Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

Page 31 text:

The entire duration of the operation of horse-cars was from l850 to l895, a period of some thirty-six years. The first horse railroad put in operation had its motive power changed in 188 7, after a period of twenty-six years. The last horse-railroad, the North Central lines, having operated as a horse-railway for ten or eleven years, was changed for electric operation in i893 and IS94. Thus the horse-car-the most modern method of intra- urban transportation in l859-was left behind in the forward march of progress. JEANNE NIEARS CLOUDS As the end of the day draws nigh, And the soft. while clouds in the billowy sky, Like Angel pillows as soft as the down Float on, and on. and on. Soon the while and billowy sky Unnoticed by the human eye, Takes on a darlz and dreary hue. And little raindrops pitter, patter through. Betty Jean Mohn -f Twenty-seven

Page 30 text:

It was not until i859 that active steps were taken to secure street railroads. ln January of that year a public meeting was held at which the chairman delivered an eloquent speech urging the people to support plans for a street railroad system. In the course of the meeting a series of resolutions to establish horse railways in St. Louis was adopted. On July 4, l859, the Missouri Railroad Company inaugurated the first street railway line in St. Louis. Erastus Wells, president of the company, drove the first car from end to end of the track on Olive Street from Fourth to Twelfth Streets, a distance of one-half mile. The horse-drawn car was much lighter than the present-day street-car and only about one-third to one-half its size, but larger than the omnibus. There were no springs, no cushioned seats in the horse-car. The small rocks, which the horses often kicked on the rails, retarded the progress of the cars and sometimes threw them off the tracks. ln i859 three other horse-drawn systems went into service, two of which ceased operation some time during the Civil War period, but within the twenty years from I862-1882, eleven more began to operate. The maximum mileage of horse railroads operating in St. Louis in I887-8 was l47.36 miles. However, this does not represent the total amount of horse railroad construction that was later changed to cable or electric operation. The total amount on lines now forming the United Railways system was about l54.73 miles in the city and 6.57 miles in St. Louis County, making a total of l 6 l .3 miles. The horse-cars proved to be a great convenience to St. Louisans living in the distant parts of the city. These people were enabled to reach the commercial sections of the city more quickly and in comparative comfort. The advent of the horse-car also removed a barrier to settlement in the parts of the city not reached before by the omnibuses. While the city limits of St. Louis remained unchanged, the city itself grew. New business districts far from the river front sprang up, and though these were not so important as the great commercial district along the river, they carried on business with the entire city. Then, too, the people whose places of employment were in the old commercial district began to move to the outlying parts of the city. All these factors pointed beyond the horse- car to the rapid transit system so well known today. It was when electricity was found to supply motive power especially adapted to the street-car that the beginnings of the street railway system of today were realized. The proximity of the Illinois coal fields assured St. Louis an unlimited supply of cheap electric power. The days of the horse- car were numbered. Even after the system had been motorized, the horse- cars were used on owl trips-from midnight to five o'clock in the morning. These last cars were a picturesque sight for a few years, but at last they, too, disappeared. The cable car enjoyed a period of service to the people of St. Louis, but the advantages of the electric railway made the rapid transit system take its place within a few years. Ttcenzy-six

Page 32 text:

Y .ad A ,W af C V 4. Twenty -eight REETS, I 8 7 0 ST NUT ST CHE AND URTI-I FO fLooking north J