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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