New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-24
THE NEWS OF BROOKLYN !
,rHE MOTORMAN sURRENDERS.
ALFRED LIE RoUFFLE GIVES HIMSELF UP
TO THE POLICE.

UT saws THAT he WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOX
THE ACCIDENT on THE BERGEN-sr' CAR
WHICH WAS DUE TO THE MACHINERY
Alfred lie Rouffie the motorman who was on
the Bergen-st car last Saturday night when IL
r.r off tho track at Bergen and Hoyt SITS. ana
injured four people, surrendered TO the ponce
earIv Yesterday morning. and was locked up IN
the Bergen-st station He was taken TO court
and held for examination. but. 1t Is saiu' re-
ceived assurance from the officers or the roau
that he would be hailed out. The conouc'o''
who was collecting fares at the time of the &C
cident and who really had nothing to do with
the .nishap. was released. lie Rouffle is an In
telligent- looking man, and the statement ne
made was given in a straightforward manner
He throws the blame entirely on the machinery
and said that he personally was not TO blame
FOR the accident The street at the point where
the car Jumped the track is on q down grade
md even when the speed is ordinary the car
needs strong clutch TO prevent slippins' 1his'
according to the story told by the motornah. IL
did not possess lie Rouffle explained that MS
car had what is known as a single motor
1T was not going at a rapid speed" said ne;
"certainly not over six miles an hour. I did not
have a heavy load on board but the car began
to slip. could do nothing with the Drake as
II would not hold. was poweress. VI courSe'
you see that the went faster at every turn
OF the wheels. and when 1t struck the curve
something had TO 60 was frightened az "hae
happened. / knew, 1 would be arrested ana
ran home TO tell my family OF the accident. 80
my wife would Lot be worried at my ABSENCE
When returned to the wreck it had been al
most cleared away Then went to the police
station and gave myself up. / do not consider
that any notorman on the line could have pre-
vented the accident, surely not when the ma
chinery went back on him at down grace
IT'S RECORD IN THE PAST.
rv.r .,rce the Nassau company acquired con-
troll of the Atantic-ave. system its record mas
haen one of almost daily disaster. Accidents
have happened so frequently that up 10 the
present time the total is in the hundreds Whhe
the death record on the Nassau line is not equal
10 that of the Brooklyn Heights road II must oe
remembered that the Nassau line is mum
younger but Il is crawling up on the broohi'"
Heights record by leaps and bounds II mas
been asked frequently and with more We
hemence as accidents continue TO pie upon
one another why the Nassau Railroad COM
pany is not made the subject OF ofhcial inquiry
Tho accident Of last Saturday night only en-
nhaszes the necessity for an immediate lhVest-
cation by the Grand Jury and the JUS PUNISH
ment Of those responsible.
Hackneyed as the term 'Juggernaut has he
come # is expressly applicable to the engines
~ destruction which President Johnson am DIS
rasnonsible subordinate officers allow to run caily
n. an unlawful rate OF speed wherever the Mas
can tracks extend On every side angry COM
r,ents Of citizens against the road are heard. ana
in every instance it is asked why District-Attor-
nev Backus does not bestir himself ana take
proper steps.
When the Nassau Company first acquired con-
troll Of the Atlantic-ave road. President Johnson.
IN a public statement, explained Ills rl'pose 10
make the Nassau road the safest one n the c'y'
but the numerous accidents even from the hrst
dav Of travel show how this promise has feen
kept.
THE NOTORMEN ALWAYS BLAMED
President Johnson never misses chance to lay
the blame for an accident upon the luckiAss
,notorman. whoever he happens TO be- or what
over are the circumstances Of the case. Never,
nv any chance. according 10 his statements. Is
any mart of the machinery Of his deathtraps
M fault When the accident occurred on Ihlrty-
ninth-st hill several weeks ago, IN which several
people lost their lives and twenty or more were
injured Mr.. Johnson blamed the inotorman' ana
an obliging Coroner's jury whiteWash'1 matters
by censuring the company and letting Il 20 at
that But there was exDe"t testimony enough
IN show that the car was insufllcicntiy pcotectc1
as 10 its machinery and that chance .rly IRE
vented other accidents even OF more horrlole
nature.
I'VE received a legacy Of incompetent rector
men from the Atlantic-ave. line, president JONI
son has frequently said, and we are dlscldrS-
ing and taking on men every day, in order 10 I'M
proye the service We are going TO keep Up 'his
nolicy until we get the men we want
A railroad man who understands the policy io-
lowed by the Nassau president condemned IL
Yesterday in unqualified terms. lie sald ne
tboupbt IL was about time that the Nassau road
cot few, men TO suit their requirements. There
is more Injustice Dractsed on the Nassau fcau
than on any line in the CITY,, he added John-
son and his officers are getting desperate at the
number of accidents and are acting without
Good Judgment Even If is ordinarily
competent. or more than that, an unavoidable
accident is a signal for his discharge. The COM
Many is continually making an example, ana
the result Is that many good man is discharged
xrhen a little forbearance and patience would be
the making OF q good motorman. II taxes prac-
sice for a level-headed man TO become pronclent
NJ the brake and what can the pubic expect
when men are fired right and left regardless CT
their rights and Of common decency.
Whatever may be said concerning the con-
t,nual controversy and trouble going on between
the company and its employees, il is apparent that
the WAYS of the officers in defiance Of city ordi
nances Cars are continually overcrowded, with
the irnpl,ed sanction of the officers and the legal
rate OF speed is exceeded every hour In the day.
President Johnson knows this. and his subor
dinates know Il also. The proof is in the over
crowded condition Of the Coney Island
Sundays and weekdays and the speed with
which they go through the city streets without
let or hindrance.