The Electric Charge Sweeping Seattle

The electric cars of the Seattle Electric Railway & Power Company now attract great attention from both residents and new-comers as they speed up and down the streets of the city. There is considerable curiosity as to how its cars are propelled, with as many as 55 passengers on board, at such a high rate of speed, and with a power that is unseen, noiseless, and yet so energetic. The Seattle Electric Street Railway is the first electric street car system in Seattle. The projectors were fully alive to the fact that horse cars were too slow for a city like Seattle, and aimed to replace them with electric cars that could handle the heavy grades. Dr. Kilboorne and Mr. Osgood spent two and a half months investigating systems before choosing the Thompson-Houston model. The cost of equipping the line—including cars, dynamos, power station, engine, boilers, and overhead wiring—has been between $150,000 and $180,000. On Sunday, the system faced a severe test, carrying four thousand people in 10 hours on grades as high as 15 percent, moving up them as easily as on the level.