USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume I > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
A great deal of competition arose between the Boston and Lowell and the Salem and Lowell in carrying raw cotton. The mill com- panies played one bidder against the other. When a satisfactory figure had been received from the lowest bidder, word was tele- graphed to Mobile directing the cotton ships to proceed to either Boston or Salem for unloading to secure the most favorable rates. Such a system resulted in a loss to both railroads, so the Boston and Lowell, being in a better financial condition, leased the Salem and Lowell.
By the middle of the century, great improvements had been made on all the lines, not only in roadbed but also in motive power. This progress allowed to be suspended the old rule that in case a train was over an hour late in arriving at Lynn or Salem, the depot master "will immediately start on horseback to learn the causes of the delay."
Climatic conditions in winter often hampered operations. For instance, on Friday night, March 17, 1854, "a violent gale com- menced from the northeast. Upon the Eastern Railroad a train was brought to a full stop, while passing over the Lynn marshes, by the force of the wind." Also, on January 5, 1856, "the 6.30 P. M. train from Boston was twenty-two hours in reaching Salem. It became fast bound in the snow a short distance east of Swampscott station and had to remain through the night."
National attention was brought to the Boston and Maine when on January 6, 1853, Ben Pierce, the young son of the President-elect of the United States, was instantly killed on a northbound train just outside of Andover. The Pierces had been visiting in that town and
476
THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
had only just boarded the train to return to their home in Concord. New Hampshire. It seems that the forward axle of the locomotive tender broke, derailing the train, which happened to be at the time on a slight curve over a high embankment, down which some of the cars rolled. Mr. Pierce and his wife were unhurt, but the son, who was standing looking out of the window, was killed along with six others.
Mrs. Pierce, a very pious woman, did not take legal action against the railroad as most of the passengers did. She felt that the hor- rible occurrence was a visitation of Providence so that the President might be better prepared to devote himself wholly to the duties of his great office. She even hired General Ben. F. Butler, then a famous lawyer, to defend the railroad company. This learned gentleman showed rather convincingly that the railroad could not be accused of negligence, as the axle had been cracked going over a switch frog that had only recently been damaged by a heavy cart-load of stone.
Just before the Civil War, locomotive fuel changed from wood to coal with the resultant saving in expense of about one-third. This was offset, however, by the huge number of free passes to stock- holders, heavy shippers of freight, members of the Legislature, and persons having political influence. When the war came, the Eastern lacked equipment to meet the great demands in moving troops and military supplies. No locomotive or car had been considered worn out until it had been rebuilt one or two times, so additional rolling stock had to be borrowed. The telegraph, now in general use, greatly speeded up train movements, since under the old system all train meetings were made by time card and if one train did not come along, the other had to wait until it did.
By 1870 there was a prosperous boom due to the rapid building of suburban residences near Boston and the development of New England as a summer resort. Trains were much more frequent, causing a need to be felt for a braking system that could be con- trolled as a unit by the engineer instead of by the old way of indi- vidual handbrakes on each car. After some experimentation, the Westinghouse air brake was adopted. Pullman sleeping cars had made their appearance and the engines now had highly polished bells and whistles. Ornamentations of fancy scroll work were painted on the tender and cab of the engines, while the oil cups and other parts of the machinery were kept in spotless condition.
477
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION
On the Eastern in 1871 a succession of serious accidents hap- pened, among which was one on the main line at Revere-a horrible rear-end collision killing thirty people. All over the county the East- ern was accused of deliberate murder. This disaster resulted in a definite move to utilize safety appliances that would protect the trav- eling public.
