The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-05-18

How the FIve-Cent Hours IN the Elevated
Roads Bring Out Human Nature.

Five-cent fares are sold at thetlcvated
railway stations from 5h till ~ o'clock In the
morning. and from to 7 in the evening. A per-
son entering car one second before the expi-
ration OF the nve-cont hours may ride to the end
Of the line on his half-dime ticket, or check ns
it Ia called. on the Now York road; and per-
son entering at the next station must pay ten
cents for his ticket. Thus there nre in the same
ear passengers who are paying five cents for
their ride. and others who are paying double
that amount for theirs. On the New York road
no check is good for admittance to a station; the
passenger pays for his admittance. md the
check Is given to him TO be deposited in the gate
mans box for an extra tally of the number Of
fares sold. So that on this road no passenger
can enter n car at minute or two past. say
in the evening. on n tcn-ccnt check. and when
he goes out deposit nve-cent check as tho
passengers who entered the car five minutes
before he did will do. On the Metropolitan
road each ticket shows. by prominent letters or
figures. what station II was bought In. and the
guteman knows how many minutes II train re-
quircs to run from any station to his. Thus. II
a passenger alights ut Fourteenth street from
an up train ut 10 minutes past in the even
ing. and deposits Il flve-cent ticket. the gate
man knows that he must have gone into tho
Pufk piucc station. surprising that To be- the one
where his ride brgan-on Il tcn-cent ticket.
On the Metropolitan road the signal for be-
ginning 10 sell . cent tickets and Tor ccusing
70 sell them also. h sent to every station from
the general office. In cvtry station nre telc-
phon" and snuli bell used for signaling. At
one inmate before in the afternoon the sTnll
bell in every station begins To strik" the seconds
After II has counted sixty seconds II strikes
five times IN quick succession. Tue cards with
Fare 10 cents on one side aud Fare cents
on the other are turned around 50 That the
cent side Is displayed. and the ticket seilers
begin selling cheap lar's. Al one minute be-
fore the expiration Of the cent hours the sig
nal for resumins 10 cent rutcs If sent I'm the
same manner. the bells ticking of the seconds
tail or ~. and then striking the hour. On the
New York road there Is a clock In every sta
ton and nll Of the clocks arr, regulated by a
signal sent from the general Office each day ut
noon. The signal is sent by telegraph. and
morning and evening the change from on" rate
OF fare 70 an lthcr is made in each station when
the clock there indicates that the minute for
changing lQs arrived
polltnn the rush OF travel is toward the Battery
Ia the morning. and toward Harlem In the
evening. The first To take advantage ot cheap
fur.s in the morning are mainly lnborers;
while in the even ing the earlier nve-ceut trains
carry great numbers Of business and profcs.
siOnal men. At u station where six hundred
trn-ccnt tickets are sold In the two hours be-
tween 3 and 3. twenty-five hundred Nye-cent
trkrts are sold between 8 ana T. Both ronds
take their passenger. during the morning ac-
cOmmo lHtlon hours from all along the line
tin the lower pnrt Of the city Is reached: but in
the afternoon tho rush ot passengers is mainly
nj few downtown stutions-nt Rector street.
Corllnndt. Park place, and Chambers streets on
inc metropolitan IflNus NJ lNtNN street, rank
lin square chairman square, anal street. Grand
aud Houston. on the east side line OF the New
York roai; and 20 Liberty Warren. and Frank
lin streets on tn west side line. At these
stations there is usually u throng Of
persons waiting Tor The uoginn 'ng OF accom-
mediation hours" In the evening. Often tho
landings nj the top ~ the stairs nro crowded
the naghts Of stairs completely filled. and the
srnr.S around The ,yyrr ,.n, of IN. n ght block-
card: Fare . cents" These throngs are not
composed OF persons who look ~ though u
nickel was thing oi great Importance TO them.
IN" majority OF theih are men VINO nave We'll,
to-do appearance. some Of them are boys, and
very few are women. The thrungs begin To-
gathe i.ltctn minutes before the time OF cheap
inres. Two business men will lean against
The railing ~ tho head OF the stairway and
discuss business operations involving hundreds
OF thousands ~ dollars. while taking their
ten inmates wait TO save i've cents. Messenger
boys VINO are allowed TO spend ten cents Tor
their fare up town and back will sprawl over
the ratings Of the stairway and imputiently
wait Tor tne time when they can enjoy the lux
ury OF a ride ON the elevated rOnd NJ horse car
rates. often. nfter waiting at the loot OF the
stairs for ten minutes. a man will push through
the throug AMI a-S 81 the ticket seller why the
trains are not taking on any pHssengrr~ lie
Will %" told that IN" tnr0ng il waiting Tor live
cent rates. and ne VIII tl"n pay his ten cents
and harry g. catch tho next train. r"markin
that hc would hnVc paid ~ dollar rather than
have been delayed. Occasionally. young man,
with the air Oi city college sophomore. Will
elbow his way past waiting milllonairos anu
pny his ten cents with u glance Of unutterable
disgust at the sorlid beings who SIM wait.
Sometimes men will 90 NJ 10 the ticsr Office
ana inform the clerk that his time Is some min
utcs SLOW displaying the faces OF their own
watches rs proof ut the assertion. But the ma
jorlty OF those who wait DO not appear impa-
uent. aud they llnger with an air ui indepeud-
Cncr that pluiny says; \ nickel Is worth rs
much To- me as 10 the railroad COMPANY
Once In n Will" an amusing thing occurs.
Here IA a cusr; On a recent pleasant day. n
plrtly old gentleman. with an ample watch fob
NJ the old pattern, came up the stairs az the
Park place station NJ II minutes before IN
the afternoon. He waited Tor ten minutes on
the landing. leaning on "a god-hradrd cane.
Then nH held IN his hand heavy gold watch.
the case ot which had been worn smooth boy
long usage, and counted of the remaining
minutes. Trains OF almost empty ours had
! been going NJ az the regular intervals. The
card annouu I'M. the fare il turned around. and
! ~ soon as this heavy denl"r in leather s'cs the
! the line OF those who have been waiting near
tue ticSot office. In his haste he throws out Il
| ten-crnt pivce, neglcct- To tuke the change.
misses the FIRST trnin. aud rides NJ town on the
second train. standing the whole distance on
Il crowded platform. just before the pration
] Of the iye-crut hours there is Il great hurry to
catch the last train. Persons come tumbling
up stars. dropping packages. and acting ~
/ though they could never rtHrh the upuer unrt
OF the city If they failed 10 pass the ticket sellers
/ box before o'clock. 4 ticket seller on the
men rush up to me Just alter ! had turned over
/ the card and accuse me- ol turning IL over he-
/ cause | saw them coming up the stairs. Free
quently they Will rush up here. AL out OF breath,
and. seeing that the fare is ten cents. they will
/ look grleved and 10 down and take the horse
car"
d