CERTIFICATE OF BALANCE.

The Continental National Bank of Chicago.

CHICAGO, September 30, 1901.

I hereby certify that the balance due American Street Railway Association on the books of the Continental National Bank of Chicago

at the close of business on the 30th day of September, 1901, was ten thousand one hundred and twenty-eight dollars and sixty-eight cents ($10,128.68). IRA P. BOWEN, Assistant Cashier.

REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.

NEW YORK, N. Y., October 8th, 1901.

To the Executive Committee American Street Railway AssociationGentlemen: We have examined the report of the Treasurer, T. C. Penington, for the past year, and find the same correct, as appears by proper vouchers accompanying the same.

J. B. MCCLARY,

F. L. FULLER, Auditing Committee.

Mr. Wyman—I move, Mr. President, that the report of the secretary and treasurer be accepted and spread upon the minutes, accompanied with the congratulations of the delegates on the exceedingly good showing which appears.-Carried.

President Holmes-We will now proceed to the consideration of the papers to be presented to the meeting. The papers by Mr. Robert McCulloch, of Chicago, on "Street Railways: A Review of the Past and Forecast of the Future;" by Mr. Charles S. Sergeant, of Boston, on "The Public, The Operator, and The Company," and by Mr. George W. Baumhoff, of St. Louis, on "The American Street Railway Association; the Purposes of Its Organization and the Benefits Accruing to Investors in and Operators of Street Railway Properties by Membership Therein," being printed, and having been distributed to the members will not be read. The papers do not seem to admit of very much discussion, but if any member desires to discuss any of them we should be pleased to hear from him. The papers above mentioned follow:

STREET RAILWAYS:-A REVIEW OF THE PAST AND A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE.

The American Street Railway Association

Gentlemen: Not until the latter part of the sixth decade of the nineteenth century did the failure of the rumbling omnibus to meet the requirements and demands for facilities for commercial and social transportation in the cities begin to force itself into public consideration and generate inquiry as to methods of betterment. The cities were spreading in their development beyond the limits of pedestrianism to those whose income justified the expenditure of the cost of the morning and evening ride, and as the distances became greater, the difficulties of existing efforts at accommodation increased. As the income of the merchant and manufacturer increased, so also grew the desire to separate the residence from the shop, and the suburban home followed. Then the time consumed in the journey at the two ends of the business day became a consideration, and next the discomfort of the long ride over street so poorly paved that they were only, in many instances, badly kept roads. The outgrowth of this casting about for a betterment was the street railway, and almost without exception the original railways were the successors of, and a transformation from, the bus line. The rails were laid in a fashion little akin to the present style of construction. The "bob-tail" car was scarcely better in its accommodation facilities than its predecessor, but its speed was greater, and its frequency of service much increased, and its extension beyond the former limits of the stage still increased the opportunity and desirability for border habitations. The same spirit which would allow Davy Crockett to be happy and contented only on the extreme borders of civilization is ever and always making new and extended limits to our cities.

These adventurous pioneers contributed a patronage which encouraged the new enterprise. Rails were laid on all the stage routes. The bus was housed forever to the regret of the man who had sat so long on its boot, and who was so cheerfully greeted by its daily patrons, to all of whom he had grown to be a necessity in the daily routine of life. He took his place on the little platform on the front end of the car.

and in the changes that have followed so rapidly in the development of street railway conditions, no man has been his equal as an expert driver or motorman or gripman, and in no hands has the safety of his passengers been so well considered.

Immediately following the installation of the first railways, came the war, which attracted the attention, the energy and the enterprise of the whole land. There was no thought then of else than methods and schemes of human destruction. The exciting and alluring and enticing pastime of war possessed the people of the entire land. No hero was so great as he who had stood in the midst of the greatest carnage, and no heritage is so prized as that left by him who unflinchingly met an hundred times his gallant and determined foe. When sheer exhaustion brought peace at last, there had been engendered a vigor and enterprise which perhaps would never have known existence but for the rugged experiences of four years of devotion and courage and manhood never equaled in the history of the world.

