New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-24
CASE FOR NR. CROKER.

Whom Mr.. Croker has little leisure from
making the Manhattan "squear he ought to
turn 10 the wcll-stockcd library Of the Demo
cratic club and consult the current number o:
.rhc Outlook" journal which no hiGh-clasS
Climb of statesmen can afford 10 be without
THAT manor contains an article 10y an educated
and intelligent gripman on thc Mctropohtah
street Railway and It's management. In II
there IS much information which Mr. Croker rs
a friend OF The people anxious 10 protect NYcS
and compel corporations 10 do their duty, VIII
End most valuable. If indeed he docs not start
the Board of Health and the Municipal Assem-
bly, after the Metropolitan company with
sharp stick. with the same vigor that they are
displaylng i'm following the Manhattan. then Mr..
Croker is not so kccnly and .mpartialIy devoted
to the people as has been supposed.
This cripman. who only left the Metropolitan
eoryico to enlist for the Spanish war; appar-
emily has no erudcc against his former employ
ers. and simply tells q straightforward story oi
actual conditions as they appear 10 him. IT nc
is right the Metropolitan company, in order 10
pay n good dividend on an enormous Watorcd
Capitalization and an enormous dividend on the
actual investment not only makes unreasonable
requirements of IT'S employees. hut sends ont Ill
equipped cars which are n menace 70 pubic
safely. He tells us, what is already matter
of common understanding. that the Grpmon ut
the best work eleven hours and forty minutes
n dav. and often thirteen hours, owing 10 block
AIDES and delays and that, as they are pad
solely hy trips. they receive nothing FOR The
hours lost by breaking cables or other acc!-
dents When snow stops the cars, as recently
pcrhaps only one or two instead of five trips
can be made in a day. and then for whole
DAYS exposure the gripman gcts only onc-ifh
OF two.ffhs of days pay. Then III the mat
fer of uniforms he has a grievance lie is com
pclled 10 buy of n specific firm clothes which
cost from s. 10 Sc more than the same goods
could be bought for in the open market, ana
these have 20 be purchased before oven trial
trip can be made. Then three weeks of free
labor on probation have 10 be given 10 the COM
rany No secondhand uniforms are allowed
no matter how little they may have been used
10y men who perhaps only made trial trips ana
are ready 10 sell cheap 10 new candidates. The
gripman hints that this arrangement brings an
additional earning 10 the company at the eX-
pcnse OF it's employees hut gives no details OF its
arrangement with the clothing firm.
But It is not the woes Of the gripman TO
which Mr. Cookers attention is invited He Is
testing the structure and smelling Of the cars
Of the elevated railroad and will surely want
to know about defective apparatus on the sur
face lines. This Srpman says that on the Met
ropoitan. "'hum' cars rs the mon call thcu
ceased 10 be an exception long ago" He gives
this description of the trials Of gripman with
one Of these cars:
You get hoG Of a bad car, and you have got
to toll on # til you arc relieved 10y another one
for to return the car AS detective is considered
almost as Il personal insult TO the COMPANY
After you are done with your work You enter
the unsatisfactory condition OF the car IN the
dcfcctiyo-car book. as FOR instance. Dad brake
dad gOnc." sand would not work." or some
thing To- this effect GA mere Formally for the
condition of the cars Us well known 10 every
oncl. 4 few days later you Cct the same car
in the same bad condition. You 90 20 the
starter, inform him Of H. and he tolls you
frankly that owing ~ the small personnel OF
mechanics ON hand II s. entirely impossible TO
keep the cars in good condition. And with this
tho discussion ends or another instance: You
come I'm the carh0usc and state that your car
De- i'm an unfit condition. They tell YOU 10 20
ahead You say that 20 convey such car Is
dangerous You are told. "Go right ahead
ven take the consequences The reader may
ask Who Is that individual giving such mad
orders? We'll is II tho starter? No. it is not
be either 1t is "a power that fears nothing.
that Yields 10 nobody IL is monopoly. You
possess the moral courage al least 10 say some
thing. Very we'll Bat the majority prefer TO
work on a bad car rather than to risk falling
I'm dlsfavor with the boss" so much the more
since they know that the struggle viii result in
nothing.
These defects be declares arc responsible for
many Of the accidents which call for the news
paper report: "Thc motorman put on his brake
as hard a. he could but II was impossible to
"chcck the swift movement of the car II was
awful. but It could not be- avcricd" Indeed,
r. is awful, but he says , could De aycrted if
the company kept us rolling-stock in proper
order Then there is the matter of brakes.
mandrake is as inadequate for one OF these
heavy, high-speed power cars rs for a locomo-
tive and tho locomotive runs on clear track,
not I'm a crowded thorouehfare. Speed is lin
tied 10y ordinance to ton miles an hour, but the
cars often run fifteen or twenty miles an hour
on the trolley lines. on complaint. the com
pany says such speed is due 10 the dsobcliorcc
OF the motorman, but really ne is compelled by
tho schedules 10 which he must adhere 10 run
fast 10 make up for unavoidable delays So
his disobedlence Is compulsory. The safety
Tenders, this man reports are also defective
and no person with two feet and two hands can
work simultaneously the different safety de-
vices which may De- required 10 operate M the
same moment. Better brakes md devices are
successfully used elsewhere. and air-brnkes
have been used here, indeed but abandoned for