Farewell to the Street Cars

Older residents of Jamestown will recall the general feeling of pride with which they saw the horse cars of the Jamestown Street Railway Company replaced by the electric cars in the early nineties.

Today there is probably no citizen who is not glad to see the last of the street cars give way to the beautiful and efficient new buses of the Jamestown Motor Bus Transportation Company. Bound to no rails, they can more than adequately cover their routes. They can avoid traffic jams, as the street cars could not. They are faster, more comfortable and permit a flexible service. They mark an era in the progress of our city -- a city which has always kept pace with progress in cities of the same size, and has in many respects set the pace.

When the first buses appeared some, weeks ago on routes formerly served by trolley cars we pointed out that the history of civilization is in high degree the history of the progress of transportation. Vital statistics show that the average life-span of man has increased nearly or quite a third in the last century. Actually it has been increased far more than that by improvements in transportation facilities which, by cutting down the time required to go from place to place, have increased the measure of time and usefulness granted each individual.

General Manager John G. Campbell and the other men who made this latest progress possible deserve the commendation of all citizens.

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