The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-11-07
;,.s Of keokuk Five Years
Hence viii not be Similar to
Those Of
Today. :
WILL BE EASILY BUILT
suburban and City Lines viii Not go
Wanting for Smooth Straight
Road Beds When Time
Comes.

That the time is coming when there
will be need of greater street car
system in Keokuk, is plainly evident
10 the keen eyed commercial resident
o. today.
All told and exclusive of the Keo-
kuk and Western Illinois Electric line
to Hamilton and Warsaw, the local
company has little more chan five
miles of street railway here. Seven
blocks of these tracks are unused at
the present time, practically, the half
mile of trackage from Main to Orleans
on Fourteenth being unused, although
the time is coming when this line will
again have to be opened UP to ac-
commodate patrons in that end of the
city
The Main or cemetery l1ne is the
longest of the three main branches,
there being the park and West Keokuk
lines, that accommodate mainly north
side and south end passengers.
SCi 0ySlOu IT0SS.
The difference between. the street
car service in Keokuk today and that
five years ago, is very noticeable.
Better cars. self heated in winter and
the open summer cars of better pat.
tern The local electric company
succeeding in getting hold of a half
dozen cars from Peoria about year
ago. larger and more comfortable
than the former ones. Yet these must
go with the progress of city and
give way to the convertible, winter
and summer chair cars, of the rattan
seat type.
The Fifteen Minute Service.
The fifteen and twenty minute
schedules of the local car line are
religiously adhered to by the operat-
ors Of the street railway company
and there is no complaint to be REX
!stered and none seldom heard with
the exception Of the utter stranger
who now and then stands at the street
crossing waiting another twenty
minutes on the clock dial just after
the park line car or the South Fifth
street line has passed him ID by a
hairs breadth. Yet If progress re-
peats itself in the next five years and
accomplishes what it has in the past
decade, the city will at all odds have
metropolitan car system here.
There used to be time. about
hlteen years ago when the first cleo
Irlc cars in the city ran up and down
llmea street and mostly all of the
ame. the only one that rode was the
recommendations, one man crew,
who thought he had accomplished a
leat equal to scaling Mount Mckinley
II ne turned in fifty cents a day to
.ne company's till and was pleased
Il Two or three people used the line
aurlng the day and evening. This
statement is vouched for by an old
motorneer-con himself.
Establish North Line.
LAY oreamers have seen steel rails
running north of Rand park on Grand
avenue extension, golf ground route.
cutting through on Main street extern
s,on' down High and connecting with
lne heart of the city lines.
within year Or two this dream
may be realized although at present
o aa' portion of the city where the
country club and other pretty spots
u nature are located, is not built up
sullclently to permit car line ex-
.eision, though as an interurban route
would be ideal and summitville
sOu'a De reached without trouble and
VI an almost table bed route
i'me, the teller of all things. good
saa evil will spell Improvement for
ss her interurban and city car
s'slem, and there is naught else to