Evening journal., 1912-07-30
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Millions That William
c. Whitney Apparently
Wasted
BIZ Holland


The late William c. Whitney was
thought TO have wasted millions
when, after having established in
1886 cable power plants for his Broad
way and other street railway systems
OF New York, he suddenly abandon
ed them and installed instead a sub
way trolley system.
Men OF capital estimated that the
dead loss TO the street railway cor
porations Mr.. Whitney was identified
with through the installation of the
cable system and the speedy disuse of
It was In the neighborhood Of six mil
Hon dollars.
Mr. Whitney, however, looked upon
this experience as one OF the incl
dents inevitably associated with the
creation Of great corporation com
binations. He was far more inter
ested in the story of the manner in
which the utilization OF cables for
the hauling of street cars had been
conceived and perfected than he was
In the profit and loss system for the
great cable plant IN New York city.
Sometimes he used TO narrate that
history practically in these words:
for hauling street cars by animal
power in such a city as New York
had passed. But we we're greatly
concerned about the kind of power
we should substitute for the horses.
The overhead trolley had been per-
fectcd, but we we're prohibited from
using it; the legislature of New York
state had passed a law prohibiting
the erection of a trolley plant over
any street in Manhattan. What were
we TO do? Other cities we're es-
tablishing trolley system. We we're
prevented by law from doing that
"One day a friend said to me,
pointing to man just entering the
New York Post ONCE. There goes
General Abner Doubleday. who in
vented for the San Francisco Street
cars a system of traction power
which you ought to be able to use In
New York!
II knew General Doubleday by re-
| putation. ] recalled having heard
that he was the engineer who per-
fected the Notifications around
Washington during the civil war, and
that he had fought bravely at Frede-
ricksburg, Charlottesville and
Gettysburg never had heard that
he had invented any traction system
for street cars But my friend told
me that when General Doubleday
was stationed at San Francisco some
seven or eight years after the close
of the civil war he laid before the
street car people of that city a plan
for hauling by an endless cable.
operating in a subway channel, the
street cars of the city Instantly, IL
occurred to me that General Double
day might have had recollection Of
the way in which the first elevated
railroad line in New York city was
operated The cars of that line were
hauled by endless cables. 7 wonder
ed why I had never thought OF that
for our system.
What General Doubleday could do
for San Francisco IL seemed to me
he could do for New York. We found
that his system operated well In San
Francisco. so we decided TO erect
great power houses and establish
cable plants upon some Of our larger
metropolitan lines.
Then happened-as Il so often
does-a curious coincidence of in
vention. Shortly after we had es-
tablished the cable plant. we learned
that by a combination Of inventive
skill and apparatus we could lay
down in the channel formerly occup-
led by the cable. a small rail capable
OF carrying electric current from
power house to car, system which
/ in the long run was certain to be
more effective and economical than
cable traction So il was a mere
question Of figuring We easily figur-
ed that we could afford to lose the
investment we had made in General
Doubleday's invention of cable tran
saction, great as that was. because in
the course Of few years the install
ment of the electric subway method
would, In its economies and efficiency
more than Offset that loss.
"But for the invention of the troll
ley, overhead and subway. General
Arthur Doubleday would have been
recognized as the man who made pos
sible very great development OF
street car transportation in the
larger cities"
Copyright, 1912. by p. ]. Edwards
All rights reserved.)
Tomorrow Mr. Edwards will tell
of "The Great Biography Of Grant
r,t..t natl, Tvt