IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 3
fresh air of the country, and from the standpoint of social
improvement this may be considered to be one of the most
important developments of the last few years.
In addition to the large numbers who make use of these
parks, the establishment of the interurban long distance roads
with low rates of fare has led, especially on Sundays and holi-
days, to a very large amount of riding simply for the sake of
the ride, and this form of excursion gains continually in
popularity. The universal use of open cars for summer makes
such a ride one of the best of ways to see the country and
enjoy the fresh air, and while by those who use the cars merely
for pleasure riding a very high rate of speed is not especially
sought, the ability to travel fifty or sixty miles in an afternoon
has brought to a great many people living in the crowded
cities a clearer appreciation of the beauties of the country, and
has done much to improve the physical condition of those who
are forced by business reasons or by poverty to remain in the
city during the long hot summer.
The entire eastern part of Massachusetts is now bound
together by these electric lines in such a way that it is possible
to travel long distances in any direction, and in the western
part of the state groups of lines branch out from each of the
larger centres of population. These interurban lines, while
not all under the same ownership, almost always meet at
central points in those towns which form the termini, and it
requires only a few steps to enable one to reach another car,
and thus to combine several lines into a long‘ continuous
journey. In summer open cars are run frequently, on
almost all of the country lines on a half-hourly schedule, so
that it is comparatively easy to plan an excursion over several
roads, in such a way that travel for a whole afternoon involves
no long waiting at points of connection.
In a few cases the steam railroads have undertaken to meet
the competition of street railways by cheap and frequent
service, but the general policy of the steam railroad companies
has been to give higher speeds and to increase the number of
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