HE year 1904 bring us to the quar
ter century mark since the Sie
mens com puny of Berlin first
connected an electric motor to a
"truck and initiated the electric
railroad. The car was crude and the
railway a small affair, 350 yards long, and
of three feot three inches gauge, the third
rail being; used. A species of sliding trolley
on an overhead rail . was Invented two
years later.
In 1883 Van Denote Invented the under
running trolley wheel, making feasible I ho
use of overhead wire conductors, and Wel
lington Adams mounted the motor directly
on the car axle the practice up to
that time having been to mount the motor
on a separate frame and connect with the
axle by chains or belts.
These two inventions, the under running
trolley and the direct connected motor, are
perhaps the only features in electric car
designing which have survived the contest
of changes and Improvements In the equip
ment of electric lints.
In the early cars, relates the New York
Bun, a couplo of 15 horse-power motors
were thought to be ample. Today nn elec
tric locomotive is In operation on the
Baltimore & Ohio railroad, propelled by
eight 2J5 horse-power motors, a total of
l.SoO horse-power. The first cars built hud
a seating capacity of sixteen. Sixty Is
the number of passengers that can be
Beatod In the latest designs.
In arrangements for long distance trolley
lines, the middle west states are taking the
lead. In Indiana five roads, each over 100
miles In length, are finished or in course
of construction.
A 2C0-mile road Is in operation between
Columbus, O., and Indianapolis, equipped
with sleeping and dining cars of the most
advanced type. Extensions of this line
are being pushed through to Wheeling,
W. Va., and to Pittsburg, and plans are
being made for connections with Cincin
nati. This service In another year will
cover stretches in various directions of
from 200 to 500 miles In length.
Solid trains are run, consisting of sleep
ers, dining cars and day coaches, all of
the most improved design and construc
tion, the sleepers costing over S-'rt.Ono each.
Staterooms with two berths are used, in
stead of opeli compartments.
The roadbeds and tracks are built as
substantially as on steam roads, and a
speed of sixty-five miles an hour Is regu
larly made on some stretches. Indeed, the
Chicago, Elgin & Aurora railroad is plan
ning an equipment capable of 100 miles an
hour for everyday schedule.
Trains leave the Indianapolis and Colum
bus terminals at 10:30 o'clock every night
and finish the 200-mlle run at 6 o'clock in
the morning. The operation of the road has
shown that there is no smoke, cinders or
dust, and that sleeping car passengers will
be able to open their windows In summer.
The charge for a berth and fare between
the two cities Is $5, which is less than the
day coach fare on the competing steam
railroads.
Although In the eastern states the devel
opment of the electric railway lias not yet
reached a stage where sleepers and dining
cars are in use, still the improvements in
the equipment and fittings of th ordinary
service cars are keeping pace with those of
lines in other parts of the country. The
Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville railway
has put on new palace cars, which are
said to be the largest and most expensive
ever seen.
They are fifty-five feet In length and
weigh forty-three tons. High-back re
versible Beats, finished in plush, with roll
headrests and footrests increase the com
fort of the passenger. Each car seats fifty
six persons. Over each seat Is an electric
light, and the electric push button keeps
the passenger in close touch with the con
ductor. A telephone connects both plat
forms, so that the motorman and conductor
can talk with each other and also with the
genera offices of the company. The cars
are geared to forty-five miles an hour.
$
Klectrlclty nod Steam Abroad.
A late number of the Railway News of
Ijondon gives the details of the machinery
and devices used In electrifying a division
of the Northeastern railway, and the same
number mentions five other electrification
schemes, all covering the conversion of
steam roads to electric operation. The
Ijondon Dally News, in a late issue, has
n interview with an official of one of tho
largest English railway systems, who is
quoted as follows:
"Why is not electricity to bo adopted?"
"We have never thought It necessary for
long-distance traffic In time it certainly
will be adopted. At present, however, there
is not the passenger traffic over long dis
tances which would Justify the enormous
outlay of capital. But for local and sub
urban traffic It Is rapidly being laid down.
