The Madison Street Blockade

According to Councilman Nims, the council is finished with the Madison street trouble. Having granted a franchise to the J. M. Thompson Company, it has settled the matter, theoretically speaking, and now intends to allow the two companies which claim the street to settle the question of actual possession as best they may. This may seem all right in the eyes of the council, but it is hard on the people who are accustomed to use Madison street. As the matter stands, the street is torn up in such a manner as to render it all but impassable. The tearing up has been done by a company which, according to the position assumed by the council, has no right whatever to take possession of the street. It is little less than an outrage to tear up such a street as this; it is one of the principal thoroughfares of the city. It opens an extensive district which can be conveniently reached in no other way and affords the easiest route to the top of the hill. The traffic on Madison street is heavier than that on any other street outside of the business district, and it should be regarded as one of the most important thoroughfares in the city.