DISCUSSION CONCERNING AN EVENING SESSION.

Mr. Wm. Richardson: Had we better not hold a session this evening?

We

The President: There will be no excursions to-morrow. can hold two sessions then. The custom has been heretofore, when we used the first afternoon for a pleasure trip, to hold an evening session. It is a question whether we shall be able to get through in two sessions to-morrow.

Mr. Wyman: I had already considered a little bit about the topic of an evening session, and I had presumed, from the fact that we are to hold almost a continuous session to-morrow, that it would not be impossible for us to finish to-morrow If it should be the opinion of the Secretary and President, who have in mind what our programme will be, that we cannot get through, I will adopt the suggestion of Mr. Richardson, and make a motion for a recess until this evening.

The President: The Secretary is better able to give an opinion as to the amount of work we have on hand for to-morrow.

Mr. Charles Cleminshaw, of Troy : Mr. President, I think yourself and the Secretary are better able to state what the work is before us; and if it is necessary to have an evening session, I think it is well to say so.

The Secretary: There are reports to be received on the following subjects: "How can Public Sentiment be Best Cultivated so that Corporations may receive Equitable Treatment;""Street-Railway Motors Other than Animal, Cable and Electric; "The Conditions Necessary to the Financial Success of Electricity as a Motive Power;" and "The Food and Care of Horses." Then comes the election of officers and selection of place for the next meeting. There are no other special reports to be presented, as provided in our rules. It is suggested by the President that in case there is no session this evening, that the Secretary be here in order to facilitate members in regard to their trunk line certificates, and also their banquet tickets.

Mr. Payne I think there are some of us who would like to get away to-morrow night on the night trains; and if there is no particular reason why we should not have an evening session, I think it would be well to hold one.

Mr. George E. C. Johnson, of La Fayette: I move that we make the question of electric motors the special order of business for

this evening. I think that will take a great deal of time, and we want to hear all that is possible. Some of us may want to ask questions. There are men here, probably, representing different systems that would like to explain them and tell why others have failed. We want to get all the information possible; and I move that we meet this evening for that purpose, at such hour as the President may choose to designate.

Mr. Wyman: I would like to inquire if you make that as an amendment to my motion?

Mr. Payne: Yes, sir.

Mr. Wyman: I accept the amendment.

The motion, as amended, was carried.

Mr. Woodworth: I would like to have it understood that the electric men and motor men can come in and appear at the meeting and state their case.

The President: That is customary.

ANNOUNCEMENTS RELATIVE TO TRUNK LINE CERTIFICATES AND THE BANQUET.

The Secretary: I should like to make an announcement. At the adjournment of this meeting, will gentlemen who have trunk line certificates please come forward, and I will endorse them and hand them back immediately. In this connection I should like to know just what gentlemen and ladies accompanying them, will be in attendance at the banquet to-morrow evening That can also be provided for immediately after the adjournment by gentlemen filling out the blanks prepared for that purpose.

Mr. Wm. Richardson: Will the Secretary please state what are the privileges of delegates as regards attendance at the banquet? The Secretary: Each company is entitled to the admission of two persons. Slips have been prepared which set forth that fact; and in order to facilitate the Secretary, if gentlemen will fill out their slips, tickets will be furnished them promptly. The attendance of ladies at the banquet has been arranged for as in Washington last year.

On motion, the Convention then adjourned until eight o'clock in the evening.

THE EXCURSION TO MINNEHAHA FALLS.

All in attendance at the meeting, including ladies, were invited by Mr. Thomas Lowry, on behalf of the Minneapolis Street Railway Company, to make an excursion to Minnehaha Falls.

Carriages were provided, leaving the West Hotel about halfpast two o'clock. An extensive drive was taken through the city of Minneapolis, passing many imposing public buildings and magnificent private residences. The extensive park system of Minneapolis, the largest of any city on the continent, was visited. Cedar Lake and Lakes Calhoun and Harriet were all passed in turn, and their great size, especially Lake Harriet, was commented on by all.

The party then left the carriages for an excursion train, via the Minneapolis, Lyndale and Minnetonka Railway, for Minnehaha Falls. The long continued drought had so diminished the water supply as to somewhat interfere with the delight we had anticipated in beholding the immortal "Laughing Water." Our royal-hearted host was more concerned about it, however, than were we, for we regarded it a rare privilege to have had the opportunity of visiting this romantic spot, although not permitted to see the Falls in all their primeval beauty.