Competition between the Eastern and the Boston and Maine was becoming greater each year. In vain, attempts were made to con- solidate the two roads. To get more traffic to make up for the loss occasioned by this unbridled competition, the Eastern built the Essex and Swampscott branches, but the financial panic of 1873 and the very poor condition of the Eastern brought the two roads together in an arrangement for dividing the traffic. Dividends, nevertheless, still suffered. A consolidation would have mitigated the ruinous com- petition for once and for all as well as effected a great saving in expenses from the pooling of equipment, but the whole problem was intricately mixed up in unsavory Massachusetts and New Hampshire politics and financial jobbery of a most dubious character. Finally, a lease of the Eastern by the Boston and Maine was arranged, fol- lowed in 1887 by one of the Boston and Lowell; thus, all the lines in Essex County came under one management.
A frenzied financial period in the 'nineties was topped in 1907 with the purchase of control of the Boston and Maine by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford. The legality of this transaction was debated with much rancor as public opinion in general felt that it would be disastrous for New England interests to be controlled by a group of allegedly unscrupulous New York capitalists. Soon after, the New Haven road failed financially, bringing down with it the Boston and Maine. In February, 1914, the United States Senate passed a resolution ordering the Interstate Commerce Commission to report upon the financial transactions of the New Haven Rail- road. They were found to be illegal under Massachusetts laws.
Meanwhile the situation became worse, as it appeared increasingly evident that the Boston and Maine would be unable to pay its enor- mous burden of guaranteed dividends to its leased lines. In spite of a glimmer of hope from the increased traffic of the early years of the World War, the best way out of a hopeless situation was bank- ruptcy, which occurred in August, 1916. Government control pre- vented a formal reorganization until 1919.
478
THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
Even after that the Boston and Maine suffered increasingly from automobile and motor truck competition, high wages, enormous interest charges, and poor earnings, until another reorganization was effected in 1925. Strictest economy was instituted which pared down expenses to the lowest level possible. Where branch lineage was unprofitable, the trains were reduced in number, or permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission was asked to abandon them altogether. To get back some of the business lost to the motor truck, a subsidiary trucking company was organized to compete with the private companies. The railroad bought the latest in locomo- tives and cars, trains were speeded up with more efficient signal sys- tems and, in short, every conceivable method of getting back lost business was tried and still is being tried.
A comparison of the railroad of 1835 with that of 1935 would be as obvious as it would be futile, but certainly there is hardly any other commercial pursuit which can so splendidly show the march of human progress and the remarkable ingenuity of mankind.
IV-HIGHWAY VS. RAILROAD: COMPETITION OR COOPERATION
A study of the developing relationships between motor vehicles and railroads as agencies of transportation reveals some significant facts. For instance, the earlier attitude of the railroads towards highway competition was antagonistic and obstructive. Railroad managers were slow in comprehending the nature of the develop- ment that was taking place, and their efforts in the main were directed toward curbing the competitive strength of the new form of trans- portation and protesting against the abridgment of the railroads' prior rights. That attitude has now changed, and the leaders in railroad policies are counseling coordination instead of conflict. The elements of such a policy of coordination may be summed up thus : relinquishment of short-haul freight, notably in small shipments, to the motor truck; better service for freight outside the short-haul zone; inauguration of railroad-controlled truck service at terminals and for door-to-door collection and delivery; the use of trucks as substitutes for way freight trains in metropolitan areas and on light- traffic local lines; and the use of motor coaches supplementary to passenger trains in well settled territories, or as substitutes for pas- senger trains on branch lines in rural districts. These processes of coordination are in most cases proving of real economic value as a
479
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION
preventive of further losses in railroad earning power without a restraining influence on the further development of motor vehicles and highway transportation.
It should be noted, also, that the competition of highway trans- portation has had a stimulating effect upon railroad service. More attention is being paid to the regularity and adequacy of freight serv- ice, and in many cases the railroads have speeded up their through passenger trains or have put on additional trains and better equip- ment to hold passenger traffic which might go to the overland motor coaches operated by independent companies. That the railroads, by means of attractive round-trip rates and improved comfort provided by such innovations as air-conditioning and individually-adjustable seats, secured so large a share of the passenger traffic to Chicago's recent Century of Progress Exposition is indicative of their present ability to meet the very considerable competition of the independent bus lines.
