The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-02

consolidated was fully committed 10
the loaf now, loaf ever principle, and
Mr.. Prior was informed by one of tie
subordinates of the Consolidated mag
nate that the great one had no time
to talk with him. Then it was that Mr..
Prior, although he had in the mean
time gotten the Suburban to go on in
the same old way for this season. be-
gan to wake up and try to find out
where he was at. .-.'..--s
1t was soon seen that the force of
men that Mr.. Prior had and was will
ing to hire in addition could not by
any possibility be expected to remove
the snow from all the streets where the
cars run. The Consolidated wouldn't
remove it. he couldn't and there you
We're. SO it was determined that,
strong IN the sense of law on his side,
Mr.. Prior should plow all the snow
that had been removed by the Consoli-
dated back on to their tracks This
was done yesterday, the first real work
| mat mas been done to amount to any
thlng since the storm five days ago
Who is most to blame is not for any
one in particular to state, but one thing
IS certain, ana that is that the public,
me poor suffering, "he pays the
IfelSht public, has to pay for the ex-
penslVe whistle, after all No matter
what happens, the public receives it in
the Jugular When the Consolidated
swept the tracks directly after the
| storm, the public caught it. for the
| sWeepers that the company used clear
ea lhe tracks as clean as a sanded floor
ana no sleigh could pass along the
I tracks for thar reason, nor could one
get along on the side of the road where
| the snow was piled mountains high by
the machines.
Wmie no one could get around in
| slelghs with any degree of comfort to
! themselves or mercy to their horses
lhe cars were run on a system like the
poisoning of a demented century
pidhI' Ihen, when Mr.. Prior began
| 10 sweep the snow back on the tracks
/ III ofoer TO give the horse owners a
| chahce to get around, he blocked nm
the car tracks again and the cars thai
were Just beginning to run with some
suBHI degree Of regularity, We're piled
up again IN groups all over the CITY i'm
CONFUSION worse COMPOUNDED. Then
Wheh the company retaliated, the whole
street was blocked, and nobody eot1Id
travel which is certainly a happy con-
summation Of the joint efforts of a
hlgh-prlced street department and a
| rich corporation. q
buI more than all this. the public
not only of Worcester, but of rhe whole
state has seemingly been buncoed Inv
IN 1ue legislature that framed the law
ne SIKH and seventh sections of the
| ehaplef That has already been quoted
provide for the eSta blishment of +ha ha
ore mentioned tax on the street rail
ways, TO pay the difference in the cost
81 cieanlng third of the street and
1 Lne WI - of 1t. which is what the now
and ola avs amount to respectiveIyJ
Inc provision Of the law already quoted
mat lets the companies out of cleaning
the whole Of the streets, and substi-
tutes part of them in its place. went
INTO effect last October, while the pro
VISION that makes the payment Of the
excise tax obligatory does not go into
effect until October, 1899.
| So this year the street RAILWAYS all
over the state pay no tax, and clear off
one-third of the snow. while the
city, the public paying for the same.
gets-snoW water, two-thirds of all
there is on the streets. In all portions
| of the state this is being found out.
and the street car companies are
chuckling, and saying "Ha, ha, with
peculiar JUNCTION.
And so the fight goes on, and a. street
commissioner and the corporation play
tag in the snow drifts and break each
| others toys.
Commissioner Prior told The Spy man
last night, in an interview. that he was
compelled to shovel the snow back onto
the tracks by the protests that were
4 made by citizens against the awful
condition Of the streets, and he also
said that he had tried to adjust the
matter with the Consolidated. but they
/ had refused to meet him at all, and
1 We're merely playing to establish a pre-
cedent by which they could get out of
/ any work on the streets beyond clear
ing their tracks in the future. Mr.
/ Prior said that he should today put the
| scrapers of his department through a
number of the other streets where the
! tracks have been cleared off. so there
/ is no doubt but that the battle win be
on again today.
| One aspect Of the affair may develop
1 into something definite if the mimic
| warfare be continued much longer
The public may be subjected to all
sorts of impositions with impunity, but
the United States government stands
but little of that nature before there is
vigorous, mans sized protest coming.
The Consolidated company is under
contract with the United States to
carry the mails in this city on electric
! cars. Postmaster Greene said on this
( point last night:
L see no reason why the lines of the
/ Consolidated are not United States
post road. This being the case, any
one who viii willfully obstruct the cars
on this road bearing the mails, lays
himself liable to fine and Imprisonment
under the federal statutes. I do not
wish to make any trouble for any one
and I hope that the matter will be adj
juSted without any more friction, but
the mails have got to go through
When asked by The Spy man if he
had seen Mayor Dodge in regard to the
matter, Mr.. Greene said he had. "CoulC
he help you any?" was asked. 81 don't
know whether he could or not; but he
didn't" was the answer delivered in
a manner that showed that the result
Of the interview with the mayor had
not been a very satisfactory one
( Mayor Dodge was seen on the sub
ject, and said that he had seen Mr.
| Greene, but had been unable to do any.
thing more for him than was already
being done. II don't think the city
will take any contract to get his mails
through for him." was the way il
which the mayor put it.
There is no immediate likelihood thai
anything unpleasant will occur, foi
Mr. Greene will avoid it if he can. but
the fact remains that he can make
trouble for any one who gets in the
way Of one of his mail cars, and that
he has behind him the whole force Oh
the United States marshals, who are
woefully deficient in respect for street
commissioners, street car superintend.
ents, or even municipal executives
when they happen to run up against
them in the execution of their duty
! AN INJUNCTION.