Evening star., 1918-04-04
Street Railways in 1888.

street Railways IN 1000.
1In connection with the broad plan OF
remedying railroad evils which Will
place a Union station at the nearest
point to the business center Of the city
that can be reached by tunneling or
with small injury to public and private
interests, a comprehensive system OF
local rapid transit by electric or cable
railways will be provided which shall
give all parts of the District quick and
easy access to such station or stations.
It In evident that In the improved
street railways of the future horses
must give way to more rapid and less
Objectionable motorsy that grooved
rails must take the place of the pres
ent denominations, and thar the fran
ch:ses to these corporations, no longer
gifts, must become a source of public
revenue outside of that which IL de-
OF their tangible property
Ten Years Later.
Ten years later dsss) I said as presi-
dent of the Board of Trade:
" The present terminal conditions OF
our local roads are injurious and dis
graceful to the capital of the American
republic. The stations compared with
similar structures in Europe are made
quate in size. awkwardly arranged and
ugly. Both roads sustain a series of
death-trap grade crossings, at which
losses of life and injuries to men Pc
riodically occur and which cause finan-
cial loss to the city through the OBJ
struction to traffic and travel which
occurs at them.
when the local roads have built here
European stations, covering large areas
mental structures, perhaps with fine
modern hotels In the upper stories, as
in London; when they have abolished
their local grade crossings and run
rapid, noiseless trains over g Berlin
viaduct or a girder tunnel in their
course through the city. and when both
cross the Potomac to southern connec-
tions on handsome and substantial
bridges, not dams. not only will the at
tractiveness, safety and material pros
perity OF Washington be enhanced, but
its suburbs will enjoy the rapid transit
facilities which have brought such ben
efits and relief from congestion to Ber-
lin. The railroads, as we'll as the pun
lie. will profit by this Improvement OF
their service and broadening of their
functions. The most important i'm
provement remaining to be accom-
plished in the District street railroads
In one which will bind closer together
by absorption or by universal transfers
or by common use of tracks the sub-
urban and urban trunk lines, so that
one may travel cheaply, quickly and
conveniently wherever I'm the District
the network OF steel tracks extends
Railroad Conditions of 1918.
TN striking contrast with these condi-
tions Of the past are those existing today.
The steam railroad urban grade crossings
have all been eliminated. A wonderfully
attractive as well as practically seryicea-
BILE Union station, architecturaffy classic
structure as striking as the best OF the
public buildings, one of the largest, finest
and most convenient stations in the world.
has been substituted for the discreditab
rattle traps of the past. For the Lone
bridge dam two useful and non-obstrdc-
tive. II not beautiful, structures have been
substituted, one a highway and the other
a railroad bridge. The railroad tracks
have been cleared from the Mall, and the
peoples park, no longer divided, mutilated
and disfigured. Is developing into thing
Of beauty. and through connection as part
Of Potomac Park with Rock Creek Park
becomes an important section in one OF
the worlds finest park systems. From
control of Congress by the railroads we
have advanced to control of the rail-
roads by the people through Congress
and the Interstate Commerce. Commits
sion.