Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1916-05-14
EVOLUTION OF CITY RAILWAY
TRANSPORTATION.

Street cal aciyice was inauguratcd
in Baltimore on July 60. 1859, BY the
operation OF q small one-horsc car be-
tween Tic 1901 81 Broadway and Bal
tim0rc ana North streets
From 1866 to 1904, the city rail-
way was den clopod from Il somewhat
Indifferent convenience into vital
necessity 90 TIE community, Phis
wss accomplished by the creation oil
coanloss routes by means OF cross
lines and through tho introduction
Of the transfer priviledge; by the eli
mindtion OF unnecessary duplication
in service and by the initial move to-
ward correcting Improbable and
harmful competition. Twenty-Five
year ago almost TO day rapid tram
sit on a practical scale was started
in Baltimore, for it was on May 23,
1891, that tho Druid Htll Avenue
cable system began operation.
Prior 10 thc coming OF tho first
street car, the people OF Baltimore
were served by stage coaches and
buses. The stage coacn ,-r.the very
earliest means OF pubiir passenger
transportation in This county na~
turally trayerscd at least q portion
of such cities as II served. so the
extent, then, that stage coach con
Meeting Baltimore wlth nea Oy towns
c. cisc with distant cities, might
cover part OF tho city's streets and
Outlying roads in its journey. to that
same extend was IL available for SER
vice by citizons who could use IL M
shortening q long trip III or through
tho city The omnibus grew out Of the
stage coach idea, und up to the time
that street railways were started,
the bus was the chief moderate
price means OF getting about the city.
The bus never sought, however, to
build q network Of connecting lines,
but II followed somewhat selfishly
the path of least resistance. namely:
those few routes which offered the
maximum business for the minimum
effort and cost Both service and
routes were more or less uncertain,
and no effort was made TO open up
new territory on the prospects OF fu-
ture business At the time street
cars were introduced in Baltimore,
ihc ono hundred and seventy thou
sand people living here were depen-
dent In part on three bus lines, but
in q larger measure they were de-
pendent upon their own feet to carry
iHLil 0u lutll WnVNAANA lhtoN
erfands we're for business or pleas
nre.
The stage coach was the father of
the omnibus. The stage coach had
never been operated with view Of
serving the people OF a city with city
transportation. Indeed, created in
an age of inconvenience. ii conten-
ted itself in relieving the public Of a
fe,.a
or travel in those days. Following in
the steps OF the stage coach. the onl-
pibus war not an agency which con-
sidered too carefully tho peoples
comfort or convenience. The bus
itself was uncomfortable, and it's
highest aim, doubtless, was to give
the wayfarer "lift" toward his des-
tination. The public did not appre-
ciate the difference in service which
the car line was to offer nor did the
city Itself at first understand the inn
portancc OF this mode Of city trans
pOrtation both as a business factor
and as a community developer. II
data In confirmation of this were re-
quircd, ii can be found In the fact
that the business people OF Balti-
more Street We're almost an unit in
opposing the laying of car tracks on
that business thoroughfare. Then II I
was presumed that a car line would \
be detrimental TO the growth OF a |
shopping street, while today not on
ly will retail merchants protest
against diyerting a car line which J
passes their doors to some other |
thorouEhfare, but in the hope OF de-
yeloping the business OF their own
street merchants seek to divert to
their street car lines which may be |
iii operation on other thoroughfares |
which are not given up as largely to
business.
AS has been stated, the first street
car operated in Baltimore ran on Iuly |
26. 1859. lis route was from Fells |
Point Markes up Broadway to Balti- |
more street and then west to North |
street The line had been projected |
further westward on Baltimore ST.,
but some of the business houses that |
opposed the coming OF a streetrailway |
obtained an INDUCTION restraining |
tho Company from laying double I
tracks on parts OF Baltimore Street |
This injunction was subsequently dis
solved and the western section OF the |
line, which had been constructed |
meantime. was joined to the line |
which had first been put into opera
ton. This Iirst line was the nucleus !
of the routes now operated by the |
Madison Avenue and the Gay Street !
lines Lignt rails and but scant |
foundations for this superstructurc, |
enabled the railway companies to |
build their roads practically over
night As a consequence as soon as |
street railway operation was started !
in Baltimore, II did not take long for |
the pioneer company to project q net |
Work Of lines The Baltimore Street |
line was extended to FranklnSquare. |
Ia the same year the Pennsylvania
Avenue line was put into operation |
on the street OF the same name. |
reaching out as far as the boundary |
~ what IL now North-Avenue An
other route was established on Mad |
ison Avenue, starting at the Boun
Diary and joining the ilrst line at |
Baltimore and Eutaw Streets. All OF |
these lines were established by the !
ftfiV Daaoanonr RaiI1Vav In Tho duVc |