USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume III > Part 40
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East Boston Tunnel.
Washington Street Tunnel.
Cambridge Connection.
Boylston Street Subway.
East Boston Tunnel Extension.
Dorchester Tunnel.
Arlington Station.
By the Boston Elevated Railway Company :
Elevated line from Dudley Street to Sullivan Square, opened July 10, 1901, length 4.95 miles.
Atlantic Avenue loop, opened August 2, 1901, length 2.3 miles. Forest Hills extension, opened November 22, 1909, length 2.4 miles.
Everett extension, opened March 15, 1919, length 1.21 miles.
East Cambridge viaduct, opened June 1, 1912, length 1.18 miles.
Cambridge Main Street Subway, opened March 23, 1912, length 2.7 miles.
There are 45.288 miles of subway and elevated tracks, and 488.238 miles of surface tracks.
From June 10, 1901, until November 30, 1908, the elevated main lines were operated via the Tremont Street Subway, and beginning November 30, 1908, via the Washington Street Tunnel.
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The Tremont Street Subway, Boylston Street Subway, East Boston Tunnel and Extension, and the East Cambridge Viaduct operate with surface cars.
The elevated lines, Washington Street Tunnel, Dorchester Tunnel, and the Cambridge Subway operate with elevated trains.
The total investment in the elevated system on December 31, 1923, was $147,266,705, of which $101,523,005 was furnished by the Boston Elevated, $7,760,000 by the Commonwealth, and $37,983,700 by the city of Boston, as against $25,291,193 on September 30, 1897. During the same period the population of the territory served has increased from approximately 830,000 to 1,200,000, while the number of revenue pas- sengers has increased from approximately 172,000,000 to 382,149,697.
When the elevated charter was reconstructed in 1897, the company, before investing millions of dollars in the elevated lines, insisted upon a special guarantee, which took the form of a contract with the Common- wealth extending to 1922, under which the company was assured of the right to charge a five-cent fare so long as it did not earn more than 8 per cent. upon its stock, but was prohibited from charging any higher rate, while the public was guaranteed free transfers between elevated and surface lines. If dividends in excess of 6 per cent. were paid, how- ever, an amount equal to such excess of dividends had to be paid to the public. This contract, which was regarded as a valuable asset when made, and for many years thereafter, and was zealously guarded in all subsequent legislation, was now a liability instead of an asset, and the company was forced to appeal to the Legislature in 1916 for relief.
The Legislature of 1916 passed a resolve providing for a special commission to consider the financial condition of the company, and in 1917 that commission, after careful consideration and study, reported that the evidence presented to it justified the conclusion that the com- pany had endeavored in a spirit of cooperation to meet the demands of the public for rapid transit facilities, although the cost had been far greater than anyone would have ventured to predict at the time when the company was organized; that for a smaller fare than was formerly paid, considering the distance traveled and the value of money, the facilities now furnished were immeasurably superior to those formerly enjoyed ; and that the company had, particularly within the past few years, been subjected to heavy additional burdens, and that there was no water in the capitalization which represented the fair cost of the sys- tem. This study was followed by another investigation by a recess com- mission in 1917. This commission was convinced that the adoption of a plan whereby the public would be assured of satisfactory service at the lowest possible cost, the railway company assured a satisfactory return
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on capital honestly and prudently invested, and ample provision made for depreciation, rehabilitation and extensions and improvements of line, would place the company once more on a sound financial basis, so that capital needed for future improvements and extensions might be readily secured.
The Legislature of 1918 enacted chapter 159, under authority of which the management and operation of the Boston Elevated, and the properties owned, leased or operated by it, were placed in charge of a board of five trustees to be appointed by the Governor, for a period of ten years. The act provided that the trustees should have the right to regulate and fix fares, and should determine the character and extent of the service to be furnished, and in these respects their authority should be exclusive and should not be subject to the approval, control or direc- tion of any other State board or commission. In addition, they were directed to fix and put in operation rates of fares which in their judg- ment would produce sufficient income to meet the cost of service.
