National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1872-12-31
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
THR HORSE CARS.

=
Mr. EDITOR: The suppoaltlon that the cars Of
the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Com
pany are for the convenience Of the public Ia fasi
becoming deluslon and dream. The peryer
aity Of the company In defylng public opinion a,
to the mode Of meeting the improvements mad,
along the line Of their track by the Board q
Public Works Ia only equaled by the systematk
frauds practlced by the employees Of this rotten
corporation upon the travelling public, partlcu.
larry those who are unfortunate enough to live al
OF near either terminus Of the route. Sosyste.
mAtically have the conductors and drivers on the
road arranged matters as TO the running Of the
cars that Il Ia fast becoming q question with
Navy Yard and Georgetwn people whether
shanks' mare" Is not In the end the safest u not
the only certain mode Of reaching hOme, especially
after nlghtfau.
The charter Of the company, which calls for
the running Of cars
IL violated every day, and until system u n.
ming on given time Is established and ats.cred
TO the growing evils enumerated below viii con.
tlnue, and the public he compelled TO "fuDt IT, >
rather than be imposed upon by y corporation
that ought to be pro bono BHblic0.
II IL the boast Of the great steam rallroai CON-
Cities, that they can carry the travelling public
through TO Chicago or st. Louis without
CHANCE or CARS,
and yet change or two duiIng trip from the
Navy Yard to Georgetown Is one Of the supposed
beauties Of travel on the ". and q. railrORd Let
a passenger take a car on the Avenue on almost
any evening" between the hours OF AMI u
O'Clock, going eastward. To say nothing oil the
dirty, dlngy-IoOking vehicle he enters, he will,
perchance, be carried at break.neck speed song
the Avenue and up the steep grade OF CEpitOl
HILL wondering TO himself now such apeedcould
possibly be attained, or whether the hOTsel have
run away, when the car Ia suddenly stopped and
the polite conductor yells "Take the car ahead,
ladies and gentlemen"
The passengers quickly tumble out, no matter
how bad the weather may be, and enter the car
ahead, which has been waiting some moments
on the track for the rear car, and, perhaps flled
with people-"standng room only" The empty
car then turns into the depot, the driver and
conductors work Is done for the night, the tray-
elers have been swlndled, and the company Ii,
perhaps, satisfied. The company, It's truG re-
qulres each car to go to the end Of the route,
whether they may have passengers or not, and
then at the end Of the last trip return u the
stables. This IL scarcely ever done, hOwiyer,
and the officials OF the company are aware o. the
Another favortc trick OF the "Jehus and
snatcherS"-as the drivers and conductors are
familiarity Called-is TO
"LOAP FOR PASSENGERS"
al the close Of the places Of amusement, by which
means three or four cars are In close proximity
to each other on the Avenue, at the same time
twenty minutes or half hour thereafter going
either way. No time schedule Is exhibited In
the cars to compel the conductor TO pay some re-
spect to the cOnyenlences OF the public. The re-
suit Is, Of course, an effort on his part to MI his
car the best he can. This also peases the COM
pany, no matter how much II displeases poor
devil who has to walt half hour In rain, snow
or Elush for the "neNt car" The
LAST CAR TO THE NAVY YARD
at night Is supposed TO reach there about 1880
O'Clock, and, before stated, each car up TO that
time Is compelled by the rules Of the company 10
end Its trip at the terminus OF the road, which
Ia the navy yard gate, for the supposed cOnye-
nience of the people In that benghted locality
Here again the "two gentlemen who run the
unless he Is cup to snuf,r will walk home and
not ride. After II O'Clock p. m. the cars bound
for this section can he seen creeping along the
Avenue at snail-llke pace, with all lights eX-
tingulshed and the 'snatCherr stretched at full
length on the cushioned seat, perhaps counting
small change. Should wOnd-be passenger hail
the driver for ride, he IL Informed thai -,
sSeSaiiu ~ s6 42 @a S az 70 he NAY
and the car DO bo~rled, Il IL ten chant
he requested TO "get out and walk the TeniN
OF the trip" This Is exceedingly unpleasaO
a resident OF UniOntown or the Navy iaul, hun 4
suits the driver and conductor The system Of
TRANSFERS AT SEVENTH STREET
Is 30 palpahly wrong, and the public 30 outrage.
Ously swindled every day In this respect that II Il
scarcely worth while 10 say anything about It,
The cars do not wait for passengers AZ this
junction when they can possibly avoid II. As
soon a. a car OF the Seventh street or Prnnayl.
Vania avenue route reaches the junction, the
passengers who wish transfers are quit KY urged
TO "get out" and as soon as II Ia emptied the
driver starts the horses at break-neCk speed the
conductor rushes In the car by the back door e
he out OF sight, and away goes car number -
without a crowd Of passengers who have trans
fers, and are running and yelling for somebody
to stop the car. The reason why such passen
gers are not wanted can lie explained ny thu
conductor. He wants cash customers, as thu
transfers don't count worth cent In the settle
ment at the end OF each trip. This run away
system can he seen TO perfection al the corner d
Seventh street and Pennsylvania avenue daily
THE REMEDY
for these and dozen other evils with which THU
company Is Aitlcted Is not In occasionally show
ing up these little "ldlOsynCracies" "a mild term
Of the employees, for until Congress- annuls the
charter or men are employed who will pay
decent respect to the wants Of the travelling pub
lie the abuses will continue and be multiplied
That they exist as Is set forth In this article
none can deny, and the "Jehu" and "snatcher'
who put up these little Jobs, US well as the persons
who have been inconyenienced by them, viii
doubtless remark after reading 1t, ''WhOeye
wrote II has evidently been there" The capita
OF the country ought TO have passenger rail
way on Its broadcast avenue that will run car
regularly for the convenience OF the public.
Yours, Truth.