The Wilmington morning star., 1940-01-07
GREYHOUND Line
GREW RAPIDLY
Worlds Largest Bus Line Be
gan In 1914 With Single
Touring Car

One OF the LlOSI
the stages of transportation has
heen taking place before Americas
ewes in the last 20 years at a time
when romance in business was pop
ularly supposed to have dlsap-
peared.
= Horatio Alger himself couldn't
have imagined a more spectacular
story than the rise of the Grey.
hound Bus Lines from a single
touring car in 1914 to the worlds
LARGEST transportation system in
1889.
Over $500 Buses
Today Greyhound operates more
than $500 buses a total of nearly
ISL, 900, 900 miles 9 year. Coaches
are in regular service on 1857
miles of highway (more than twice
the distance around the earth). To
lIldlllloll ILLS OASNiioiNC lava VI
%ganization, Greyhound operates 200
garages and gives employment to
more than 10000 people. Rigid in.
spection and maintenance of equip.
ment in first-class condition have
made it possible for Greyhound to
achieve and hold the worlds safety
record for inter-city bus fleets -
1,249,143 miles without even a
scratched fender.
More than half the population OF
the United States lives in territory
served directly by Greyhound Lines,
and the remainder lives within short
connecting distance. No other pub
lie transportation system operates
over so many miles of lines. reaches
SO many people, or offers so many
transcontinental routes.
The birthplace of this modern
giant was MISUNDERSTANDING, to
be exact. The first BUS was really
no bus at all but a touring a
turned into a makeshift jitney run.
ming between Hibbing and the near
by mines. The business flourlshed
from the start, and expansion be-
came necessary. The first step was
the addition of another car, and
then came the first actual buses, if
buses they could be called.
More Men and Money
By 1915 more capital and more
drivers were needed, and three men
Joined the original organizers to
form the Mesaba Transportation
company, which was the first in.
carnation of Greyhound. In 1922,
Eric Wickman, the original found.
err, pulled out his interest in this
particular line and set out for
greener pastures.
With headquarters in Duluth,
Wickman began buying up all bus
lines and consolidating them - the
first symptom of tie technique that
was eventually to account for the
tremendous size Of the modern Grey.
hound system. Throughout tt e
years while Wickman's lines were
experiencing their early growth. 9TH
er men in other parts of the country
were pioneering in the same field.
Mergers of these various pioneering
companies resulted in the present
great system. The actual name
"Greyhound" was first applied to
the entire Wickman line after a
small line in Michigan bearing that
name was absorbed into the system.
In 1881 and 1882 several other
large territorial lines Joined forces
with Greyhound. These included the
Blue and Gray Lines, the Old Do
minion Stages, the Camel City
Coach Lines, operating in this part
Of the country.
Although the contrast seems great
between the little 15-mile route out
of Hibbing and Greyhound's present
81, 000-mile network, it is no greater
than the contrast between the first
side-seated 12-passenger bus-on-a
truck and Greyhound's newest con
trlbutlon to highway travel, the
luxurious Super-Coach. Not all oil
Greyhound's approximately 26 mil.
lion annual passengers are carried
in these streamlined Super.Coaches
but more and more of these new
buses are being put into service
regularly.