OVERHEAD WIRES

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 46, 23 August 1922, Page 6

OVERHEAD WIRES

MELBOURNE'S TRAMWAY PROBLEM. . ? '' — The attitude of tho Melbourne City Council on the question of overhead wines for electric trains in the city was discussed &t a. meeting recently The Town Clork (Mr T G EDery) stated that m 1916 the council furnished a recommends tion to its public works committee ex pressing opposition to overhead wires, and lost y«*r the decision was endorsed The resolution from tho committee ex pressed a preference for I centre poles as against span wires, but, (Mr Ellery said, the resolution had regard to the lesser of two evils, and <lid not infer that the committee favoured overhead wires 1 Expressing his opposition to any sort of overhead system (reports the "Melbourne Ajre'O the Town Clerk ask^d "Is the matter to bo looked on solely from the point of view of pounds, shillings, and pence, or is there a, sufficient feeling of civic pnd» in the beauty of Melbourne to compel tfce authorities to aek the ratepayers to shoulder the extra cost entailed by the adoption of the conduit system T To say that overhead wires were nothing but an abomination was merely to play on words One \had only to look at the street crossings in Adelaide and other cities where networks of wires blocked the view to realise the disadvantages of the system, which, moreover, was & source of danger during storms on account of the high tension electricity generated In 1 addition, the wires hampered fire brigade** work Span, wireu and centre poles were equally objectionable To remove stefoKTOph and telephone poles from the city streets and then erect tramway poles w«T merely an era of ugliness I am glad to find that Collins street is not to bo interfered with m this way," said Mr Hlery, "but why jnot treat Swanston Bourke, and Eh/abcth streets in the same way.? I recognise, of course, , that this 1 the'■ Tramway Board's job, but tho welfare of the city demands oppo sition to the proposal We must not only tate a view for to-day but try and visualise wiU come to pans in an .other quoj-ter of a ooatury, which mevit 'ably \llll bring a largo lncroaeo in popu lation and a consequent iiiereaso in street traffic "