There is now evident a growing tendency for the many inde- pendent bus and truck operators to combine voluntarily or be forced into consolidated companies. Already the number of companies and individuals is growing smaller, while the number of vehicles in use is increasing. Many small concerns have been absorbed by the rail- roads as the latter extended their highway activities. On the whole, the general financial standing and responsibility of the motor vehicle operators have improved substantially as the number of irresponsible operators has diminished.
Concerning the attitude of the users of motor coach transporta- tion, we can only deduce from the increasing popularity of this mode of travel that the public, having become accustomed to the conveni- ence and comfort of the private automobile, is demanding a public service as nearly similar as possible to the private automobile, and where necessary is willing to pay extra for this service. The con- venience of motor coach service, particularly as to well located and well appointed terminals and intermediate stopping places, and as to frequency of service, appeals to many. The fact that on most coach lines stops are made at practically any place en route is an additional point in favor of the coach. It can be stated that in many instances motor coaches have actually created traffic by their con- venient location and frequent service.
DANVERS-REBECCA NOURSE HOUSE Pine Street, built 1636-37
481
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION
V-STREET RAILWAYS
The rapid urbanization which the nineteenth century witnessed in Essex County and other sections of New England was accompanied by a continuous change in the methods of urban transportation. The omnibus served as a common carrier in the first half of the century; the horse railway supplanted the omnibus, to give way in its turn to the electric surface road. And now city transportation on rails is going below and above ground, and the motor is taking the place of the electric car in all but a relatively small zone of travel on the public highways.5
THE OLD HORSE RAILWAYS-What is reported to have been the first street railroad in this State was established in Cambridge in 1852, running from Harvard College to Union Square in Somer- ville. This was an unchartered road, and appears to have been a one-man enterprise in which the owner was also the driver of the only vehicle, an abandoned railway passenger car obtained from the Fitchburg Railroad. In 1853 the first street railway charter was issued by the Commonwealth, and within the next few years half a dozen more had been granted.
There is profit in reviewing the experience of the electric rail- way's predecessor, the horse car, for the principles of street railway transportation changed by no means so drastically, with the electrifi- cation of the roads, as the street railway equipment itself. The busi- ness enterprises remained, in both personnel and principles, very largely the same. The horse railway passed through much the same set of experiences as the electric railway was to meet. After the horse railways in Boston and the vicinity had demonstrated their financial success in the early 'fifties, a wave of ill-calculated building sent the horse road into territory which rapidly proved unremunera- tive. A few of the roads proved their necessity by returning divi- dends; a few, built to sell suburban property, accomplished their object ; but by far the greater number were a disappointment to their projectors. Just as the electric railway industry was forced to learn later, so its predecessor discovered earlier that transportation on rails is not profitable without a certain minimum density of traffic.
5. Much of the following information has been derived from Edward S. Mason's scholarly work, "The Street Railway in Massachusetts." Cambridge, 1932.
Essex-31
482
THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
Another difficulty was the economic fact that during periods of fall- ing prices the street railway industry benefited, on the whole; but it never found a means, during periods of rising prices, of convincing the public that increased fares were necessary to meet the road's increased costs of operation. The greater part of the horse car era was one of falling prices and falling costs. Under these conditions, after the period of speculation and experiment had passed, the indus- try throve. The electric railway epoch, unfortunately, fell in a period which, for the most part, was one of rising prices, and its destiny was closely connected with this fact.
