THE CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE 



omnibus horse-car, called the John Mason, was oper- 

 ated. This car was built on the lines of the early 

 railway carriages, having three compartments, with 

 doors opening at the sides. It was, in short, an early 

 type of the side-door cars now used so universally on 

 all European railways. The driver's seat was high in 

 the air as in the case of the ordinary omnibus, and 

 there were seats on the top for passengers. 



For several years this primitive road remained the 

 only street railway in existence. But it did not prove 

 a particularly good business venture, and for some 

 time capitalists were wary of investing their money for 

 the construction of other lines. Twenty years later, 

 however, a somewhat similar road, considerably im- 

 proved, was built on Sixth Avenue. This proved to be 

 a financial success; other lines were soon constructed, 

 and the era of street railways opened. 



The great advantage of these horse-car lines over 

 the system of omnibuses then in use lay in the fact that 

 greater loads could be hauled with the same expendi- 

 ture of horse-power, regardless of weather conditions. 

 The contrast in this respect was particularly marked 

 in American cities where the streets, almost without 

 exception, were badly paved. 



By 1850, several cities in the United States had in- 

 stalled street railways; and by 1870 over a hundred 

 lines had been built. Between 1870 and 1890 this 

 number had been increased to over seven hundred, not 

 taking into account the numerous extensions that had 

 been made to many of the older lines. 



[176] 



