New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-17
THOSE 1855, sos.sn PASSENGER

THOSE 1ss sossv PASSENG Frs.
r,o Manhattan Elevated Railway Company
l. n very prosperous organization. lt TOOK Ill
over nine and half million dollars fast year
while its net earnings amounted 10 9t'z4o'-
sos17 These figures are reproduced from
the annual report of The company. which was
,rosortod at a meeting held one day last week.
,rho ,enort also shows that 1SS,203,S7I pas
sor,sr, were carried over the roads during the
,oan Now we wonder if the management OF
sLo elevated lines are laboring under the i'm
secession that they did the fair thing by these
1es o0s s77 persons who patronized them
r.oh one of the 1873, 2O3,S77 paid cash for all
.ha r;des he took; he never asked for credit
=. tor Communication rates he invariably pur-
ohosod his tickets without grumbling or delay
tho tho man behind him he always responded
,,,h more or less cheerful alacrty to the brake
mans request to step lively and he and the
rest between them handed over to the road in
GOOD and lawful money matter OF over
20 900. 600, of which S4,246,S2S II was clean
profit.
That is what the 1ss,203,s77 passengers
did for the elevated roads last year, and we
think it will be admitted by all unprejudiced
ne,sons that they acted well their part. Now
what did the elevated roads do for the
1873, 2OS, S77 passengers3 Did the roads treat
them as well as they knew how, or as well as
they ought n have treated them? Did the
1873. 2O3.S77 get the worth of their money
of over S9,5OO.O00, of which S4,246,s2s II
was clear gain? 1t is safe to say that II the
1sS.oO3,S77 could pass upon these questions
at ballOt-box they would vote to man,
woman and child that they had done good
deal better by the roads than the roads had
done by them They would vote that the reads
had by no means given them an adequate re-
turn for their money. They would vote that
the roads had been run in palpable disregard
of their rights. What answer can the man
agement of the roads make to the indictment
of the 1SS,2O3,S77 passengers? Well, they
can triumphantly point to the fact that these
MANY million people were carried III satety.
1t is fact of the first Importance, ana the
management does well to emphasize 1t, for 1t
must be conceded that it covers multitude or
sins. But it is one thing to carry passengers
without killing or manning them ana qulte
another to carry them properly, to carry them
comfortably, and passengers have right To
demand of the elevated roads that they be
carried properly, comfortably. But the truth
il that their perfectly reasonable request is
steadily ignored During portion OF each day
the trains are Outrageously Overcrowded, the
brakemen-of course, in obedience to orders
from misunderstanding passengers as close
" as one would pack sardines, in the cars and
on the platforms The consequence is that
many passengers are practically swindled, since
they pay for seats, but get only chance to
stand and cling to a strap while the lives OF
those who do get seats are rendered burden
nv the crowds which are continually pressing
mon them 1t is needless to add that egress
from one of these packed trains is difficult,
annoying and unseemly undertaking, especially
for ladies.
Will it be replied on behalf Of the manage
ment that the roads are doing the best they can
to solve the transit problem? The assertion
will not bear examination. If the manage
ment honestly desired to give the public the
service to which it is entitled and for which
it paws so handsomely, why are not more trains
run during the busy hours of morning and
evening? Why were short trains run during
the summer months of this year in palpable
defiance of the fact daily demonstrated that
the long trains were urgently needed? On,
no. The elevated management is not dong
its best say rather it is treating its passengers
with hardly more consideration than the pigs
receive at the hands of those who load the
freight trains in the Chicago stockyards. The
! figures which we have printed prove that the
Manhattan could well afford to carry passen-
gers at three instead of five cents. Still, the
| public would not grrmble at the present rate
| if it saw any signs of disposition on the part
of the management to meet its obligations in
| a lust. to say nothing about generous, spirit
When the elevated road managers stop crowd
ing their cars, when they run as many trains
as are required, or, at all events, as many as
they can, when they answer to the loud call
for more stations on the rapidly growing West
Side. when they improve the lighting of their
cars so that those who take long rides upon
them in the evening can read without running
the danger of running their eyesight. then, and
not until then, will they be entitled to the
appreciation of the travelling public OF this
| town.