The Lancashire & Yorknhire railway has
It for Its Liverpool to Southport service,
und the local Newcastle lines of the North
eastern are being electrified. Other lndon
railways are only waiting to see
the result of the electrification of the dis
trict. The Zossen experiments showed
that a speed of US miles an hour could be
made with electricity. But such speed
would require a track to lo reserved espe
cially for It. The English railways could
not afford that for the carrying of the few
people who wish to travel at that rate."
"Wherein lies the special advantage for
suburban traffic?"
"In subu.bau traffic the stops are fre
quent. With the multiple-unit sysUjil uf
electric irains a high rate of acceleration
can be obtained, so that no time Is lost In
starting; a high speed Is reached In twenty
or thirty seconds. With electricity the
trains can be Increased or reduced, and,
while there Is In that way a saving of cost,
there is no loss of efficiency. The heavy
engine has Its limits. It la practically cer
tain that the saving on the working ex
penditure with electricity would be suffi
cient to pay Interest on tho capital outlay
necessary for suburban lines. The preat
gain would lie In Increased traffic f:iclllts,
and, therefore, Increased receipts per train
mile."
State Owned Trolley Line.
All construction work has Just been com
pleted on the new trolley line built by tho .
state In Bismarck, N. D., and the first car
will be run over the line March 1.
North Dakota is the only state In the
union that owns a trolley line. Its length
is 8.500 feet, and Its course Is from the rail
road depots in this, the capital city, to
the entrance of the state capltol. Its con
struction was authorized by the legislature
of 19(8 and the line has been built during
the course of the autumn and whiter. It
was built under the direction of an elec
trical engineer employed by the state, with
Jnbor paid by the slate. No contracts were
let for its construction.
The matter of how it came to be Is, per
haps, interesting, because of the novelty
of a state's engaging In the transportation
business on Its own account. This capital
city of North Dakota has a population esti
mated at 4,000, hardly enough to support
a metropolitan traction line and to war
rant rapid transit, or Indeed to need it.
When the capitol was located, twenty
years ago, the magnificent distances of
the western town were no greater than the
magnificent expectations of its founders
and boomers. In the enthusiasm of their
expectations for the future of the city, tbey
set the capitol upon a high hill, more than
a mile from the business center of the
town and the various hotels at which legis
lators and visitors to the city must put up.
The legislature of North Dakota meclsJ"
during January and February, the months
when the weather Is most extremely cold,
and when winter winds attain their great-
est velocity and penetration. The matter,
therefore, of transportation from the city
to the capltol is a vital one for legislators,
stuto officials, legislative employes and
others whose business calls the in at least
twice each day to make this trip.
Traveling in carriages and omnibuses
when tho weather Is below lorn Is not ex
traordinarily pleasant, no matter how com
fortable the carriages may be marie. Nei
ther is walking always practicable. There
fore, said the legislators of the state In
wwslon assembled, "we will build a trolley
line with the state's funds, to bo operated
on the state's account. It will serve both
as a freight and passenger line. Coal for
the heating of the building must be trans
ported from markets In the city. Mall, ex
press and other matter must be taken dally
to the state house. State officials and em
ployes must find their way to the building
some way twice each day during the year.
The trolley will solve all these difficulties
and It will bo built."
When North Dakota was admitted to the
union a separate al'otment of land was
made by the government for the endow
ment of each of the state Institutions. A
tract of N2.W0 acres, distributed through
tho state, was set npnrt for the erection of
the capltol, other buildings and other neces
sary a ljuncts to the administration of pub
lic business. This hind was to lo sold and
the proceeds directly applied to the build
ing of suitable administration buildings and
their accessories, from this allotment of
lands several thousand acres have been al
ready sold, and from the funds In hand the
legislature made an appropriation of $W,(io0
for the building of the tro'ley line.
At tho sume time a provision was made
for the erection of an electric lighting
plant and power house, from the general
maintenance appropriation. The electric
light plant was to furnish lights for tho
administration building and the power plant
to furnish power for the trolley line. This
plant has been completed and Is now in
operation.
The line will be operated by the stato
under a franchise granted to the state au
thorities by the common council of the city
of Bismarck, which gives the state tho
right to opTate a street e!eetrlc passenger
railway for a term of twenty years, with a
maximum fare charge of 5 cents. The leg
islators and representatives of the state
government will be transported free of
charge. Citizens desiring to avail them
selves of transportation privileges will be
taxed 5 cents a fare. The line Is In every
sense a public transportation line, and the
franchise Is so drawn. Cars will run every
hour over the route.
