Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Francis H. Cook, the Father of Manito Park – Part 10 – the story continues …


According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”:

Last time we read about the newly established motorized public transportation line Mr. Cook and his business partners established between downtown Spokane and the Montrose Addition (now Manito Park) in 1888.

A descriptive account of the early Spokane & Montrose line appeared in a Spokesman Review article dated May 10, 1936.  This article contains recollections typical of the early streetcar lines:

It was the hardest working line Spokane ever operated.  The engine was operated by an engineer and fireman and the two passenger coaches were in charge of a conductor.  Peter Mertz, former chief of police, was its first conductor.  In leaving the top of the hill, the tram went down nose first but on the return trip, the two coaches were backed up.  During the winter in some of the heavy snows, Mr. Mertz states that It took the crew all day to get the little train down and back in one trip.

The tram had no schedule and ran whenever it could negotiate its trips.  It had a loud whistle and its engine sent forth such a flood of sparks that anybody could spot its whereabouts on the line.  And many of its passenger carried souvenir holes in their clothing burned by the sparks.

A tale is told of a lady passenger who rode frequently on the train in the “rush” hours of the  morning.  If a passenger didn’t manage to get a seat inside and was obliged to stand on the platform, he or she spent her time fighting off the sparks.  This is what happened to the lady.  Disembarking at Riverside, she entered a department store and was making a purchase when she smelled smoke and suggested to the clerk that the store must be on fire.

He sniffed and smelled the smoke also and was about to put in a fire alarm when he saw the smoke was rising from the top of the lady’s hat.  It was one of the little tram’s sparks that had snuggled in the beflowered crown and after smoldering for a time, was sending up little fumes of curling smoke.

Mr. Mertz admitted the other day that lots of people were afraid to ride in the train because its cars ran off the track frequently…Riding the tram was Sunday’s amusement venture in Spokane and according to Mr. Mertz, he used to collect as much as $50 a Sunday.  The fare was 10 cents.  His salary was $1.00 a day – “And I was glad to get it.”  Mr. Mertz reminisced.  Old-timers recall that it was a dull day that the tram didn’t instigate a runaway.  The puffing, spouting engine with its rain of sparks was the last thing a horse wanted to see.

Next time we will learn about the conversion of the trolley line to early electricity and the pitfalls of that transition.

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