It was further provided that $1,000,000 should be set aside as a reserve fund to make up any deficiency whenever the income of the company was insufficient to meet the cost of the service, and in the event that the amount remaining in the reserve fund should be insuffi- cient to meet such deficiency, the Commonwealth should pay over to the trustees the amount of such deficiency, such amount in turn to be assessed by the Commonwealth upon the cities and towns served by the company by an addition to the State tax in proportion to the number of persons in said cities and towns using the service of the company at the time of said payment.
During July, 1918, the first month of public management and under a five-cent fare, there was a deficit of $700,000. In August, 1918, the rate was raised to a seven-cent fare. This rate remained in force until December, 1918, and during this period there was a further deficit of approximately $2,400,000. In December, 1918, an eight-cent fare was established and continued for practically seven months, and during this period a deficit of $2,057,390 occurred, making an actual total deficit of $4,980,151.67 for the year. This deficit was taken care of to the extent of the reserve fund, $1,000,000, and by the State tax levy upon the cities and towns for the balance.
Since July 10, 1919, the basic fare has been ten cents. A number of five-cent lines, without transfer privilege, have been established and at the present time 25.75 per cent. of the car riders are being carried at that rate. For the year ending December 31, 1923, the average amount received per passenger was 8.923 cents.
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Restoring Deficit-The company is now not only on a self-supporting basis, but has reduced the deficit of $4,980,151.67 shown for the year end- ing June 30, 1919, by $2,631,754.27. Of this amount, $1,000,000 was made available for the purpose of restoring the reserve fund as provided by law and the balance, $1,631,754.27, was repaid to the cities and towns served to reimburse them in part for the amount levied upon them to meet the 1919 deficit. This leaves $2,348,397.40 due these cities and towns. This balance must be repaid before any excess of receipts over costs can be applied to a reduction of the basic fare.
Sale of Cambridge Subway-Under chapter 369 of the Acts of 1919, the Commonwealth purchased from the company at a cost of $7,868,000, the Cambridge Subway, and in turn leased it to the company on an annual rental basis.
Reports show that in the operation of the system over 2,000 cars are employed, of which about 1,800 are actually in use during the week-day rush hour. The balance are temporarily out of service while under- going repairs or overhauling. There are over 19,000 trips a day operated. In furnishing this transportation some 10,000 are employed. The char- ter of the company required transportation in the same general direc- tion to be given for one fare and free transfer from elevated to the sur- face lines and vice versa. Consequently, it is possible to ride long dis- tances for a single fare, as from Milton via Forest Hills to Spot Pond, 19.II miles; and the Charles River Bridge to Arlington Heights, 18.46 miles.
Transit Systems Nearing Their Limits-Boston, as compared with other cities, is well provided with electric transportation facilities, despite the complaint of too few cars, too long an interval between cars and trains, and too high a fare. Extensions are constantly being planned and constructed. The Boston Elevated is the principal factor in this, although there are also the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway, the Boston and Worcester Street Railway and the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway serving the Metropolitan District and beyond. No more surface lines can be placed in the narrow and congested down-town part of the city; possibly this is true of the greater area of Boston proper, when one considers the enormous increase of motor transporta- tion now using the streets. The present elevated tracks are decreasing ; it seems likely that no more will be built. There remains but the sub- surface, the existing steam railroad right of ways, and some causeway system constructed entirely on private property as methods of expan- sion, if the motor bus which is being tried out by the elevated, be ex- cluded. All of these will require capital to build and it has yet to be
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determined whether this capital will be provided. The status of the elevated will come up for determination, since the Commonwealth may terminate its agreement for the operation by trustees in 1928, thereby returning the road to the stockholders.