Coaatry Telephones.
"Every progressive farmer should have
a telephone," says Country Life In Amer
ica. "He cannot afford to be without one.
Time Is money, and the telephone saves
time. It Is easier, quicker and cheaper to
talk than It is to walk or ride. The time
has arrived when we must rea'ise the im
portance of being in touch with our neigh
bors and with the world.
"Communities should build their own tele
phone lines If they cannot get satisfactory
service at reasonable rates from existing
companies. It is a considerable undertak
ing, but the country Is already dotted with
Independent telephone exchanges thus es
tablished which are eminently successful.
"The first thing to do in organising a tele
phone company is to agitate the question
and make the neighborhood understand its
great value; that it is a good business In
vestment, a public improvement, a distinct
social advantage and a positive personal
convenience; that a telephone In the house
enables one to call a doctor without dan
gerous delay, to give immediate alarm la
case of fire or burglars, to avoid it needless
trip to town, to call the butcher, the baker,
the grocer and to bring one Into quick
touch with the railroad, the telegraph, tho
postofllco or the bank. The telephone en
ables the busy farmer to transact business
at the farm that would crtherwlse necessi
tate bis absence from home. In a hirgo
measure It eliminates the only strong ob
jection to farm life isolation. With a tele,
phono in the house the farmer's wife Is
never alone. Every subscriber Is, as It
were. In the next room. The best proof
of its va.'ue Is the fact universal- that peo
ple who once have a telephone almost never
have it taken out. Tha only objection
against the farmer's having a telephono
was by a man who wanted an excuse to
go to town, lie could not get any satis
faction out of a drink of whisky over a
telephone wire."
Klrrtrlelty on thr Ontrul.
Criticism which was elicited by one fea
ture of the elect i leal program of the New
York Central railroad has Just received at
tention from two well known technical
periodicals, the Electrical World and Engi
neer nnd the Engineering Ilecord. l'p to
the present time practically all the electrics
traction work done In the world has been
performed with a direct current. A number
of experiments have been conducted with
tho alternating current of late. Some of
these cneourane the hope that this type of
current may eventually prove serviceable,
but it can hardly be said that nil of tho
minor questions incident to Its adoption
have yet been solved. Under the circum
stances the Central gave tho preference to
tho direct current, nnd now one occasion
ally hears the stiKKcstion that when Its
motors are In actual use they will be
obsolete. For their approval of the Cen
tral's choice the technical Journals present
two cogent reasons. In view of tho Im
mense amount of traffic to bo handled nnd
the vast Inconvenience which would result
from a serious Interruption, It Is better to
eliminate all doubt and uncertainty at the
outset. Again, certain other railways
notably that In the subway with which
the Central will make connections have
decided to use the direct current. It Is de
sirable, of course, to have the rolling stock
so equipped that trains from one roud can
bo run over the tracks of tho other and
unnecessary changes of car by passengers
averted. To the general public these con
siderations will appeal so strongly that It Is
safe to say that the Central's decision will
excite almost unanimous commendation.
The patrons of the road will unquestionably
be belter pleuscd to ace a well tried system
adopted soon than to be obliged to wait
several years longer for the promised Inno
vation. It Is due to the Central to remem
ber that it has already displayed a dis
tinctly progressive spirit in several ways.
The company is a pioneer in the substitu
tion of electricity for steam on a large
scale in this country. For its power sta
tions it has ordered engines of the most
modern type the steam turbine. The elec
tric locomotives which are to haul Into the
city Its great express trains will likewise
represent the latest advances In mechanism
which have stood the test of actual service.
Besides, if the time ever comes when the
Central deems it expedient Q introduce the
alternating current, no formidable barrier
to the change will exist. No Important
modification will be necessary In the power
stations. Its dynamos would generate an
alternating current anyhow, and the con
version of this into a direct current woulj
then be discontinued. As for the motors
both those mounted on the trucks of tho
suburban cars and those employed to draw
through trains they could probably be sold
without great loss. The future, therefore,
can be left to take care of Itself. The pres
ent Is of infinitely greater Importance.