In response to Phare Pleigh, the definition of "gently fall" depends primarily on the speed of the tramcar. I, for one, would not want to be that hapless pedestrian.

Shorpy, you are spoiling us. I'd be happy to see one of these 10"x8" Glass Plate gems once a month, but we've been bombarded with them. Each one an artistic and technical marvel. Thank you. Have said it before but will say it again, there is nothing to compare with the depth, resolution and tonal gradient detail in these images. You are drawn into the image, not just looking at it, as with digital capture photography.

The streetcar in the foreground is equipped with an Eclipse Acme Type Fender made by Eclipse Railway Supply of Cleveland. When the car encounters a wayward pedestrian, rather than running them down with dreadful results, the Eclipse device springs to action by banging them on the ankles and causing them to gently fall onto the horizontal spring-type catcher.

When I first looked at this photo, I spent a few minutes trying to locate what I know as Hartford City Hall, thinking I was crazy.

Of course, it was staring me in the face the whole time: Hartford used the Charles Bulfinch designed (one of his earliest buildings) State House as its city hall from the 1890s until erecting a new building in the 1910s. The state government, after ending the Hartford-New Haven co-capital arrangement that had been in place since 1701, consolidated to Hartford and moved to its grand new castle nearby in 1878.