He Adheres to His Opinion That Electric Lines Depreciate the Value of Property.

Among those who were admiring the electric motor cars of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company as they raced up and down Second street Saturday [in testing for the opening of the Fulton Park line on January 1, 1890] was Mr. Frank Dekum. It is well known that he was much opposed to the introduction of electric cars on Washington street, where he owns a lot of valuable property, and that he has taken legal measures looking to the removal of the poles and wires from the street, and a reporter who saw him looking at the handsome motor cars as they whirled up and down Second street, thought it would be a good time to interview him in regard to his opinion of electric motor lines.

The sight of the cars had not changed Mr. Dekum’s opinion in regard to electric lines in the least. He gave it as his opinion that they were a detriment to the city. The placing of the overhead wire system and electric cars on Washington street he considers has depreciated the value of his property there from 30 to 40 per cent. It will drive travel off the street, he says, and will make Washington street only fit for dime museums and such like institutions. He was intending to build at the corner of Third and Washington, but shall not so so now, although he has plans prepared.

Note: History will show that the Dekum Building (1892) still stands at SW Third and Washington to this day.

Mr. Dekum is confident that the council has no authority to give anyone the right to put up poles in front of his property, and will contest the matter in the courts and carry it up to the supreme court of the United States, and find out whether or not property owners have any rights which street railroad men are bound to respect. He would have been willing to give $1000 as a subsidy to secure a cable road, which is a benefit to a street, but now he will spend that money and more if necessary in maintaining his rights in the courts.

Note: It is worth mentioning that Mr. Dekum was involved in a lot of property on Washington between Front and Third, so he was very interested in looking after his investments, even if he sounds much like a modern NIMBY with this complaints. At the time, property owners were responsible for the upkeep of the streets in front of their property all the way to the center line of the roadway, so the question of whether someone could place poles and wires on that property without consent seems valid.