LONDON TRAMWAYS.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12750, 23 March 1910, Page 1

LONDON TRAMWAYS.

The pioneer of electric trdmway con. struction in London was Sir C'liftou Robinson, who has just retired from the management of the London United Tramways. Sixteen years ago he set himself to convince the people of the great metropolis that they needed an improved tramway service. The horse trams, commonly called "boob-tail" cars. ,were quite obsolete. They were drawn by one horse, and the driver was isolated on a high perch, to which he was strapped, so that he could not fall off. There were no conductors, the fare was» nniform, and there was no question about the hours of duty. Passengers hailed the driver,jand, when he pulled up, they mounted a back platform and in "this way entered the car. They paid their fares by putting a penny in the box, and they could not leave the car until the driver opened the door by releasing a strap. Passengers frequently tried to cheat the company by putting discs, instead of pennies, into the box, and quite often they succeeded, because the driver could not maiiage his horse and at the same time keep a lynx eye on the occupants of his car. Sir Clifton Robinson cam© to London in 1894, and it took him eight years from that date to get the first electric trams into operation.- He encountered an enormous amount of opposition when he undertook the task of "electrifying" the lines out to Hammersmith. "1 lound that nothing was known in London of electricity," Jie told a pressman. "jLhere was no electric lino in the whole 01 JUngland, and the idea of electric traction, especially overiiead, through the streets, excited .a great deal of opposition. If I could have eliminated overhead wires my crusade would, have been simpler aiid less expensive to me." Sir UlifJton. considers that his work in London is completed. Xhere are no more lines cr importance to. build, and no developments of importance to be anticipated. He is therefore going to turn £i is attention for a period to the Philippines, where schemes of tramway construction are under consideration, lie may certainly claim to have left his mark on London. In 1900 the London United Tramways carried about eight million passengers on nine miles of horse-track. Last year tiie company had in operation tittyhye miles or track, worked by means of electricity, and carried about sixty million passengers.