71" 



and contraction bv heat and cold. The head of the 



Imlt is so shaped that it can U- iiiir<lii .1 IIM..I!..- 



when by ft revolution of Wi tin- U-lt is secured 



:-i|f. " 



" Thai vital \>r\ . otrical contact ap- 



itaratus termed the -pi- i Ned t<> the ear 



body, and i- built u; ' an. I 



..iiiiMii. it- f..rm generally U>ing a parallelo- 



MOADWAY CABUC. FTU. IK. 



man. When it is renumbered that the slot it-elf 



y | of an inch wide, it will IK- seen how 

 rately the plow has to be constructed to correspond 



- Its shank is f f inch in thickness, giving a clear- 

 ance of a little over k <>f " inch on each side. To 

 construct the shank. 2 -heei- of steel i of an inch 

 thick are bolted together, and in the center and at 

 ulder and end nieces are in- 

 serted for -hem i of an inch apart, thus 

 providing 2 passages between them of this width 

 and 8 inches long, going all the way down. This 

 shank is 9} inches wide, and descends well into the 

 conduit. 



"On each -id> of the lower portion of the shank 

 are tarried tin- contact shews. Tin in::-. 



each being 4$ inches by 2$ inches, and } inch thick. 

 A single shoe is u- d .n each side. In the picture 

 these shoes are similar in appearance to spoon <>r 

 ladle Ix.wl-. tl, -urfaci- In-ing in contact 



with the pipe on either side of the central shank. 

 The shoes are carried by sheet-steel -prings % JJ 

 inches wide, which i.ress them -el \e- outward from 

 the plow frame. Vnder the influence of 

 springs they are pressed against the conductors 

 with a pressure of al N.I it 7 pound-." 



In tl xjNTimcntal stage, as noted el-.e\\h.-re. it 



was found that the < -.n-luitsdo not accumulate dirt, 

 that the loss of enm han mi an over- 



head trolley, and the conduit has proved to be 

 tically self-cleaning, requiring to be swept out per- 

 haps two or three times in a year, the natural 

 rain doing the greater portion of 

 Thi conduits are so constructed as 

 I raining. 



Karh c*r i- pr-.vided with two 2.">-horse-p 

 motors, with el,- trie heaters and electric lamp-, in- 

 cluding headli. 



speakers at a 



meeting of th- K;.-<-trica! SoHetr. 1W4, said he 

 thought it was a question "whether then- is any 

 extraordinanr demand for an underground el< 

 system." and he quoted from an authority who 

 stated that M a successful tinder, 

 would be a great calamity f.. r ti 

 interests of this count rv. fr< m the fact that if one 

 were adopted every little city throughmr 

 try would demand that all the wires be i>ut under- 

 ground, and it would ruin nine tenth" of the street 



railway "f this country if th. \ 'upelle.l to 



. . in." The indicatii.; 



after three years and a half, that the time 

 when such a calamity a- he predicted mu-t happen 



it rapid! v an ivjnj;. 



hc>elo|ment >l tile th.ilic.nl ll'idlo s\x 

 li in. In June, l^'.il.aii dcclric -ui-facc r-.iid \va- 

 in full oiH-ratiin Ketween St. Paid and Minneaplis. 

 Minn. 3 !i"iuical was 



ii- w.-rkinu' that in the first six months it 

 practically drove the -team railroad- out 

 of competition. One reason \\a- MM- 1<.\\< r 

 rates on . .r..ad- 



i liar^e.! :;n c-ciii - -in-lc and ."<> c. nt- return 

 M the -in : only 



1< and 'JO < -i nls iv-pechvely. This \\a- iio't 

 MM tin- lirst successful road, but 

 is a notable example of pro^re-- 



At a ineeiini: of 



Kailway Ass.ciat ion in November, lyi]. 

 Mr. 1'ear-on. connected \\ith surface-rail- 

 road inteje-i- in |'io.|oii, stated that his 

 mad had at that time e<|iiipp< 

 with electric motors. He announced that 



whereas I lie exp e|| -e of ope rat IIILT ho: 



had been practically "J") cent- |.er mile the 

 electric -\-tem co-t but L'Ucent-. and would. 



he expected, ^et a- |o'.' 17 edit-. 



lie e-iimated the total saving by use of electricity 

 la! t<. 'Jo JM-I- cent. 



to -li..\\ the rapid growth 



of the electric -\-telll on sill-face road- \\elV .|l|oted 



at length. For juirposes of comparison with infor- 

 mation ^iven as for iliev will be found 

 of -jivat wrrioe: "Three years a'p' | !***]." 



lent Wat-i.n. M then 'rical 



- in the fnited States, now |N IMMJ 



there are over -}<>ii. . . . 



"The capital m.w inve-ted in American c! 

 railways exceeds $75,()00,0(K). "Ib.! unt- 



for but little in tlii- ap- of raj. id tran-it. We old 

 ]:> have bei-n obliged to learn new trick-, and 

 without t!ie ii-ual pri\ i !<;< of serving an a pprent ice- 

 ship. <>ur -table- are bcini: 



hoii-es; the electrician h.i- taken the place of the 

 veterinary -urircon; our drivers are l>cini: edi 

 a- motormeii. and 1110^1 of us have horse car- for 

 -ale." 



riiL-iuccriii- IHfbVullies i,, the Northue-t. 



One of the earlie-t and nn-t dillicult electric 



surface-road enlerpri-es on record in connection 



with the rapidly developed movement forming the 



subject of this article wa- that undertaken and 



\ to a silcce-sful issue in 1*'.| '! % J by t he 



IIH ami Steilacoom Railway Compan\. of 



\\'a-hin^ton. Tin- country between the two to wns. 



a distance of i:{ miles, is'very roiiiih and 00 

 with a dense growth of ^'iant fir and cedar ' 

 which had to be cut down for the ri-ht of \\ay. 

 and the immense -tump- blown out with giant 

 powder. Hills were cut through in pi 

 depth of 17 feet, and coiTc-ponding gnllie- filled 

 up. and creek- crossed on long tre- 1 



Th- nc; difliculties of the route and. 



incidentally, the scenery on this p.ad i- thus 

 graphically descried in the ' 



. the road runs 



one rnilrweM through nn immense cut 17 feet deep 

 and l.'Jixi f'-et loO| :ing an *-] -r-cent. 



grade l..")(Ki feet long, then turns to the ^.utl. 

 runs M>veral miles through a dense fore-t of im- 

 meiiM- fir trees until, after de-cending a 

 curve or a 0-jer-ceiit. grade for half a mile, the 

 country O|M-HS out to a U-autiful prairie dotted 

 with dwarf firs and scrub oaks and covered with 

 flowers ami vines. 



Ksing this prairie for a mile, the road sud- 



