Sewickley Herald

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Vol. I.
SEWICKLEY, PA., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1903.
No. 3.
iTHE STREET CAR FRANCHISE AGAIN
Some Pertinent Observations Concerning Trans-
.    portation Facilities—The People Interested.
THE     FRANCHISE     IS     WORTH    $50,000.00.
The street car question, like Ban-
) quo's ghost, will not down.    Rath-
||'er, the discussion of its merits and
wdemerits seems to be growing more
.-'" intense.    In   a   conversation  the
pother day with a resident'of this
' | place who is keenly alive to all the
.. '^possibilities of the case, has decided
,  ^convictions regarding them, and is
"■~^a strong- opponent of anything that
' resembles a street car in Sewickley,
"gave stfme pertinent ideas concerning the case as it appeared to him.
,-Replying to a remark that several
4- people here believed that a trolley
line was inevitable, he said, in sub-
• stance:
"The street car is no more inevitable now than it was ten years
.-ago.   Why, the question has been
.'^agitated for years, and I don't believe it is nearer a solution now
• than it was when it started. Some
^years ago Richard Quay and some
•tothers got a charter and tried to
£get a franchise through Sewickley
'$and failed; and if they could not
feet one how do you suppose any
lone else could? Then the Gora-
fopolis people tried to come across
%he river and they .failed to accomplish their purpose.
f "Have you noticed,.-thatfor years
fthe railroad people 'have used their
pfluence to prevent a street car
r-
line from coming in here, and now
when they have secured the charter for themselves, they want to
get the right of way from the
borough. What would be the result if they should succeed in getting it ? Well, they could either
hold the franchise up, and not build
the road, or use it to prevent any
competition with the railroad—and
the Lord knows we need competition of some kind. Look at the
state of affairs just now. Look at
the raise in express rates; and
what accommodations do we get
from the railroad, I often have
goods shipped to. me from Pitts-
burgeon the morning of one day and
I don't get them until the afternoon
of the following day—and only a
twelve-mile haul. What is the
reason ? Well, instead of sidetracking and unloading at Sewickley, they carry the goods to Gon-
way and leave them there over
night and send them back the next
day—generally . in the afternoon.
Between the excessive express
charges' and   the   delay  in   local
t
transportation, the merchant in
Sewickley. is almost driven to do
something desperate, In the case
of \ those who deal in perishable
goods it is eriqugh to drive them to
drinker suicide.   And what relief
would we have if there were street
cars ? The line would be controlled by the same men who now
control the railroad, and we would
be as badly off as ever. Some of
the merchants are talking of chartering   a   steamer. to   haul   their
freight ; so that they can depend
v
upon getting it promptly and on
reasonable terms. With the completion of the Osborne dam we
could do so most of the year.
"There is a story "afloat that
several of the people favor the idea
of the borough owning the right of
way through Sewickley. The franchise .is a valuable one. I understand it is valued at from forty to
fifty thousand dollars; and it is
believed that Sewickley should
own and lease the right of way, or
sell it at the best price obtainable
and receive all the benefit it can
from the franchise."
In regard to the value of the
franchise we have the opinion of
two men of high standing in this
•*f
community, One of them, in speaking about it, said it was valued at
forty thousand dollars, and he believed it was worth all of that sum.
especially the right of way on Beaver
street. The other gentleman—■
one who is qualified to know whereof he affirms-—stated that an offer
of fifty thousand dollars" had been
made to a prominent resident of
this plac^ to secure the franchise.
TRAMPLED BY HORSED
ECONOMY GIRL SERIOUSLY INJURED.
Miss Edna Bruff, of Economy, was
seriously injured by being knocked down
by a team of horses on Tuesday evening'
while alighting from a street car in front
of the Ft. Wayne Station, Allegheny.
She was trampled upon by the frightened horses and the serious wound was a
kick at the base of the brain. Miss
Bruff was conveyed to her home and
there are but slight hopes entertained for
her recovery.
The unfortunate young lady is .a sister
to  Mr. Walter Bruff, of Leetsdale,   the
well-known trainman on the Fort Wayne
road.
Installation of Officers.
W. H. Schlumpf, of this place, havjng*
received a commission from the District
Deputy Grand Master to install the
officers of R. Biddle Roberts Lodge, No.
530, I. 0. 0. F., went to Allegheny LmTJ~~"
Thursday evening, accompanied by several members of Sewickley Valley Lodge,
who assisted in performing the duties
assigned to him.
Foot Ball Season Opens.
The Y. M. C. A. Foot Ball season
opens this afternoon. The First Team
will play the strong Allentown Team at
3.30 o'clock.        v
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Arrested For Reckless Driving.
John Bailey, a coachman for a prominent resident of the Valley, was arrested   '
at  Leetsdale on Monday  by  Chief   of <
Police Foulks, on a charge of fast
driving, and given a hearing before
Justice of the • Peace Nathan Buckley.
Bailey was fined $5 and costs. . .*.,<
Special Notice.
We wish to call the attention of our
correspondents, contributors, advertisers
and all others who have anything of
interest to publish in The Herald, that
it is absolutely necessary  to send it  in j
early in the week in order to insure its f
publication. We hope that this request
will be heeded.
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