The Washington herald., 1908-03-01


the domain Of steam. until to-day it
threatens TO drive that sort OF power ont
of the transportation field The most
ambitious step electricity has taken is its
last one This is the building Of the new
Washington Baltimore electric line. which
is to be opened shortly. It proposes the
most serious competition for inteFuFban
passenger traffic that an electric railroad
has ever undertaken. Usually interurban
electric lines have not given so much at
tention 20 speed. contenting themselves
with giving lower fares and relying on
that TO make Up any loss Of traffic that
might result from slower schedules. But
the Washington Baltimore line proposes
TO give as fast a schedule and then add
the lower rate.
The competition the line will have TO
meet is strong. Nc two cities are con
nected by better steam car service than
that which connects the City OF Magnih-
cent Distances with the Monumental City.
There are 12S passenger trains a day.
ranging from the splendid Congressional
limited and the famous Royal Blue. max
ing the trip in forty-five minutes, 10 the
] accommodations that make the run in
ninety minutes The service is everything
that one could hope for on a steam
road. but the WashingtOn-B Baltimore line
is 10 have a schedule Of one hour from
the shopping center OF Baltimore TO the
outskirts OF Washington. Thus it COM
petes with the steam line in speed. and.
selling a one-Way ticket for 20 cents and
a round-trip for SIS. where the railroads
charge $1.00 each way. il gets the advant
age of rates.
The five hundred-mile city-bUt lately
a vision and dream-is soon be realized.
Already one may ride by interurban cleo
tric cars from Portland. Maine 10 New
York. There are but a few small gaps 10
iii in until he may make the trip
from New York TO Washington With
the building of the lines ROW projected
enc will be able 10 start at Portland so
TO Boston. and thence by easy stages all
the way through 70 Lincoln. Nebr. one
may now go from Louisville 70 Indian
apOlis, and from there 10 Cleveland De-
tTOit. Cleveland. and Cincinnati are also
connected But little remains 10 be done
until ST. Louis and Chicago VIII be on
the same trolley line. The whole central
West is fast becoming a network of cleo
tric railroads Most OF them are new
roads. though some are small steam
roads which have been electrified and
thereby changed from dead investment
into living enterprise
The interurban car Is a great city buiid-
er Dayton. Ohio, with her population OF
9o.000 souls, finds herself. through her
suburban and interurban car lines. the
center of a population Of not far from
209Oo0 souls. Investigations In Indiana
show that towns on interurban lines
grow faster than those on steam lines
Detroit. with its wonderful network OF
interurban lines. has made itself a city
far above the class In which its own
population puts il The whole country
for from fifty TO one hundred miles is
made tributary 10 Il.
Perhaps the best idea Of what an ex-
tensive interurban service means TO a
city may be cleaned from figures Of in
terurban traffic at Indianapolis This city
is perhaps the leading interurban center
OF the United States. II has lines run
ming toward every point Of the compass.
In 1906 there was s.. 80 round trips made
BY the cars entering the city They car
ried approximately 2600008 round-trip
passengers. This is an increase Of a quar-
ter Of a million over the previous year
The extent TO which the interurban serv-
ice is patronized in the various States
is startling. Massachusetts reports that
its lines carried nearly 700,O0GO00 passen-
gers in 1907, as compared with less than
400, 0o0,0e0 IN 1900, Connecticut electric
lines carried 127.000.e99 passengers in 1907.
as compared with 100000 carried by the
steam roads Illinois carried lS5.O coo
passengers on her interurban lines in
1906.
Another remarkable thing about the
electric railroad is the freedom from ac-
cidents, as compared with the steam
roads. In 1906 the Illinois electric roads
killed one passenger for every Is. .2S5. 50
passengers carried. while the steam roads
killed one out Of every 1.65S.314 so carried.
One passenger on the electric roads was
injured out Of 10000 carried; on the
steam roads the percentage was one out
of every $500,
Many Of the interurban lines operate
luxurious cars on some Of their trains
and in the central West so important and
far-reachins has the electric railroad be-
come that a palace car company modelled
after the Pullman company, has been or
ganized. and is now furnishing cars 10
many lines. Trolley sleepers are now be-
ling operated On many lines in the Central
West, the one from East st. Louis TO
Decatur. via Springfield. being a notable
instance Out of Indianapolis there are
many trolley sleepers run, and buffet and
parlor cars are carried on their "fvers'
and 'limiteds." Drummers md the inter
urban an unending delight in the promo
tion Of business. Baggage cars are run
on many OF the trains. and a hustIins
salesman can make three towns now
where he made one travelling by steam
roads.
Private cars have been built for severaI
roads and these may be rented at Sa5 Der
day. These cars consists Of a parlor din
ing-room, and kitchen The rental in
cludes the service Of a mOtOrnan. con-
ductOT. chef and porter The fo0dstufs
are furnished by the railroads at actual
cost The Des Moines interurban has
one OF these cars and II has been in
great demand by trolley parties Many
roads have specially equipped funeral
cars. The Aurora. Elgin and Chicago
interurban runs past i've Of the Gene
teries adjacent TO Chicago and its fun
eral cars are in great demand On the
Inland Empire line from Spokane 10
cars are run and are widely patrOnized.
A small extra charge is made on these
trains
Another important feature Of the inter
urban lines is their arrangement 10 carry
freight. While few, If any Of them. com
pete with the railroads on heavy freight
vet on small freight they do and the