The first street railway in Essex County was the Lynn & Boston Street Railway Company's horse car line between those cities, which was chartered in 1859 and commenced operating on November 20, 1861. One year later Salem's first street railway was incorporated. This line was extended to Peabody in 1863, also to Beverly. In May, 1864, a branch was opened to South Salem, and five years later, on June 4, 1869, a North Salem branch was put in operation. The Salem Street Railroad Company did not prove a financial success, so in 1875 it was reorganized as the Naumkeag Street Railway Company. The first extension made by this new company was to the "Willows," the spot used by so many generations of Salem people as a picnic ground. Although this was, of course, only a horse car system, as many as ten thousand persons were transported to that resort in summer. In 1883 the track was extended to Gloucester Crossing, and a line was built to Harmony Grove. The following year a line was constructed to Marblehead; but the most profitable of all were the lines to North Beverly, Wenham Depot, and Asbury Grove. In June, 1886, the Naumkeag road assumed the franchise of the old Salem Street Railroad, and, with the purchase of the Salem & Dan- vers line in the spring of 1887, assumed sole control of all local traf- fic. In 1887 this company had thirty miles of trackage, one hundred and five cars, three hundred and ninety horses, and one hundred and twelve employees with an annual payroll of $70,000. In 1886 this horse car system had total earnings of $190,000.
The Salem & Danvers Street Railway was capitalized in the autumn of 1883 by men of Salem, Peabody, and Danvers, and was incorporated the following year, when it was opened for travel. This was the nucleus of what later came to be a great, far-reaching system of electric street cars and interurban lines covering the county. In
483
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION
1884 Marblehead was connected with Lynn by an extension of the Lynn & Boston Street Railway, and with Salem by an extension of the Naumkeag company's system.
Haverhill was served by one of the greatest trolley corporations in the country-the Bay State Street Railway Company. Haverhill was also the headquarters for the Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway Company. The Bay State line took over the old Haverhill & Groveland line, which was the original horse car line in Haverhill, receiving its franchise in 1877, and converted its system to electric powered cars in June, 1892. The Haverhill & Amesbury Street Railway Company received its franchise in June, 1892. These sys- tems were later merged into the one company known as the Massa- chusetts Northeastern.
Lawrence was first served by the Lawrence division of the Boston & Northern Street Railway, first called the Merrimack Valley Horse Railroad and subsequently known as the Bay State Street Railway. Ground was broken for this line on October 21, 1867. Horses were dispensed with in 1890-91, when the system was electrified. In 1893 the line was extended to Haverhill and the next year to Lowell. Andover had been connected with this system since 1891.
THE COMING OF THE TROLLEY CAR-New England cities had outgrown the horse car by the late 1880's and the situation was ripe for the introduction of a transportation system capable of carrying a dense traffic. With the adoption in 1887 of the overhead trolley by the metropolitan system of Boston, electrification conquered over- night. During the decade between 1890 and 1900 not only was practically all the existing horse railroad mileage converted to trol- ley, but the total street railway mileage was tripled.
Electric traction, of course, immediately increased the average speed of passenger service; but the service was improved at a con- siderable expense. The absence of comfort in even the best con- structed horse car would never have been tolerated of electrical serv- ice. The horse car itself was invariably light and usually rested upon one truck. The rails were light and the roadbed greatly inferior to the corresponding class of electric railway roadbed. The cars were either unheated, in which case the passengers, equipped with muf- flers and ear flaps, kept their feet warm by burrowing them in the straw provided for the purpose, or the heat was provided by an iron
484
THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
stove rising out of the middle of a car seat, in which case the pas- sengers were either toasted or frozen, and the car itself was in continual danger of catching fire.
The Lynn & Boston Electric Railway was the first important elec- tric line in Essex County. This road was organized about 1890. Indeed, the first electric railway actually operating in Massachusetts had been constructed in Lynn in 1887, running from the Thomson- Houston Electric Company's plant down one of the nearby streets. In 1899 the Lynn & Boston was taken over by the Massachusetts Electric Company, a holding company or trust organized by two bankers largely for the profits to be derived by juggling railway stocks. In 1901 the Boston & Northern, a large operating com- pany, was organized to embrace some twenty-three independent elec- tric railways north of Boston. In 1911 the Boston & Northern became amalgamated with the great Bay State Street Railway Company.