Motor Traffic Problems-As pointed out, the Boston Elevated has done, and is doing, notably well in solving the transit problems of the Bostonian ; it has created one of the largest, comparatively, transporta- tion systems in the nation. But in the city, it has reached close to its limits; the emphasis being on other methods of getting from one place to another. There seems little question that the electric country rail- road has been rapidly disappearing, at least in the outlying territory of Eastern Massachusetts. Transportation has rounded a circle. At first the highways, such as they were, with "shank's mare" and the horse- drawn vehicle provided the early means of getting about. The last two decades have turned traffic back again to the highway, with the gas- driven car supplying the mode of travel. There were probably 200,000 motor cars and trucks owned in the metropolitan district in 1927; there were only a few more than half this number licensed in the whole State, in 1915. Massachusetts was the eighth ranking State in the number of automobiles registered in 1925. Boston, the gateway of New England, is the natural center towards which converges the motor traffic of that section, aggravating the normal congestion of the narrow streets. The ways must be kept open for the thousand of suburbanites who come daily to the city, for the motor buses that connect with the outside, for the truck which has become both an aid and a competitor of the rail- roads in the handling of products, and for the visitors who by the tens of thousands roam over New England, to whom Boston is usually a principal point in their itineraries. The motor car has become the dominating factor in the present problems of transportation in Boston. The solutions of this great difficulty still remain in a state of flux, and the answer has yet to be found. Streets are being widened, cut offs and trunk highways constructed, laws and regulations made and en- forced. The endeavor is to coordinate the streams of traffic, rail, electric and motor, flowing through the State and city, but success was very far from attainment in 1927.
Commercial Aviation and Boston-No chapter dealing with the sub- ject of transportation would be complete in this day without some men- tion of aircraft. The progress of commercial aviation in the United States has been relatively little as compared with other nations. To prophesy is not the intent of this chapter. But this may be said, that when commercial aviation becomes a part of the transportation systems
Met. Bos .- 69
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of America, Boston will be situated so as to have a share in it, such as most other cities cannot have. The city has been foresighted enough to provide an airport almost in the heart of the metropolis, probably the best located in the nation. So far this port has been used but little, its present use being that of a training station and the station on the New England air-route.
As in many other lines of endeavor, Boston had been in the fore- front in the development of aeronautics and aviation. The Aero Club of New England, the oldest of such societies in the United States, was founded on January 9, 1902, and began to encourage ballooning as a sport. The balloon "Boston," of 35,600 feet capacity, was soon pur- chased, and from the time of its organization until 1915, the club con- stantly maintained a balloon of the "Boston" capacity, and also had in service the "Massachusetts," a balloon of 65,000 cubic feet capacity. The interest in the sport created by this club, not only spread to other sec- tions, but established the city as the central point, and the leader in ballooning. The first airship exposition held in America was under the inspiration and management of the Aero Club, and in 1911 one of its members suggested a plan for the organization of a line of dirigibles for commercial service between Boston and New York. That public opinion was not ready to recognize the value of such a proposition, in no way invalidates the originality or progressiveness of it. The Aero Club of Massachusetts is quite a different organization, being founded directly after the World War by former war pilots. This club has a small club house at the Boston Airport for the benefit of its members and visiting airmen. In 1922, at the request of the committee of the National Aeronautic Association, the Boston Municipal Air Board was organized, which has done much in the furthering of aviation in the municipality, and the improvement of the airport. The membership of this committee in 1926 was as follows: Chairman, Porter H. Adams; secretary, Gardiner H. Fiske; Professor E. P. Warner, James T. Williams, Major Arthur L. Richmond, Thomas E. P. Rice, Charles E. Jeffrey, Jr., Roland M. Baker, General John N. Dunn, General Charles H. Cole, Warren Noble, Lieutenant-Commander Noel C. Davis, U. S. N., Captain C. W. Ford, A. S., and Commander Leo M. Barlow of the American Legion.
