New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-11
The News Of Brooklyn
NO VESTIBULED CARS.
OPPOSITION OF THE TROLLEY OFFICIALS
TO THE PROJECT
THE AMENDMENT OF SENATOR MNCLTf TO ZEN
.roR WILLOWS BILL REQUIRING The
REGULATION TO APPLY TO KINGS
COUNTY. ExcrrEs THE PRESIDENTS
TO FIGHT THE BILL


COUNTY. ExcITEs THE PRESIDENTS
TO FIGHT THE BILL
rho amen 1ment made by Senator McNulty IN
N. Senate on Monday, adding Kings county 10
m. territory in which streetcars must De h''eu
ont with vestibules, had the erect yes'eiu"' VI
u,r together az many impromptu indignation
mornings in Brooklyn as there are troiley Gun"
norias there 1t would naturally be expected '"''.
tho ma ssage or the threatened passage VI " o''
! u,bich would add thousands OF dollars 10 .he en-
nanditures of a railroad company "ouiu '"'
sonn tho wrath OF the companies upon the Trainer
NJ the bill and cause the organiza'lo" u
mined opposition to the measure
Those were precisely the effects or MAJOR NC
x,,,v,s amendment yesterday. Brooklyns troll
low companies have not In the past SHOWN an
oo.,,,v marked inclination to put their heads
,ocether and confer with one another On ihe'ho''
for dghting "A supposed common enemy OUT vi
49, athor band their heaviest lighting has been
,io,,od against one another with the uncoh-
aaied determination to better themselves anu
rs, their rivals as often as chance peinH'teu
on ONE PLATFORM
Now. however. they have found one platform
from which they can all speak on the s"'"7 'eN'
and with the same purpose In view.
d,ced II provided that vestibules must be placed
~ r..oo,.ars IN cities outside of New-York and
Rroo<lvn When the bill came up III seno'"
,rs ON Monday Senator McNulty moved al
o.rdn,cnt that the law mould also Apply ~
Ill.,, Cou,tv The amendment was accep'e"'
1 tho hill WAS ordered to a thrd reouii5'
,rarce unless some Unforeseen comph'"''oh
ar,ses or formidable opposition displays "Se'i !"
sore nnsuspectei quarter in the Assembly,
yootlvn,s thousands Of trolley cars VIII nave ~
B., r.r,oced nv new ones or be newly CONSTR
., c,,,nlv with the law Neither OF these eo"'
uouId be desirable from the point Of VIE" Vi INV
railroad for the most obvious reasons. "a "o''
mined fight will be made by the broohiy" 'o
against the introduction Of the vestipue cars
A. omcIal ~ the Nassau road told Tribune
~ ,.a.,s,dav afternoon that his company
would never put vestibuled car on lbs ""0"'
until tho courts had made IL apsoiu'e'S YUM
nuIsory. which statement means nothihs "'o'e
nor less than that the passage OF 'he p'''' DO =
,o,v stands will bring long ana heroe
struggle in the courts
MIR ROsSITERS VIEWS.
President Clinton l.. Rossiter, OF the Brook
low uoigbts road. said when asked for his opln-
ion on the measure:
II believe that this is by all odds the poorest
scb,na that could possibly be devised Tor sur
face roads operating through crowded DISTRICTS
7, auch cases the motorman should have his
vIs,y unobstr,cted and should be able, not ohly
- sec Immediately in front and or both sides
hut alsn 10 hcar an approaching vehicle
or any noise calling his attention to dan
ger This latter has been in several cases on
our own road a means of preventing accidents
II A., vestibule liz used 1t would certainly OBJ
struct the view. and in case OF stormy weather
the windows would often be kept closed when
they should be lowered. Where there Is one
accident with the cars now in use believe
there would be ten IL vestibules were intro
duced."
President Patrick II. Flynn. OF the Nassau
Railroad said that what he might say would
not have tie value Of the words OF a man who
had had experience with vestibuled cars. He
is however strongly hostile TO the use OF vesti-
buled cars and says that while only one adj
vantage could be claimed for them namely.
protection from severe weather for the motor
men a dozen good reasons could be given why
they should be iegislated of the tracks.
OPINION OF A. l.. JOHNSON.
Mr.. Flynn directed the reporter to Albert l..
Johnson the Nassau roads contractor and
operator. Mr.. Johnson frequently takes the
Nassau company's cars out on their trips and
has had experience In handling the motors on
vestibuled and non-vestibuled cars He said:
II believe II IL better to protect the thirty or
forty people In the car than the one IT an on the
front platform I have had experience In this
matter and know what / am talking about
from personal observation. On foggy day.
when rain or snow Is falling. q man cannot
see one-tenth as far In a vestibuled car he
can on an open platform The most fearful
accident that ever happened on trolley line
was the in Cleveland. where car went
through n drawbrdge into river. The car
was vestibuled. and the accident happened sim
ply because the motorman could not look
through the rain on the window panes and
clearly see the lights on the gates In that
accident the only life saved that OF the
rnotorman.
"In Allentown. Penn. two vestibuled cars
ran together with terrific force a trestle
forty feet high because neither motorman
could see the others car. i know for myself
that 1t Is very easy for motorman to wrap
himself up warmly. and warm himself In the
car or at stations on the route. motorman
who works ten hours a day Is out five hours
at a time. and generally has places on the route
where he can get warm. or Is able to step INTO
the car FOR brief intervals believe that where
there IL anything dangerous as an electric
car going through crowded streets. there should
be a police regulation prohibiting the running
of vestibued cars. | do not hesitate to say
that this company Will take It's fight to tho
courts before Il Will put them on the tracks"
A DIFFERENT STORY
A mo,orman OF the Montague-st. line Of the
Brooklyn Heights Company the only line In the
city which uses vestibuled cars exclusively. told
different story about his work on the cars He
said he had previously worked In Pittsburg
where vestibuled cars were used. and that there
were no more accidents there than In Brooklyn,
and fewer II anything He added that a motor
man should not depend upon sound for warning
Of approaching danger; that sight alone should
he depended upon to avoid trouble. II would