Philadelphia newspapers report that the American Union Telegraph
Company are about to try in that city the experiment of putting their
wires underground. The plan works well enough in European cities, and
there would seem to be no reason why it should not succeed here, save
the indisposition of the companies to bear the first cost of making the
change. For some months the Western Union Telegraph Company has had the
matter under consideration, but will probably wait until pressed by a
rival company before it undertakes the more serious task of taking down
its forest of poles and sinking the wires which contribute so much to
the prevailing ugliness of our streets. Sooner or later the poles and
wires must come down; and it is altogether probable that the change will
be beneficial to the companies in the long run, owing to the smaller
cost of maintaining a subterranean system. It will certainly be an
advantage to the community.
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