Boston Municipal Air Board-At the time of the organization of the Aeronautic Association, Boston not only took an important part in the proceedings, but several, then and since, have acted in official capacity, notably Porter Adams, present chairman of the Boston Municipal Air Board, and Godfrey L. Cabot, who was elected president in 1924. Mr. Cabot spent a year in Washington doing more than any other one mem-
FAIRCHILD AFRIAL SURVEY INC NY C
EAST BOSTON AIRPORT
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ber of the association for the benefit of American aviation. Professor E. P. Warner is governor of the State organization. The American Legion of Massachusetts was probably the first in the United States to appoint an Aviation Committee. One of this committee's accomplish- ments was a comprehensive report recommending the establishment of landing fields, the support of the Air Mail and its extension to Boston, and the support and increase of the Army and Navy Air Services. Lieutenant-Commander Richard E. Byrd was instrumental in forming, at Boston, the Naval Aviation Association of the United States, which was responsible for the establishment of the Naval Reserve Station at Squantum, as well as in other Naval districts. Fortunately the various aeronautical organizations of Boston have been closely united in spirit and activities, each doing its work and contributing to the mass effect of the labors of all.
Enough has been said of the organizations through whose influence and works the progress of aviation in the metropolis are dependent. The citizens of the city have since the early days of ballooning to now shown that Boston has been, and is, ready for any forward movement in trans- portation by the air route. Sometimes it is forgotten that the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology has the best course in aeronautical engineering to be found in the world. The course was established before the World War, and yearly, many officers of the Army and Navy are detailed to take the studies and practice. It proved from the begin- ning its value, its important place in the flying preparations of the war are well known. The need will always exist for a practice field within easy reach of the school.
Boston Airport-The principal thing upon which Boston bases its hope for a place in commercial and other aviation is, of course, its air- port. There was a local aviation field as early as 1910, and six months after its establishment, there was held at Squantum the largest aviation meet ever held in this country. This field was taken for the Victory plant in 1918, and little was done to create another until after the war. The public interest in aviation, the presence of many flying officers in Technology and Boston, showed the advisability of having a practice field near the metropolis. One was constructed at Framingham, but was too far away and too small. A movement gathered headway which led to the selection of Jeffries Point, East Boston, as the the best place for an aviation port. The land chosen was rented by the Common- wealth to the United States Army at one dollar a year, but with reser- vations among which was one that commercial and civilian flyers should under proper rulings have full use of the field. There was also a pro- vision for the rental of more acreage to the Navy, the Air Mail, or
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private commercial enterprises. The act became a law May 12, 1922; the contract for the building of the field, August 15, 1922. Landings began to be made early in June of the next year, but the airport was not officially opened until September 8, 1923, when nearly a half hun- dred planes took part in a celebration of the event. Nearly ten thousand miles of flying was done during one of the days without a single accident.
This celebration was only one of several notable events at the air- port during the few years it has been in use. On September 6, 1924, the six officers of the Army Air Service, who had flown around the world, made their first official landing upon their return to the States at the Boston Airport. The night before their arrival, Major-General Mason M. Patrick, chief of the air service, in a talk over the radio, paid this tribute to the airport: "It is particularly fitting that their first landing in the United States should be at the Boston Airport, and this landing may live in history among others that have been made along this New England coast. The Boston Airport is the only air service station in all New England. Fortunately, it is located in the heart of its largest city. The ideal situation has been brought about by the far- sighted interest and public spirit of the people of Boston and of the State of Massachusetts. It is particularly significant of the develop- ment of aviation that the Boston Airport should be used for such an important purpose, so soon after its inception and completion. It is hoped that the people of the city and New England will see in this an augury of the future."
Into the details of the reception of the "'round the world flyers," we will not go. It was one of the most brilliant of Boston affairs; it is estimated that one million people witnessed their arrival and joined their voices in the great cheer that welcomed the landing. The third great event in the history of the airport was when three Naval planes arrived under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Byrd and were taken aboard the steamer "Peary" of the MacMillan expedition to the Arctic. The fourth, and perhaps the most important event, was the establishment of the Air Mail as a regular feature during the summer of 1926.
