HISTORY OF ELECTRICITY IN AMERICA 139 



In view of the number of electric railroads in this country 

 in actual operation or in process of construction, it seems 

 hardly credible that the first experimental road since the 

 dynamo gave the experiment significance and promise was 

 constructed so short a time ago. This was the Edison road 

 at Menlo Park. A year later, Mr. Stephen D. Field had a 

 road in successful operation at Stockbridge, Mass., and, an 

 interference being carried through in the patent office to 

 decide the rival claims of the two inventors under their appli- 

 cations for patents, it was discovered that the title to priority 

 in the invention belonged to Field. The latter inventor 

 afterwards put up a railway in the main exposition building 

 at Chicago in 1883. On this railway were carried in the two 

 weeks of its service more than twenty five thousand passen- 

 gers from whom, for the first time on an electric road, a 

 small fare was collected. Mr. Field, conjointly with Mr. 

 Rudolph Eickemeyer, has recently made what appears to be 

 a valuable improvement in electric cars, which consists in 

 coupling a slow speed motor directly upon the car axles, 

 all gearing being dispensed with. In 1883, Mr. Leo Daft 

 conducted several successful experiments in electric rail- 

 roading, and in 1885 he built at Baltimore a road which car- 

 ried the regular traffic of the Hampden branch of the Balti- 

 more Union Passenger Railway company for nearly five years. 

 Prior to this time — in August, 1884 — Messrs. Edward M. 

 Bentley and Walter H. Knight had built a conduit electric 

 railway on the tracks of the East Cleveland Horse Railway 

 company at Cleveland, Ohio. 



Early in 1885, John C. Henry built at Kansas City the 

 first overhead wire electric railway. 



Another pioneer inventor in the line of electric loco- 

 motion is Mr. Charles J. Van Depoele. His first road was 

 laid in Chicago early in 1883, and he exhibited another at 

 the exposition later in the same year. Since then many 

 roads have been constructed under his patents. It is prob- 

 ably only just to Mr. Van Depoele to say that he is entitled 

 to more credit than any other man for the exploitation of 

 electricity as a motive power. He has devised ingenious 

 improvements in electric drill machinery which for the first 

 time make it practically successful. 



