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Dawn of the Electric Traction Era 97 When the trolley system was suggested in England it met with uncompromising hostility. Antagonistic criticism — the disfigurement of the streets — arose on all sides. The circumstance that such objection was tantamount to attempting to arrest the motion of the wheels which send the world round was fool- ishly ignored. It was not until 1891 that permission was granted for such an installation, and the city of Leeds led the way. Practical experience revealing that the evils of overhead wires were more imaginary than real, a more complacent attitude was generally assumed. The day of the horse-drawn tramway had passed. Industry and the imperative necessity to relieve the extreme congestion in crowded towns and cities demanded that electric traction should be embraced. The result was that other towns speedily followed the example of Leeds, and the trolley system was even brought up to the boundaries of the metro- polis itself. Within the confines of the largest and busiest cities the objections against the trolley prevailed, and this hostility was as pronounced in the New as in the Old World. All things considered, there was logical excuse for this attitude. An alternative system was available—the laying of the conductor in an under- ground conduit with a slotted third rail, through which the collector underneath the car could pass to gather the current. It was virtually an inver- sion of the trolley system. But, as experience has taught, the overhead method is simpler and cheaper to instal and to maintain, while at the same time it is not so easily disorganised as the underground alternative, although this latter draw- H