The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-02-18
DISGRACGS qRE BENCH.
Judge Joseph H. Gaskill
Argues for the Railroads
Against the Bicycle
Baggage Bill.
R ROLL GETS WARM
Criticism of The Committees Policy
of Helping the Railroads by
Delay Rolls Him.
MARTIN ROLL GETS WARM
special to the Jerscv Cgty NeuS.


a hearing yesterday afternoon on the
Bicycle Baggage bill. The Pennsylvania
Railroad appeared against the bill in. the
person of Judge Joseph H. Gaskill of
Burlington county, who left his bench
and laid aside his ermine to come to
Trenton and lobby for the measure.
There were many more present than
there were at the hearing two weeks ago.
The floor was comfortably filed and there
were many in the galleries.
In opening he informed the commit
tee tina he did not intend to dwell on the
technical points at any length, and
would confine himself entirely to the
practical side of the question. He said
in partE''I was one of the pioneers at
the bar in bicycle cases, and I have al
ways maintained the right of bicycle
riders to the public highway. 1t belongs
there because it is a vehicle. This has
always been my argument in favor of
bicycles, and L I'M not prepared to change
my views. The men who are asking for
such a law as the one now before this
Legislature are acting in supreme igno-
rance of its bad effects and f~ar-reaching
Consequences.
Reports of the operating officials of
our railroads, which I will have ready
later, will prove to you conclusively the
inconvenience, annoyance, delay and
risks put upon a railroad in asking them
to conform with the provisions of such
an act"
Judge Gaskill then criticised a picture
on the front page of the printed argu-
ment presented to the COMMITTEES two
xz,aoIc n rrr Nv Cbiaf C0rer,I J(;ro1ror IF
the New Jersey division of the L. A. W.,
and which shows a plan of suspending
the wheels from the roof of the car. He
aid thai it would be impossible to sus-
pend anything of SO fragile a nature in
such a manner. THE only sensible way
to store wheels in a baggage car" he
continued, sis to hav racks or stalls
along the sides, with an aisle through
the middle. This would keep each one
| separate, and render it easy to pick out
the wheels to be unloaded at the various
stations. The suspension scheme pre-
scented by the wheelmen is a ridiculous
one to a practical man. The author evil
IDENTIFY is a rider on a small road, which
carries little or no baggage. If he tray-
elled on one of the busiest branches of
a great railroad, he would readily nave
| seen the impracticability of such a prop
osition. AS an illustration l will cite the
following case:-During the summer.
months the cars leaving Camden for the
shore are packed so full of baggage that
there is no room for the baggage mas
ter. This not only happens at Camden,
but on all the branches, n frequently.
This large number OF respectable citi-
pans anJaaar hafOra uol1 fhrpiIu[ fhair
representatives, and ask you to shift a
slight expense individually from them
and force the railroads to shoulder a ire
mendou expense in the aggregate, to
provide facilities for the free Transports
ton of these bicycles. The additional
| expense sought to be imposed on the
railroads by this bill amounts to hun-
dreds Of thousands of dollars. The rail-
roads are not only compelled to carry
bicycles free of charge, but they also
lay themselves liable to a heavy pen
atty if the provisions of the bill are not
conformed with in every particular. If
| you add burdens to the railroads by re-
lieying one class, the rest of the travel
ling public must pay for it. This is but
an effort on the part of the wheelmen
q may say perhaps unconsciously or
through ignorance) to relieve themselves
of a small burden and unload a large
one on the other travellers.
1.-THE Pennsylvania Railroad makes a
small charge for the transportation of
bicycles, not to make a profit out of it,
but in return for the extra expense me-
cesitated by accommodating these wheels,
to receive a small part of the money ex-2
pended. Another reason for this change
is to prevent the railroads from being
unnecessarily. taxed beyond their facili-
thoughtlessly impose additional trouble
on the railroads..
- bicycle is different from a trunk or
similar piece of baggage. The latter
may be placed on a platform at a station
and one would never think of walking off
with it. No matter how carefully BIZ
from the car, a thief, standing near by,
may mount a wheel and is off and out
Of sight before he can be stopped: To
ter extra men have to be employed to
guard these wheels. This additional ex-
pense together with that entailed IN
small Item in the vast sums expended to
accommodate cyclists
They ask, further, that we ship their
bicycles on the same train on which they
take passage. This unreasonable.
Trunks and satchels are Sometimes de-
a MSieh g thay are are e ehscf feai0Wi III nat tnains up a2e
not provided with baggage cars and a
number of them have g baggage car and
4 tittOhtt COllfiiltSu. Ii, lIlGI, one NUN
l-dred wheelmen should demand transfor-
tation on one of these later trains at a
wayside station. and they could not be
accommodated in the small space, the
company would be ( fined for each and
every wheel that was not taken on that
train.
There is still another objection to the
bill relating to the loading and unloading
of these bicycles. they cannot be piled
one on top of the other and rolled on a
truck from the baggage room to the car,
like trunks. but each must be trundled
a few hundred feet or yards with great
care to prevent injury. One man cannot
manage more than two at once, and this
neeessitates an additional force at each
station to safely load or unload these
wheels. Trains have been delayed in start
ing by a party of Wheelmen having their
bicycles put aboard. AT each Station
there IS usually some delay IN putting
off pr taking on bicycles. The Long
Branch Sunday evening. train. which has
Western connections, was SO DELAYED
during last summer by bicycles that il
was found necessary to put ON an addi-
tional train IN order to make the connec,
! tons.
Assen1blyman GIedhill then asked ner-
mission to have Isaac B. Potter. NationaI
President of the League Of American
4 WAeelment answer the arguments AZ
the pennsylvania Railroads represents
tive. In REQUESTING this paruaicslor M