It is recognized that the direct benefits to Boston coming from its airport must be by way of the handling of commodities first, and from this passing on to the transport of passengers. The Post Office Depart- ment of our national government hold the lead as regards progressive- ness in aviation, and during 1926 made contracts covering the carrying of mail by air. Boston, through its officials, has been cooperating with the United States authorities in this phase of aviation. It is still too soon to determine the success of this trial, but if a set-back comes. it
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can be but temporary. The advantages of an overnight delivery of mail as far west as Chicago, are too great to be readily given up once it has been used and appreciated.
From the carrying of mail to the conveyance of passengers is not too great a step. It takes less than a third of the length of time needed for most train trips to reach the same destination by plane. The short- est distance between two points is a straight line, and it is the straight line route that the airplane takes. There is, as we write, but one com- mercial company at the airport for air transportation of persons, but others have been formed. During the summer of 1926, several privately- owned planes made the airport their headquarters as a point of depar- ture for points north. Two aviation schools have recently been estab- lished at the port.
The limited use made of the Port by the Army and Navy aircraft has been a disappointment; but so has the ultra-conservatism of the air departments of the country been disappointing to many of its citizens. Boston has a strategic position, second to none, along the Atlantic Coast, as a base for aerial operations. The airport is within the ring of forts protecting the harbor. The main channel of the Navy Yard passes directly by it. Across the harbor is the Army Base, with the largest equipment storehouse in the world, along side of which is the Navy Dock, the only dock capable of taking care of such gigantic ships as the "Leviathan," which makes its double visit yearly. One hour away is the Rockland, Maine, trial grounds for the new Navy vessels; three-quarters of an hour distance in the other direction are Province- town and Portsmouth, the former a summer submarine base, the latter the site of the Navy Yard which turns out many of the new submarines. A bit farther, is the Naval College at Newport, giving much attention to air-tactics and strategy; and right at Cambridge is the Institute of Technology where many many Naval graduates take courses in aero- nautics. Whatever the future of aviation in war for America, the pro- tection of her sea-coasts will demand the first attention of our air-fleet, and water types of airships must be used. All of this, and more, is recognized by Naval authorities, and the importance of the Boston Airport is appreciated by them. If the rumors extant in 1927 mean any- thing, they point to the beginning of what will be the greatest use, so far, made of the Boston Airport by the National Government. The successive and successful flights across the Atlantic during the sum- mer of 1927 by Lindbergh, Chamberlain and Byrd, aroused the interest of Boston in its airport to a pitch which seemed destined to lead to the immediate perfection of one of the finest natural locations for an avia- tion center.
CHAPTER XX. TOURIST AND VACATION CENTER.
The Bostonian and the Stranger-There are but four cities in the United States which entertain more visitors than Boston. Yet Boston is not the "world's biggest city"; it is not on the cross-roads of the mid- west travel; neither does it sell summer weather in winter; nor is it the professional glad-hand capital of our country. New York is the gateway to America; travelers must pass and repass through Chicago; Los Angeles is dependent upon its tourist crop; and Washington is by right the premier welcome city of the United States. That Boston makes up the fifth member of this quintette, and ranks on a parity with the others as a visitors' haven, is seldom realized or appreciated. There is a constant stream of transients pouring into the city. It has come to be understood that Boston is the "hub" of the vast tourist travel which spreads out into the summer playground of the eastern states, New England and Canada. But that it is also a visitor's rendezvous in the winter and is a year-round resort, have somewhat been overlooked. The average Bostonian realizes what a hold the city has on him: he never is long away from it before he hungers for his native place. He is keenly alive to the attractions of other localities and wisely analyzes their lure, but is apt to disparage any eulogistic appreciation of the attractions of Boston. He knows more than the average man about the development of other places, and talks freely and well concerning the facts he has garnered. About Boston, he is curiously silent, taking things for granted, inclined to emphasize the minor inadequacies of the city ; where men boast of their home cities, the Bostonian is a good listener. He knows, no doubt, that there is no place equal to Boston, but sees no reason for making that fact clear to others. In like manner, the Bostonian is thoroughly hospitable, but is no "glad-hander." It is only within very recent years that Boston has made adequate provision for the public reception of visiting notables or the conventions of trade, educational and other organizations.
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