After a pleasant half hour spent at the Falls, the party again. took the train, and at the Junction found the carriages waiting. Returning, we were driven through some of the finest residence streets of the city, reaching the hotel about half-past five o'clock. Everyone was delighted, and many were the expressions of appreciation of the thoughtfulness and large-heartedness that had provided us with so interesting and enjoyable an excursion.

WEDNESDAY'S SESSION-EVENING.

The President: We have decided that at this evening's session the question of motive power will be considered, and we will be very glad if the gentlemen who speak on the different systems will confine themselves directly to the subject, and will not occupy more than ten minutes in speaking on any one subject.

Mr. Wm. Richardson: I move that those who speak on the subject of any motive power they may have to advocate be confined to ten minutes time, unless extended by vote of the Association. The motion was carried.

The President: We will now hear the report of the Committee. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO THE FINANCIAL SUCCESS OF ELECTRICITY AS A MOTIVE POWER.

Mr. Thomas C. Barr, of Philadelphia, read the report, as follows:

THE AMERICAN STREET-RAILWAY ASSOCIATION,

Gentlemen:-Your Committee appointed to report upon the "Conditions Necessary to the Financial Success of Electricity as a Motive Power" begs leave to submit the following:

The subject of "Electricity as a Motive Power" has been the all-absorbing topic before our meetings for the past two years, and only now are we able to give any satisfactory answer. Up to the date of our last meeting in Washington, October 17, 1888, we had made very little progress in the application of electricity to the propulsion of cars, although a solution of the problem was deemed not far distant. At that time the number of roads equipped and operated by electricity could be counted upon the fingers of one's hands, while to-day they number in the hundreds, a surprising result, all within the short space of twelve months.

This result could only have been brought about by the fact that the experiments heretofore made had proved a success, far beyond even the expectations of those making them, and we have established to-day, without a doubt, the suc cess of electricity as a motive power. Having ascertained this point, we are next led to the question, What are the Conditions Necessary to the Financial Success of Electricity as a Motive Power? This question, while it can be answered in a general way, must upon the whole rest with us individually.

In the application of electricity, we are not met with the volume of business or the engineering and mechanical construction, as brought to our attention from the report upon the conditions necessary to the financial success of the cable power, but can simply say that if it is desired to make a change from

horse power, electricity will fill the bill to perfection, no matter how long or short the road or how many passengers are carried. In the investigation of the subject, the most satisfactory results have been shown; it not only increases traffic over the road, but reduces expenses, and will enable us to operate a line, at a profit, which heretofore entailed a loss.

We have three methods of operation, as follows: The overhead wire, the conduit, and the storage battery, which will accommodate all conditions.

For the overhead wire, we can only say that it is all that can be desired, and for suburban roads and small towns, and even in cities, at present cannot be equaled. The conduit has found very little favor in the eyes of practical men, by reason of the unsatisfactory results heretofore attained by those who have experimented with it, while the storage battery is gradually but surely pushing its way to the front as the most perfect system, and is now only awaiting the development of a battery which will stand the hard knocks and usage, which it must necessarily get in the operation of a street car, without destroying its component parts.

The overhead method having been demonstrated to be the cheapest of the three, is being universally adopted, and with results that cannot but help to keep it in the front ranks as a cheap power to propel cars. We have yet to learn of any person who has seen the operation of a road by this system, and has ridden in the cars, who has not declared it without reservation to be just what was wanted. In the large cities we are met with the objection to overhead wires, which necessarily compels us to favor the storage battery, and yet if the consent of councils could be obtained, there is no doubt that the overhead construction would be placed in operation at once.

If a change is desired in the manner of operating a road, we are not compelled to figure an elaborate cost of construction, which, if of cable, would cost something like seventy to seventy-five thousand dollars per mile, in addition to the cost of a power plant, but are only confronted by the small amount, of say from two thousand to three thousand dollars per mile, with cars costing from three thousand to five thousand dollars apiece, while for the storage battery, we have a figure still less, by reason of the wire being dispensed with, so that a comparative statement of the cost of construction of a ten-mile road complete, with fifteen cars, would stand probably, as follows: