advanced the prize
es of real estate adjacent to the lines
in the territories through which they
1