This vigor and enterprise found abundant opportunity. The good soldier became the useful citizen, and the street railway, claiming its share of attention, began to contribute its part toward mural development, which development has been made possible only through coutinued progress of methods and appliances and their application by men as tireless as the Sun. Rails weighing twenty-five pounds to the yard were considered ample in their strength and stiffness, and they were rolled in lengths little more than twenty feet. These were spiked to wooden stringers which were held in gauge and alignment by being notched into cross ties, in which notches they were secured by dovetailed keys. Cars were constructed with special view to lightness in weight, every piece of wood and iron being chamfered and worked down to the limit of prudent requirement for strength. Wheels were made of a weight as light as one-hundred and forty pounds, one hundred and eighty being a heavy wheel. With few exceptions, roads were originally equipped with the "bob-tail" car, the length of the body being ten or twelve feet, the front end enclosed with a circular dash, and a step on the rear, the passenger opening and closing the door as he passed through it. A fare box on the right of the front door was expected to have the respectful attention and consideration of every passenger, even though in his anxiety for transportation he could find a lodgment for only one foot on the rear step, and holding himself in that position by an outstretched arm to the door jamb, with his other hand he passed up his nickel or other money, the change was made, the nickel deposited and the balance returned by various reaches and through several hands. A great improvement consisted in the introduction of a mechanism by which the driver opened and closed the rear door, either by a rod and levers or an endless cord, and next followed a chute having places of deposit at each window post and on the outside of the rear end. The

nickel was dropped into this receptacle, the chute having an inclination to the front and ending in either side of the fare box, and thus the fare went up without the intervention of the fellow passenger. The stove was added in latitudes where the severity of the winter made it necessary, and then the little open car made its appearance during the summer months. This completed the luxury of metropolitan transportation and the street railway was becoming a recognized institution in the process of city development. The motive power of this vehicle was either a single horse or a pair of little fleet footed mules, with a hill horse at the heavy grades.

The driver was necessarily a man of much capacity, endurance and versatility. He must be an expert in the handling of his horses and in controlling the car through the brake; he must watch in front that he did not run into other vehicles or over pedestrians; he must scan the side streets for the approach of intending passengers; he must closely observe in rear that he might keep track of the passengers who had and who had not paid their fare, that he might always observe a signal to stop, and that the rear step might not be occupied by those who did not intend to pay the required fee for the privilege of a ride; he must make change as desired; he must answer questions and give desired information; he must open and close the rear door; he must in winter take care of the fire in the little stove, and at night care for and adjust his lamps; and with all these duties he must stand exposed to the splashing of the mud, the beating of the rain and snow, with his lines in one hand and the other hand constantly on the brake. This work he performed during twelve to fourteen hours on his short day and sixteen to eighteen hours on the long one, and the long and short alternated.

The passenger, we would say to-day, was such through sheer necessity. If he lived five miles away he was an hour from his work, provided there were no mishaps or delays. If the car jumped the track he got out and lifted it on again. If the horse stopped on the up-grades to get his wind or by reason of the obstruction of snow or mud, the passenger "put his shoulder to the wheel" and helped to make the start. He dropped his nickel in the slot, he passed up that of his neighbor, and with the driver, he frowned on the man who ignored the fare box, and he seldom burnt the midnight oil or wasted his postage stamps in writing and sending letters of complaint. Appliances for the clearing away of snow and ice were crude, entailing ceaseless labor and watchfulness throughout the winter, and the heat of the summer brought equal burden in the care of the faithful animals whose even gait must be maintained notwithstanding the relentless soaring of the ther

mometer

It was

But the "bob-tail" car had only a short-lived existence. replaced by a larger vehicle, drawn by two horses and manned by a conductor as well as a driver. In some instances this replacement was