The Washington herald., 1914-12-20
tTAEt T~sf.
lE,d that

Be-. Cd lot lE"d that
r is i"s~.hl~ to got c~om any place in
W.>h..-'"nl to a~v crl.r part Of III" city
v.'h 'h" MAXIMUM 81 iced and comfort
a'a th" minimum "N'rtion- mental "r
Ih.SlrN \ rompr"h"I -rE" transfer sys-
tenn aukS all Of its Ines together ard
fnrmS the complete system the mod.
electric street railway system.
ENplrSlu. along the mes Of tra"kaE"
AND equipment entails a tremendous out
Fay Of capital in all railway building and
"a consequent loss incurred in the aCtua.
"I~ ~ra'luu of the never lines durluG tn"
Ir rIud Of development. tn" I'm of the
capita. TIA. ton Company which hav"
i,"u fut into operation most recently
XIV, 'h'. best idea Of tho rumpany's con
-trICtly" policy. \ superficial glance At
th, lin" i: Fourteenth street. h"lw'.u
ITuoy Branrh and Park roads will -ly.
tn" best appreciation of what haS h.,.u
accomplished in the last ten year Tt'
Chevy chase lin" also illustrates this
It is not generally known that in pr"
v.diuc Washington With tn" und"rGr"u'd
conduit system for operating the street
railways the traction companies ar" put
to i've times as much expense as that
rutaiIrd 10y the construction ard main
tcuanc" of the unsiEhtly overhead wire
svstcm The underground wires are re-
gurcd by al act Of Congress which had
n view Washington more beautiful
than any other city in the world.
Consequently the Capital Traction Com
Inny was put to the EXPENSE which the
street railway companies in other Citi' $
escape that Of installing the wires be
low the level Of tn" pavement. In plac"
Of ties heavy iron "yOkos" are planted
m the ground to hold the tracks; in tn
space inclosed by these yOkcs two rails
carrying the electric current are placed
instead Of the single heavy and com
raritivelv cheap copper wire used in the
overhead system. The current is trans
mittcd to the motor OF the moving car
hy the 'plow' which corresponds to tn"
trolley Of the other system. This pillow
runs between the two rails which carry
the current while the fiat plate connect
ing IL with the car moves in the mar
row slot in the center Of the space be
tween the rails Thus we have as tn"
only visi the evidence Of our street rail-
way the rails in the roaway with the
narrow slot between-but at cost five
times as great as that Of the overhead
system. II can easily be appreciated that
the traction companies are contributing
a very large share toward the greater
beauty OF our city streets For not only
does the system require such an Immense
original outlay OF money on the part Of
the company but II must he kept in eN-
c"llent repair. This is no easy matter
when it is remembered that on some por-
tiOns Of tn" traCkGEe not onc-half hour
passes for periods Of months and even
years that can does not pass over tn"
rails. On hes" same portions of tn"
track it Is frequently the cas-" that dur
ing tn" greater portion Of the day one
and sometimes more cars pass every
minute.
TnCrPnsinp nem,.d - TroII.x
System.
Washington is a growing city. the de-
mands of the population on the street
railway system are ever Increasing SO
far the demands have been met by the
Capital Traction Company in such
way that 1t Is reasonable to expect they
will continue to be met just as generous
ly In the future. The service has prac-
tlcall,, dnmhlnd ITSELF In th. La. tnr vears