The record-union., 1896-03-05
Public Conyenfence.

Public Convenience.
Eds. Record Union: The senti-
ments expressed by "A Growler' in
your issue of February 25th in regard
to the right of way, as applied to street
railways and funeral professions, are
| about right and meet with the approval
of very many, if not all, such street
car passengers as have been needlessly
and oftentimes seriously inconven-
! fenced by being obliged to wait Tor
| funeral and other professions to pass.
| But | was not aware that it was a jay
| town method" but have always sup
posed that the people of the towns had
| better manners and possessed more or
an unselfish, accommodating spirit to-
| wards passengers than San Francisco
professions have usually manifested,
| for it has been a common practice
there to needlessly and unjustly mo-
nopolize the street railway tracks While
sometimes half a dozen cars-more or
| less-filled with passengers were forced
| to wait the motion of a sloW-golng
funeral procession as if the owners OF
the track-and the passengers who had
| paid their fares for a prompt passage
| to their journeys end-had no rights
| that the procession was bound to re-
spect In order to brighten his sense
| of Justice Mr. Procession man should
| imagine himself in the other fellow
place and suppose, for instance, that
he had taken the latest car that would
| connect with the overland or other
train, the failure of which would sub
ject him to a great loss in an important
business transaction or law suit at
fixed time, or rob him of the satisfac-
ton of meeting a sick friend or rela-
tive while alive, or prevent his attend
ing the funeral if dead, or, if a surgeon,
preventing his arrival in time to save
| the life of a victim of an accident, would
he not then become Immediately con-
scious that he had been deliberately and
needlessly robbed of the rights he had
paid for, and would he not at once come
to the conclusion that all the Satlsfac-
tion the proceSsionistS might feel IN
having had their own way in refusing
to halt a few carriages five minutes or
so, or needlessly occupying the track
belonging to others, would not counter
balance the injury done to him and
perhaps to others? If the sleep of the
deceased were eternal a few minutes
delay would make no difference to him;
if he had a conscious existence some
where, independent of the now cast-off
and Ito Fim) useless body, and if afairly
honorable and accommodating man
while he occupied the same, would he
not naturally rebuke his followers for
selfishly and needlessly ignoring the
rights of those still living in the body?
Such have no moral or just right to
needlessly delay passengers, and if
there is any law to sustain them in so
doing, then 'growlers" ought to be as
numerous as taxpayers and voters to
protest against such a law until it is re-
pealed. On the principle of it's being
our duty to go to the assistance or res
cue of a worthy fellow-man, providing
that the risk of losing our own life is
not greater than the chances of saw
ing his, hold that it is as much our
duty to accommodate others, providing
that accommodation does not entail a
greater loss to ourselves than a failure
to do so would inf1ict upon others; but
more especially is it our duty when our
sacrifice is so trivial that a refusal
would be a breach of courtesy
I have often observed that the closest
sticklers to the letter of the law, which
seems to sustain them in their own
selfish personal qualification or gain,
are usually most apt to violate it-or
the moral law of right-when by so
doing they think they can best subserve
their own supposed interests. If we
would be wise and get along pleasantly
and peacefully with our fellow beings,
we should not only be willing to hear
but also consider the other side; not
merely skim the surface but think
deeply, in order that we may be all the
better prepared with a desire to always
take into consideration others interests
in connection with our own
Another serious inconvenience to
street car travel is the placing of fire
hose across the track during serious
eonfagrations and thereby necessitat-
ing the stoppage of street cars some
times for hours, the passengers with
fares already paid being obliged to
wait or go on foot the remainder of their
journey. This has often occurred onl
Market and other streets in San Fran
cisco, a line Of cars on two or more
tracks being blockaded for many blocks
away. This is needless Inconvenience
to the travelling public, because easily
remedied by having light, portable lad
der arches built of only sufficient
strength to sustain the hose and ca
pacity to extend and connect over the
trolley wires and car. These could be
kept and carried with the fire apparatus
or equipments, and be set up quickly,
the ladder sides of the arch being used
to carry over the hose which rests on
the connected top.
AMERICAN MECHANIC.
Sacramento, March 3, 1896