The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1947-05-08

on Ninth street the horses were pull
ed up and the car stopped. The
president Of the streetcar company
DIR. ]. L. Waiter, lived there. DR..
Waiter brought out wine and every
body cheered, swung their hats and
whooped it up again.
First Injury
Just before the streetcar got TO
the city building, the first personal
injury in Ohio streetcar history oc-
Cured. 1t ran over 14-year-oid
negro boy and cut off his left leg.
He had been hanging on the car
stealing a ride, but fell off and went
under the wheels.
The car continued running all day,
filled to capacity at every trip. No
fares were charged that day and
everybody wanted to ride the first
car.
This was called the Blue Line be-
cause the cars on it were painted
blue and carried blue lights at night.
1t afterwards became the Seventh
Street Line.
The second line in operation was
the Red Line, with red cars and red
lights. 1t belonged to the City Pas
senger Street Railroad Co. and later
became the present John Street Line.
Tickets sold for Is for dollar.
The third line was that of the
passenger Railroad Company of Gin
cinnati. It had yellow cars and
yellow lights and later became the
Third Street Line.
The next line to operate had a
handle that would knock your eye
out-the "Pendleton and Fifth Street
Market Space Street Passenger Rail-
road Co." 1t usually was referred
to as the Democratic Line" Other
lines quickly followed, radiating in
all directions.
Conflict Develops
Because all the routes run for a
short distance on Fourth street, an
amusing conflict among them devel-
oped.
The Cincinnati Street Railway Co.
began laying its tracks on Fourth
Street at midnight September %,
1859 but was stopped by the author
tiles. Next morning the City Pas
senger Street Railroad Co. took up
the track and laid its own rails.
Tt was stopped by an injunction
but because each of the companies
then put down its own rails, Fourth
Street between Vine and Walnut
streets, was a maze of streetcar
tracks and impossible for anything
else. Finally a compromise was
made by putting down one track in
the middle of the street and all the
companies using it.
1t was the coming of the street.
cars to Fourth street that made at
that time the greatest retail business
street in the city and, latter Broad
way in New York, the most crowded
by private vehicles of any in the
country" One horse cars made
Fourth street.
Streetcars in Cleveland
Streetcars also appeared in Cleve-
land in 1859 but not until after the
first run had been made in Cincin-
natl. Horse cars had then been
running in New York and Philadel-
phia for nearly 80 years.
One wonders how metropolitan
cities managed to expand before the
coming of the streetcars.
Urban transportation consisted
solely of the omnibus, private car
riage and livery. There We're no
bicycles and many stolid german
pedestrians contracted heart ailments
in climbing Cincinnati's seven hills.
Livery Stables on Street Corners
Most of the prominent downtown
corners were occupied by livery
stables, and the horseshoeing shop
neighbored with the small jewelry
store in narrow streets now alleys.
When the streetcars came Cincin-
natl had a population of 161 ,044 and
had 108 churches, Is public schools
and township high schools, and IT,
685 regularly enrolled pupils. How
did these persons get around?
Considering the lack of transpor-
tation within the city, business was
not so bad either. Pork and beef
-
- Ys - = Asaas -