ELECTRIC TRAMS.

Evening Star, Issue 9386, 7 May 1894, Page 2

ELECTRIC TRAMS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l Lave lately returned from a trip from the Old Country, and, being an old shareholder in the Dunedin Tramway Company, I was naturally anxious to see and find out all the best information I possibly could about the electric system of haulage, which, I understood on leaving, was likely to be adopted in Dunedin. Well, sir, during my travels I found that in all the principal towns of America and the Old Country where electricity had been introduced that only the double-trolly system was used. I also discovered that the electric system is not at all popular amongst the travelling public, for the following amongst other reasons-First: It is looked upon as highly dangerous to life and limb, and, as a matter of fact, I know that in one town that I visited two persons had lost their lives by it. It is also a most uncomfortable means of locomotion; the cars rock and shake most fearfully, and after alighting from them you feel -a nasty, uneasy, nervous sensation. I was credibly informed that passengers in the habit of travelling regularly on these cars find their watches continually getting out of order. Then, again, the noise they make, and the continual flashing of electric sparks, make driving or riding in the same street with them a great source of danger, and almost an impossibility. Ihe overhead wires and poles, too, are very unsightly. I am convinced that Princes street is not wide enough for them, and I would very strongly advise the St. Hilda, Caversham, and St. Clair Borough Councils to be on the alert, and make every inquiry before allowing any company to introduce electric tramcars into their narrow streets. From what I have seen and heard, I say most unhesitatingly that the cable is the best of all the systems of haulage for traracars, and that if any alteration is to be made in Dunedin I would strongly advise our City Fathers to insist on the cable to replace horses. —I am, etc., J.F.B. Dunedin, Slay 5.