The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-05-03
ulation of the. electric current.

Frank j .Sprague, the man who
built the first regular electric railway
in Richmond, Virginia, was of that
class of bold spirits. who, confident of
self and the powers of self, plunge
headlong into the wilderness of a new
world to prove they have been some
thing more than dreamers. He had ex-
perimented for years, and his mind
and life kne what somehow the elu-
sive fluid could be harnessed and
made to bear the burdens of man
Aside from his inner consciousness
of his own knowledge and power, his
contract to build that electrically
equipped street railway of twelve
miles length in Richmond in ninety
Hepburn commodities clause is ex-
days time was as foolhardy a venture
as any man ever engaged in. To add
to his difficulties. he was stricken
down with typhoid fever at the very
beginning of his operations, and for
nine weeks he was unable to give any
attention to his work, the burden fall
ing on his two associates, Lieutenant
Oscar T. Crosby and Ensign S. Dana
Greene, both young and inexperienced
but loyal to their friend, and possessed
of that faith indomitable will and en-
ergy that moves mountains
Instead of ninety days it was from
late in May, 1887, until February 2,
1888, when the line was completed and
opened for business, just eight months,
The usual difficulties of a new ventuer
were encountered, but there is no
doubt that Sprague's successful efforts
in Richmond greatly accelerated the
electric street railway service in
America. Mr.. Sprague and his COM
pany lost about $4,000 in building the
Richmond line, but he is fully COM
pensated in the knowledge that all the
tremendous progress made is a crown
to his zeal and energy under immense
difficulties.
BY this time the horse car was al
most a matter of past history; the ca
BILE line was rapidly disappearing
The growth of the total mileage of
street railways is almost beyond be-
lief. it having leaped from S123 miles
il 1890 to 22,589 miles in 1902, and
today will show about $4,000 miles of
electric railways in operation. Stats
tics published December 81, 1907.
show that there were '209,729 en-
ployes engaged in operating the cleo
trio railways of the United States. One
'esult in the development of these street
railway systems is the raising of the
standard of character on the part of
their employees. This is explained al
most entirely on the ground that the
more modern appliances and methods
of operation require more skill and con-
centration. The advance in this respect
is at any rate a matter of record in
street railway circles
A comparison of earnings between
1890 and 1902 shows an increase of
1892 per cent for the latter year, While
there was an increase of operating ex-
pense amounting to 1895 per cent. In
1902 the sum of $33000,000 was paid
in dividends to stockholders, and $43,-
5S7 900 for interest on the bonded
debt
AS we close our eyes and go by the
way of dreams back to the olden days
of the horse or mule ear we are
awakened from our reverie by the
changing of the motormans gong as
he swings the publics carriage by over
it's 0-pound steel rails at an alarming
rate of speed. We recall the progress
made and wonder where it will end,
for the end is not vet Before US in
theory today, perhaps to be a reality
in the tomorrow of our children, is the
idea of transportation in monorail car,
sustained in position by the principle
of the gyroscope, the invention of
Mr. Louis Brennan, an Irishman. The
demonstration of the experimental car
has already been made and is pro-
nounced a success
This seems almost an improbability,
but none who can recall the conditions
of street railway travel thirty years
ago and compare them with present
will have the temerity to question the
possibilities of the future.