The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-20
JTTNEY BUS WINS F,X0p
Coming Into Strong Competitjao u..,
Street Car SySteu
Galveston News.

Had one been asked a uar-r
he thought it possible for II
car to supplant the street ear
popular vehicle Of urban trsrs
ton, one would have ansyTa-
promptly and emphatically. A-s
a little less promptly and emufe..-,
would one have expressed the o-.-
that the motor car was incava M
ever becoming a serious carrrst.
of the trolley in this field If trt,
tation.
Even now one may believe t4.. -..
trolley has natural advantage t. ..+
guard it against competition hr- r.
has been a diligent reader OF The r.,.
papers he must feel the foNv 81
ing dogmatic. For there has
printed much within that s-r ~
question whether the monop... Fl
the trolley is SO secure as a. .
imagined.
First it was cry from Houstar r..
verberating through the pres .ast
the street car company Of tha. c.,,
+! had been losing money becaus- .H.
competition of j:tneys.
| That was followed shortly hy dis
| patch from Fort Worth. telhrg rtat
more than 100 jitneys had been H.
censed in that city. Next was an Item
from San Francisco telling that h.-,
are 1000 jitneys in use there: and an
| top Of all this comes a dispatch from
Seattle reeiting that proposal t. nave,
the municipality buy the street RAID
way system Of that city has been lut
in allegiance because Of the muuuH-
/! cation and popularity # the jIrreys
Certainly one has occasion tn revise
ones judgment if ones Judgment has
been that these cries of distress COM
ing from the street car men Wrre Ia-
| tended merely to win the symua hy
and indulgence of the public ~
| course it has not yet been proved that
! the motor car is capable Of supplaut-
ing the trolley. except perhaps IT.
some exceptional eases. II they ARE
being put into competition with {.
rapidity which testities To the conf
dence of those who are doing it, uee-
ertheless it is to be remembered tt-y
| have as yet been subjected 10 n9 tesl
that justifies this confidence.
1t is one thing for an indivioua.
with seVen-pa paSsenger car "a turn
to the business of carrying passengers
He may do SO profitabiyas long as tho
car lasts. But it is quite another thing
to earn as much above wages and
operating expenses in that way 81
that when the car refuses to serve
longer there will be surplus a
profits sufficient to buy it's successor
And this field into which the motor
cars have rushed with such boldnes.
is SO hedged about by peculiar cOndi
1ons that it may we'll support a few
but impose loss on all the momen
< it is invaded by any considerable num
ber.
The secret Of the trolleys success L
in it's ability to carry large numbers
That element the motor car lacks. II
carrying capacity is SO limited tha
|. there must needs be many of them !
the public is to be served in the va
1t has become accustomed 70 3
served.
OF course, one cannot forget tha
the stage coach owners must have al
gued in some such confident way(whe
they beheld the first locomotive an
assuredly the passenger traffic mana
gers looked with some such contemL
on the competition Of the interurba
lines. But the stage coach is cur
osity found only in museums, az
there are numerous reports OF tram
managers which indict the interurba
II by way Of apologizing for diminish
1