Why should we prefer electricity as the propelling agent of our street
cars over all other known methods? I answer, without hesitation,
because it is the best, and being the best is the cheapest. Briefly I
will present the grounds upon which I take my stand.
To-day the only methods for tramway service are three in number:
Horses, with a history of fifty years and over; cables, with a history
of fifteen years; and electricity, with a history of two years. I give
the latter two years on the basis of the oldest electric street
railroad in existence to-day, and that is the Baltimore railroad,
equipped with the Daft system.
The main points for consideration common to each are six in number:
1st. Obtaining of franchise.
2d. Construction of buildings, viz., engine house or stable.
3d. Equipment--rolling stock, horses, engines and dynamos.
4th. Construction of tramway.
5th. Cost of operation.
6th. Individual characteristics and advantages.
Each of these requires a paper by itself, but in as concise a way as
possible, presenting only the salient reasons and figures, I shall
endeavor to embody it in one.
1st. Obtaining of franchise.