Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-21

company handle the public. I have ridden
on many lines in many parts of the city,
and have noticed the never failing care
exercised by both conductor and motorman
to give the public its due in the way of
polite treatment and the service for which
the fare is paid. This markedly is true at
the present time, when a great many
strangers are present, going about the city
on street cars, asking all manner of ques-
tons, and being carefully directed on their
way and otherwise handles with a consid-
GRAFTON that 1 never recall having encoun-
tered on a street railway in the United
States. Nor must this be in anywise at
tributed to the s~ervility OF a servant, for
1 have once at least noticed a conductor
politely but firmly calling the attention Of
a distinguished visitor to an infraction Of
the rules which would have passed with
out notice in Chicago or Omaha.
The facts concerning the relations be-
tween the company and the public I nave
gathered first-hand from the officers of
the city and the company. l made my first
inquiry at the office OF the mayor. where
l was given the history Of the street rail-
way service in Toronto, from its beginning
in 1861 to the present, At the general offices
OF the company l was met with equal
~franknesS, and the information gathered
at the city hall was supplemented by the
general manager of the company. Thus the
facts may be accepted as facts, for they
COM straight from headquarters, being
mainly collated from published reports. from
city records and from the company's books.
As such they will be submitted, without
comment, save such as may be necessary
to make clear figures, thus allowing the
reader to draw his own conclusions.
Territory, service and Fare.
To begin with. the city of Toronto covers
an area OF almost exactly the same size
as that of Omaha, twenty-five square
miles, The difference is that Toronto is
compaotly built, the city containing in
1908, according 20 the police census. a
population Of 23,6O2. The singular anomaly
is presented in this connection Of the
suppression Of the true population, be-
cause OF the local arrangement that bases
the water rate partly on the number Of
persons IN the family, thus leading to a
certain amount OF concealment on the part
of the householder as TO the exact number
of persons domiciled in the premises TO
be served. II is asserted by some with
whom I ave talked on this point that an
exact census would probably show the
population OF Toronto to be very near, il
not quite, 5OO,OO 100. This will sound strange
to some Of our home folks, who are strain
ing every point 10 make a showing Of popu-
lation in the forthcoming count OF noses.
Think Of a city Of 10000 population con-
tenting itself to go before the world with
a few over 10000 as its official census.
But the loss IN population is to some
degree compensated for in the local mind
by the saving IN water taxes, and that,
very likely. help some.
This population OF 5000 is served by a
street railway system OF lQ miles. double
tracked all the way. equipped with the
latest OF cars and provided with all con-
veniences, save one. The cars are stin
heated by stoves. The system radiates
from the downtown section like a fan.
converging on one or two Of the downtown