All Over The City

ALL OVER THE CITY

New Overhead Fixtures Being Constructed.

The D. Y. & A. A. are re-equipping the street car lines in this city with new overhead fixtures. Some 6,000 pounds of copper wire is on the ground ready to be put up as trolley wires. As copper has more than doubled in price, it will be seen that the stringing of a new trolley wire in this city is quite an expensive undertaking. But it is necessary because the old wire is constantly breaking, which is not only dangerous in itself but disarranges the whole system. After this is completed, it is the intention of the company to fix up the road bed, which in places is becoming out of condition.

The heavy expenditures thus entailed are what stand in the way of new street cars for city use. The need of the new cars is admitted, a railroad official putting the case much stronger than any private citizen has yet done, and in good time the new cars will follow, but not this year. In this connection it may be well to state that not only has the price of copper doubled but the price of steel rails has gone way up, and the coat of cars has materially increased. So great has been the advance in steel rails that it is said that the Santa Fe road, which made a contract for rails three years ago, is now relaying its tracks with new rails, getting enough out of the sale of the old rails to pay for the new ones and also to pay for the cost of putting them in.

While the road is thus paying attention to the city line, the company makes the claim that the Ann Arbor city lines are not even paying expenses.