In the short space of four decades the electric railway passed through a complete cycle of economic development. Its rise was rapid, and its fall almost catastrophic, even in this dynamic age. The experience of the industry in Massachusetts preceded and fore- shadowed its evolution in the country as a whole. The four stages into which its history in Massachusetts may be divided closely cor- respond to the four decades between 1890 and 1930. I. The period of electric railway expansion lasted from 1890 to 1903. 2. The period of consolidation lay between 1900 and 1911, at which date practically the whole street railway mileage in the eastern third of the State, exclusive of Boston, was brought together in the Bay State system. 3. The period of rising costs began, it is true, somewhat before 1900, but the rapid increase which worked havoc in the indus- try came in the decade between 1910 and 1920. 4. The period of intensive motor competition may be identified largely with the last decade and a half. Motor competition was not of great significance before 1915. After 1920 it put the finishing touches on an industry near collapse because of the rise in costs of the previous decade.
To sum up: the electrically operated street railway introduced a new epoch in urban transportation. It made possible the continu- ance and acceleration of the growth of metropolitan areas, one of the most striking facts in the history of the nineteenth century. It
485
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION
not only connected city and country but, in a sense, created the suburb. The network of street railway lines, however, spread over the coun- tryside before the economic principles of operation were clearly under- stood. Fifteen years after the introduction of electric traction, street railways were heavily overbuilt. Too great a reliance on the expe- rience of the horse car period, coupled with an enormously rapid change in technique, resulted in inadequate and over-optimistic esti- mation of the cost of maintaining and replacing street railway prop- erty. The realization of this miscalculation came slowly, but even after it had sunk into the consciousness of operators and investors the industry continued in favor. Street railway operation has con- tinued in many localities long after it has ceased to pay its full cost of operation, and the end of its tenure under such circumstances is not yet. Street railways will continue to operate as long as operating costs can be covered and something paid to the bondholders. The stockholders in many cases have long since ceased to care.
THE MOTOR BUS-Wherever street railway service has been dis- continued, a substitute common carrier has invariably stood ready to take its place-the motor bus. But is this to prove a complete or only a partial substitute? Can it operate more cheaply, and, if so, under what conditions and with what density of traffic? Within the last few years, it is true, the twenty-passenger bus has given way to the thirty-passenger, the thirty-passenger to the forty, and now motor vehicles seating over fifty passengers are in operation. One thing has become obvious, however, and that is that the full cost of bus operation is considerably more than many who started bus companies in the past decade anticipated.
The destiny of both the street car and the motor bus as common carriers is closely connected with two unpredictable factors: the future change in the number of privately owned motor cars, and the future movement of the general price level. If, as some believe, the registration of privately owned motor cars has about reached its maximum, and if, as certain authorities suppose, we stand at the threshold of a slow decline in prices, the future of urban transporta- tion may be more rosy than its immediate past. If, on the other hand, the number of privately owned motor cars continues to increase, and the whole of the recent decline in prices turns out to be a purely cyclical phenomenon, common carriers will not continue to operate in
486
THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
the smaller cities without an increase in fares. Under such circum- stances the smaller cities may be faced with a serious curtailment or the complete disappearance of their street railway systems, unless a part of the cost is assessed upon others than the car riders. And it is by no means certain that, if the street railway disappears, the car rider can or will pay the full cost of its substitute, the motor bus.
VI-HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION: THEN AND NOW
The "turnpike era" in Essex County, which began in about the year 1800, and which has been treated at some length in a preceding section of this chapter, it was hoped would constitute a permanent cure for the bad road conditions of the time. Under the new system special roads were built by private companies incorporated under acts passed by the Legislature. For a considerable period this prin- ciple was carried out, until objections to paying tolls and dissatisfac- tion with the poor upkeep of the turnpikes led to its abandonment. In most cases the pikes reverted to the control of the local authorities.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.