NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIKTY i:,c) 



Among the recent puI)licationf) in the Johns Hopkins University 

 Studies is one entitled "The Street Railway System of I'hiladel|)iiia, its 

 History and Present Condition," hy Dr Frederic W. Speirs. The street 

 railway system in that city commenced in 1858, wlien the first line was 

 opened. The history of the development of tlie system was prolial.ly vt-ry 

 similar to that of other American cities, extensions hein^ sou^rht l»y mil- 

 way companies and promoters and strenuously opposed hy the majorilv 

 of the people livin.u upon the threatened streets. In 1S7<) the system hail 

 grown until it comprised L'S<) miles, operated hy 17 sei)arate cumpanii-s, 

 which were associated in a pool, under the control of a hoard of railwav 

 presidents. In 1880 the current hegau to set strongly toward monojioly, 

 and the movement went on, until in 1805 all the mileage of the city, 

 amounting to 430 miles, was in the hands of four companies, and in 18!1(> 

 the Union Traction Company, a new company formed for the purpo.M', 

 obtained control of all the lines of Philadelphia, with the exception of 

 one short line, 24 miles in length, the Hestonville, Mantua and Kairmount 

 road. Besiiles giving a history of the lines, the paper treats in extcnso of 

 the financial aspect of the system, the price of franchi.'^e privileges, the 

 principal item of which is the paving of the streets, estimated by the 

 Bureau of Highways at $9,000,000. It contains a chai)ter on the i)ublic 

 control of the railway system and upon municipal ownei-ship and corporate 

 influence in the city government. " The Relations of the Railways to 

 their Employes " is treated in a separate chapter. 



H. G. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 

 SOCIETY, SESSION i8g6-'g7 



Special MeetiiKj, March 29, lS97.—Y\i{\\ :\Ionday afternoon illustrate<l 

 lecture. President Hubbard in the chair. Prof. Benj. Ide Wheeler, of 

 Cornell University, lectured on Greece. 



Regular Meeting, April 2, 7^97. —Vice-President Gilbert in the chair. 

 Mr H. M. AVilson and Mr Isaac Winston described instruments ami 

 methods used in spirit-leveling by the U. S. Geological Survey and the 

 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey respectively. Illustration by instru- 

 ments, maps, and diagrams. 



Special Meeting, April 5, 1897. — Si.vth Monday afternoon illustrated lec- 

 ture. President Hubbard in the chair. Rev. Dr Alex. Mackay-Smith 

 lectured on Rome. 



Special Meeting, April 9, 1S97. — President llul>i)ard in tiie chair. Vice- 

 President Merriam read a paper, with lantern illustrations, on the Eflects 

 of Geographic Environment on Animal Life. 



Special Meeting, April 12, i<S'57.^Seyenth Monday afternoon illustrated 

 lecture. President Hubbard in the chair. Piof. Kdwin \. Grosvenor, of 

 Amherst College, lectured on Constantinople. 



Regular Meeting, April 16, 1897. — Secretary Gannett in the chair. Tin- 

 paper for the evening was on the Secular Variation of the Magnetic lU'c- 



