Evening star., 1932-03-27
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

mo opposition worth consider
c..; can be made. we take
competing it, to the bill introduced
Ra;lrood in the Senate yesterday
"ollioau' authorizing the construc-
ton Of another railway line between
Washington and New York. No public
want has been more apparent for many
years past than the need of competing
lines of transportation between the
commercial and political centerS of the
country, and If the proposed measure
can secure or hasten that result. 1t
ought to have the enthusiastic support
Of everybody. At any rate, it is not
easy to see how its passage can defeat
or in any way retard the great desidera-
tum, and the country ought to have
the benefit Of all chances in favor of
better and cheaper facilities of travel
between the points named. If the bill
does not already contain such a provi-
sion, 1t would be well, however, to add
one before passing 1t prohibiting the
consolidation of the proposed lines, If
built, with any other road or roads now
or hereafter running between the ter
minal points, and also prohibiting the
sale or transfer of the franchise, If grant
ed. to any existing corporation. Such
clause would make assurance doubly
sure, SO far as the rights of the public
are concerned, and the corporators of
the new enterprise could not object to
it If they are in earnest and mean busi-
ness The fact that they propose to
run trains between New York and this
city in six and one-half hours and carry
passengers in f1rst-class cars for fare
not exceeding SIS in anv case shows at
once what the present line could do if
so disposed, and the great need Of
competing road
Objection to the continued running
of aerial electric lines was strongly
voiced half a century ago,
buried The Star taking the lead in
u1;r.s this fight for the burial of
"ie'' wires. In its issue of March
%, 1882, The Star says:
THE experiment of underground
telegraphy has been successfully tried
in Philadelphia, Just as The Star has
always maintained 1t would succeed II
given a fair chance. line of conduits
over a mile long and large enough to
accommodate 1000 properly insulated
wires has been laid under one of the
streets Of that city. and the verdict was
that the several lines worked to the
entire satisfaction of all OF course
they did. There Is no reason why they
should not If properly put down. They
have worked satisfactorily in Europe for
years, and they could have been made
available here Just as we'll except for
the greed of the telegraph companies,
who find it cheaper, for the time being
at least, to use air-strung wires. One
objection urged to the subterranean
system was the alleged difficulty of re-
pairing buried wires, but this fancied
trouble has been obviated in the plan
adopted in Philadelphia. 1t has an ar
rangement by which any given wire in
the conduit can be withdrawn, perma-
nently If desired or repaired and re-
turned to its place without disturbing
the other wires or the surface of the
streets BY this ingenious contrivance
the last valid objection to the under
ground system has been removed, and
its adoption in all the large cities in
the country must hereafter be only a
question of time"
ApDeal was taken to the limited