The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-26
ELECTRfC RsILW AIS.
ssmethIns sf rhrir Httsry ansi speeula.
fssn 90 THeAr gusare.

ssmesnlns st rh~ir mstsr, ansi sprrs,a-
tsss 90 Tneir Futnre.
Ia rBE EpTroR ~ ths srN ser There
have been u Nanb.r Of Tecent statsnenis
regarding early electric railways which
seem to show thai there - a general mis-
apprehension about them IA not distin-
gushing between those older roads which
Used the -o-called over running trolley
and Those which came a lutte later and were
the prototypes Of The successful under
running system which has don. much
to extend tho living dis, ancr limit Of oar
''ti"-. ~ ono who has b--n intimate with
many OF tho orisina'ors OF the eiectric
railway and has seen most OF the early
STRUCTURES. a consecutive abatement from
me may be useful
80 far az I know the first electric street
ear in the United States Was run over the
bentley knight experimental road In Glove
land. and later In Boston, issa This was q
slot conduit road like the one In broadway.
ana tho system MAS so promising. and
considering the amount available for eS
plotting II, so successful that the under
lying patents and indeed the Bentley
knight Company itself Including Messrs
Bentley and knight were absorbed by the
Thomson-H Houston Electric Company. the
pioneer elect rio railroad corporation.
In 1875 Mr.. Leo Daft installed . short
section of third rail road near Baltimore
which was operated successfully for q time.
In 1889 tho over running trolley roads
began to be built by the Thomson Houston
company Of Boston and by the Van Dspoele
company Of Chicago These had . little
carriage running on the top OF the trolley
wire. which had Q peculiar goose nerked
arrangement permitting the trolley to pass
the supports. These roads were installed.
as one OF your correspondents has said.
between Jamaica and Brooklyn. at Bins
hAmton. at Scranton. at Appleton. Wis. and
in Montgomery. Ala. besides other places.
I well remember the one At Scranton. be-
cause the trolley. which weighed approxi-
mately twenty Ave pounds, fell on the wire
and came through the roof Of the converted
horse car in which I was riding. landing
within an inch OF my foot. The over run
ming trolley waa nsv CT really important COM
mercially. oecauseit was impossible to Keep
the device on the wire: IL was attached to
the car by loose conductor like q rope. and
when the car stopped unless Il was stopped
quite gradually the trolley would run ahead
| Of IL and snap OF the wire like boy playing
crack the whip. The conductor would then
borrow a stepladder from some house.
holder and replace IT, This would happen
anywhere from eight to ten times IN each
trip. and IL sometimes seemed as " more
time was spent In that way than in running.
All this came to an end. however. with the
Invention Dy ar. van Depoete OF the unoer
running trolley. The first OF these roads 10
run commercially was at Montgomery, Ala.
IN June Of 1897. The Advertiser Of that city
Of date OF June -. 1897. has the following
pesn Of jubilation:
THE ELECTRIC RAILWAY.
v,rrxKN Muxs ovup .rxp NJ nncrHic1rY At
Last
Not single ssses, Gag ..;:.s Ia Montgomery.
t~,llR NJ naY& llrva
electric power. Montgomery leads the world
Good by muies Good BY Texas'
Yesterday al the mule cars were Aken on 'ne
nfsen miles OF suees iAnNa, IA Aon'soah.p
sno fSo's hnc "ss ope'a'e" eAN'''s,sH'S w" 'he
. -" .. 80 q, 80 -
p""'sI ~. 80. ~ ns.s'''.
-. Ts. - - -, q, a., y,
dur,r,,, - ,n. as o., un ma Gown with A
a.Ils IN, unc,nse,ousness Of changes An grade.
-rne electric e,r. are . xurr.ss
one motor can pull several cars which IL a
vast adv antaxe over the mule Yesterday a
car with a nyteen horse power motor had two
summer attached and pulled 'hem full OF
people out 10 Highland Park without diminish
Ing the ordinary speed.
TVS all asIand snd g'orioussneerss The whole
system the four lines como 'oseiher on Court
square sna 60 uoNn ommeree sHeea on donpse
uaen 70 theu epoI no nai"us as~',enes
" ~" " '"' ".'N ' '"'''' '"'"
u" w. ., I'm,
,urs a, Az, m, IN -,.h
i"'S n's. 'osI vas 'oh'eILeu ii"r' '"e
oNsI uu."'"s 'oe, s,s'eh. "h.S" ~" oe.n
'Hr aA,ea Auo io"hu '',ini 'ne n'I'e
u "ee" S
NV" '"' ""-S' u'o '"e W" Dcp"o'e
o"pan' hsa "u.r pIopc~ed w ."h'e'
nv ing "I 1 '.' P,oa W ~"
teoe roau mn ~ ~"",a 10 shor, any
'"'nS N-vp " ""A ny '"e' ." uso
.a W ~ n.poe'e
. 80 apFe' 'o' :" 'a''h y.
i'e'' oe,hs tn1 VIC" N"o"h "aNns oesm
ue''ce. hAN'ns ,ei',Sa. p"st Oh '"p OF mo
'a' aoo'' tee' "'Sh. ,"e rom emo "i 'he
'ro'"' p'ole''ns "'oiP'e" vi 'e"' 'h advance
vi 'ne p'",' a"" oe,"s "'an'p"'s"'u by
Neish' IN i'Vh. vi '"r mo "rmah' H~d 70
the ,ro''"y WIN cof"' nave photo-
Hraph Oh one Oh ines" "srIF cars rms
i"ad rsh uh'h 'he en-" OF June OF me ioio~-
ihe year is''' Nh"h IN" power mouse was
d"s'roN~d oy nr" rr'h'mper IN" lublla-
''"n among e'e, irra' men thaf the IRE
had occurred "hiie ~" road was shut down